THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Last November, after the much-celebrated T20 match at the Sports Hub, Kariavattom, volunteers had to undertake a mammoth cleaning effort. It took an army of 450 workers to segregate the waste itself! So this time, as the India vs West Indies ODI is just shy of ten days, Prakruthi, a Technopark-based NGO has intensified its campaign to ensure a clean and litter free match.
For the past seven days, the group has been campaigning with the help of several short video clips, trying to drive home the message of responsible waste management. The #mywastemyresponsibility campaign was coined during the last T20 match itself. But it didn’t gain much traction. Partnering with the Corporation and Suchitwa Mission, Prakruthi is presently running a social media campaign to reach out to the cricket enthusiasts and encourage them to segregate waste at source itself.
Several short videos have been created towards this end. While some of the videos have the authorities encouraging the people to avoid littering, some have sanitation workers recounting their experience after the last T20 match. “We had run the campaign last year. But this time, we have started early and are trying to reach out to the public and encourage them to be responsible about the waste they generate. We have structured the campaign based on last match’s experience,” said Biju Sundaram, executive member, Prakruthi. The videos are being shared through Facebook and WhatsApp groups. “A major chunk of the spectators are from Technopark. We are trying to spread the message amongst the tech community as well,” he said.
An awareness campaign will also be held on the day of the match. Around 150 volunteers will be deployed to ensure that waste is not thrown away irresponsibly. Trees will also be planted by the members of Prakruthi. “The idea is to balance resource utilisation. It is our plan to plant trees during every such opportunity. As many as 50 trees will be planted. Last year too we had run a ‘Tree 20’ campaign, encouraging establishments to plant twenty trees. As part of this, 60 trees were planted in all,” says Biju. The trees will be planted on the eve of the match.
The social media campaign is not set to stop once the match is over. “We intend to do a complete documentation and educate the public of how the waste they create is treated. We will be releasing videos of what happens to the waste. This will make the people aware of the need to be responsible about the waste they generate,” said Biju.