BENGALURU:Bengaluru-based NGO Greepeace India recently launched its ‘Waste to Food’ campaign to generate awareness among citizens on the importance of waste segregation and composting of organic matter. Garbage has always been an issue in Bengaluru, and with a population of nearly 10 million, the city produces between 3,000 to 5,000 tonnes of garbage on an everyday basis. Out of this mammoth amount, 60 percent is organic waste.
The campaign, which is headed by Shivani Shah, senior campaigner, Food For Life, kick-started with activists placing putting up placards with the message ‘Waste to Food’ at a few spots in the city where unsegregated garbage is being dumped in public places. The placards, however, have already been taken down from these public spots - which includes areas like outside the High Court, Cubbon Park and Johnson Market - because the NGO didn’t want to add to the existing waste.
“The purpose of this campaign is to ensure that biomass waste, which is your wet waste or food waste, is segregated at the source for composting. By not segregating garbage, the biomass generated from various households goes waste, and piles up at dumping spots. This biodegradable waste can be used to produce compost for agricultural purposes. But in the absence of adequate availability of organic fertilizers and lack of awareness, farmers across the country depend on chemicals to make the soil fertile,” says Shah.
This overuse of chemical fertilizers by farmers becomes part of a vicious cycle, as these chemicals enter the food chain, eventually leading to polluted soil and chemical-laden food on our plates.
Shah adds that eventually, this biodegradable waste will be turned into organic fertilizers and given to farmers around the city. “We want to reach out to citizens and tell them that waste segregation is something that can benefit us all. And by telling them that by doing this our food quality can improve, we’re hoping more and more people recognize its importance,” she says.
While there are High Court orders in place and organisations like the Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT) trying to get Bengaluru to segregate its waste, the actual implementation is where there is a gap, says Shah. She adds that Greenpeace has been in consultation with the SWMRT for this campaign.
Dr Shanthi Choudry from SWMRT says that it isn’t enough for organisations to just spread awareness, there needs to be door-to-door work done. “Unless there is actual picking up of waste from every household, public awareness campaigns by NGOs are not that effective,” she says. She adds that one area where the BBMP lacks is the imposing of penalties and holding officials accountable for not ensuring segregation is done.Sarfaraz Khan, joint commissioner, BBMP,health/solid waste management was unavailable to comment.