Citizens seek BBMP’s help for ‘green’ fests  

BENGALURU: Festival season is upon us. With Christmas, New Year’s and wedding season around the corner, people in the city are in the mood to celebrate. However, every celebration comes with an added pile of garbage. The city corporation estimates that there is a 25 to 30 per cent rise in waste generated after a festival like Diwali. Bengaluru finds its counterbalance in responsible citizens and apartment associations, who are switching to eco-friendly celebrations and educating others about it. But they find BBMP staffers lacking in enthusiasm to better manage waste.

NS Ramakanth, a citizen activist, has been working on this waste management issue for over a decade and has managed to influence a lot of people as well. The recipient of the Namma Bengaluru Award and Kempe Gowda Award, says that we need to first and foremost realise that there is a solution to everything, and that the BBMP needs to be stricter in implementing rules. Srinivas P from K R Puram says that earlier, at the Diesel Loco Shed that he works at, they would have celebrations for various festivals and would collect 5-6 big bins of waste. “We have shifted from paper plates to organic ones, because with 700 people working here, you can imagine how much waste was being collected during even a single community lunch. We met Ramakanth at a Santhe held here and we’re influenced by his model.”

However, with the lack of initiative from the authorities, correct implementation on how to manage waste is not happening, says Puroshotam Venkatesan from the Halasuru residents welfare association (RWA). 
“We have conducted drives and handed out pamphlets in our area on reducing waste, especially during festival time. We, as the RWA, put so much pressure that it is difficult to find garbage lying around here. But even when we segregate our waste, the garbage collectors mix it all up during pick up.” 

“We see a lot of garbage on 100ft Road during this time. Banana leaves and firecracker waste being the most common, but if there is no initiative from the BBMP side, there’s not much we can do. Last year, we had Vani Murthy hold a composting workshop, we have awareness drives and campaigns, but if the BBMP doesn’t hold true to its promises, then it’s natural for people to wonder why they’re putting in effort,” says Praveen S of Indiranagar, citing the example of the stickers the BBMP said they would hand out to those segregating their waste, which eventually never happened. 
However, BBMP was not available for comments.

How can you help
Stop using disposable utensils and cutlery, even if it’s the arecanut kind, as this takes very long to decompose. Buying melamine, crockery or steel vessels is a one-time investment, and can be reused in the future. Multi-layered paper plates are used for their sturdiness, but these can’t be recycled either as they have an aluminium layer. 
When people question the water wastage while washing vessels, the solution is to use bioenzyme instead of soap. 

A pit can be dug for food waste, which can be then covered with dry leaves and sprayed with coco pete. The food will then slowly compost. 
Cloth napkins should be used instead of tissue paper. 
The plastic water bottles, after usuage, should either be collected for recycling, or water should be served in jugs and glasses. 
Decorations should be done with flowers and leaves, which can be composted later. 
Stop wasting paper by printing out hundreds of wedding invites. For auspicious reasons, a few can be printed, but sending invites over email and WhatsApp is eco-friendly and economical.