Waste not, suffer not

It’s been 11 years since Dr Meenakshi Bharath’s daughter — then 19 years old — spent a week in a Bengaluru hospital for the treatment of dengue. Being a gynaecologist helped Bharath arrange the best possible medical care for her daughter. The illness, however, made the Malleswaram resident wonder where her daughter could have contracted the disease from.

Bharath had to only look around the corner of her house for the answer. Piles of garbage — both dry and wet — lay unattended on the roads. While stray animals nosed through the plastic covers in search of food, mosquitoes bred in coconut shells filled with rainwater.

As elsewhere in the city, this rather familiar sight was something that most of Malleswaram, a suburb in northwest Bengaluru, would look past. Bharath, though, was not ready to overlook the problem of waste management any longer. Instead of hoisting the responsibility on civic bodies, she was ready to dig her hands into the mess. A little bit of digging around did help. She soon had a list of people, in other parts of Bengaluru as well her own, working on the issue — albeit separately.

Word of mouth and a few phone calls helped bring some of them together for the first time. Over the years, various organisations, all founded and led by concerned citizens, joined hands and resources under the umbrella of the Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT). Bharath, a founding member, is still as actively involved. And what is unofficially known as the Bengaluru model of SWM — solid waste management — has become an example of what awareness and initiative among citizens can do to support sustainable living. It is also the subject of case studies and reports on waste management.

Trash to treasure: Residents dropping organic waste to be turned into compost

Turning over a new leaf: Composting pits in HSR Layout

Run entirely by volunteers, the SWMRT also managed to bridge the mental gap between far-flung pockets of the city, encouraging residents to take time out of their daily schedule to ensure clean, healthy surroundings. Though Malleswaram is where some of the early efforts took place, the collective found eager workers in areas such as Kalyan Nagar and HSR Layout. From segregation of waste to reducing the use of single-use menstrual products, the SWMRT soon transformed into a movement of sorts. The members work for free and also raise funds — though an area MLA may sponsor a leaf composter or two.

Two ways to it

The first and most basic task for the SWMRT was to impress upon the people the importance of waste segregation. The “2 Bin 1 Bag” model at the household level has become a sustainable and practical system, so much so that even the Karnataka High Court passed an interim order in 2015 mandating that citizens follow this method. At the household level, waste is segregated into wet waste (compostable kitchen and garden litter) and reject waste (sanitary pads, condoms and medicines, for example) that go into two different bins and dry waste (recyclables such as paper, plastic, glass and e-waste) that goes into a bag.

The Bengaluru story started off in pockets such as Malleswaram and HSR Layout — first at the household level, then within each municipal ward and thereon across the city. Some of the first SWMRT volunteers stood outside schools and colleges, even neighbourhood parks, with fun posters and slogans. Workshops were held to teach children about the segregation of waste. Elected representatives and civic bodies were roped in to help expand the reach. Even residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) were pressed into action.

The SWMRT’s 100-something members — including the core team of 25-30 people — advocate a simple mantra: reduce, reuse and recycle. When taking the message to the citizens, a volunteer with considerable knowledge of the subject is put in charge of the initiative. Vani Murthy, a self-confessed “compost whacko” who lives in Malleswaram, is one such volunteer. She has lost count of the number of composting demonstrations she has given.

Some lessons, however, can only be imparted through examples. While spreading awareness on ways to ensure that no wet waste goes outside a ward, volunteers also adopted practices such as taking their own bottles to events, where the use of plastic is most common. They also carry reusable straws and cutlery from home.

To improve waste collection in every ward, it was important to pay attention to the people entrusted with the job. This is where Nalini Shekar, co-founder of Hasiru Dala (‘Green Force’ in Kannada), a member-based organisation of waste-pickers, stepped in. From getting them ID cards from the municipal bodies to opening bank accounts and applying for education loans, Nalini and her husband Prabhakar managed to retain a workforce that helps Bengaluru process over 800 tonnes of solid waste every month.

Bank the plates

The second step in the SWMRT success story is Bengaluru’s plate banks — one sure-shot way of reducing the number of disposable plates, spoons and cups that pile up after weddings, housewarmings and every other community function. Against a small deposit, mostly refundable, one can hire plates, spoons, bowls and glasses from these banks.

“The idea was to create zero-waste events. People use disposables citing convenience and less labour engagement,” says Bharath, “but we end up sending tonnes of waste to landfills.” Her son’s wedding in 2017 was entirely “green”, complete with the use of reusable cutlery and utensils.

Shyamala Suresh, programme coordinator at SWMRT, played an important role in putting this affair together. Instead of cards, guests received e-invitations. The food and the beverages were served in steel and glassware. Cloth napkins replaced paper tissues.

Taking cue from this event, which was widely written about in local and national newspapers and news websites, there have been several bookings at the city’s plate banks. The one in Malleswaram has 2,000 sets to rent but the largest in Bengaluru — with 10,000 sets — is run by Adamya Chetana, a non-profit organisation, at Kempegowda Nagar. There are more than six large plate banks in the city today.

From the temples

Bengaluru’s many temples generate a lot of biodegradable waste in the form of flowers offered during the puja, vegetable and/or fruit peels from making the prasad, and other waste brought in and left behind by devotees. Dr Shanthi Tummala, member of SWMRT, points out that while management bodies are fastidious about the cleanliness of temple premises, the concern doesn’t extend to the waste they dispose of on a daily basis. Echoing this, Vasuki Iyengar, a volunteer with the temple waste management team, says that the idea for zero-waste temples started in 2016 in Kalyan Nagar. “Today there are about 30-35 temples in the city that compost their waste. About 50 per cent of the compost is reused while the rest is sold to devotees,” he says. He adds that the revenue from selling compost was an added incentive for some of the temples the team approached.

Zero-waste wards

SWMRT’s efforts have succeeded in making HSR Layout, in south-east Bengaluru, a zero waste ward. It is often upheld as a model for its success in achieving about 90 per cent of segregation at source. Tummala, who is also the founder of HSR Citizens’ Forum, says that the real challenge before her team was processing the waste that was being segregated in the 28,000-30,000 houses in the ward. Among other things, the team brought in leaf composters to turn the fallen leaves from the tree-lined lanes into mulch. Eight lane composters have been installed to encourage residents to manage waste processing within the lanes they live in. “We also took over about a 400m-stretch of land for a community kitchen garden,” says Tummala. Those interested were allotted a 10x10 ft patch, under the strict condition that they practise composting at home and add no chemicals in the soil. Ornamental plants are a no-no.

Sustainable menstruation

Bharath now devotes her time to Green the Red, a pan-India initiative that seeks to change “the menstrual hygiene landscape in India” with the use of products that are safe for the body and the environment. There is plenty of research in the public domain that points to the health and environmental hazards of using sanitary pads, tampons and other single-use disposables. “A menstrual cup can be used for 10 years. You can swim, jog, do everything with it,” Bharath says.

Ditching the pad: Green the Red is a pan-India initiative to make menstrual hygiene environmentally sensitive

Both via Green the Red and in their personal capacities, the SWMRT team has been promoting sustainable menstruation, conducting awareness sessions in and with apartment complexes, corporate offices, schools, anganwadis and self-help groups.

“A lot is going on at SWMRT,” programme coordinator Suresh says as she heads for a meeting with volunteers. “Everyone pitches in where they are needed, wherever their skills could be best utilised. But there is still so much to be done,” she says.

Bengaluru was once the pensioners’ paradise, the city of lakes and the garden city. It now grapples with being called the garbage city too, having come 216 among 434 cities in the Swachh Survekshan survey for 2018. But the headway citizens’ initiatives have made in managing waste gives the city some hope.

Deepa Bhasthi is a writer living and working between Kodagu and Bengaluru