Modernites show us the way to a cleaner environment

A Group of students from Modern School, Barakhamba Road displayed that they are as aware of the problem of urban waste management as they are concerned about preserving their environment.

Each year the Vinod Dixit Foundation - named after late Mr. Vinod Dixit, himself a Modernite and a member of the Indian Administrative Service, son of noted independence activist, a former Governor and Cabinet Minister, Shri. Umashankar Dixit and husband of Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs. Sheila Dixit- selects a few projects undertaken by groups of students from Modern School that broaden the horizon of the students beyond the confines of the syllabus and classroom and take them into the wider areas of enquiry, understanding and knowledge. For this purpose, projects on a wide variety of topics are considered ranging from science exploration to music and theatre to social service.

This year one such group of students from Modern School, Barakhamba Road decided to do something meaningful about the challenge that solid waste disposal presents in urban metros. Led by Aditya Bhavnani, the group also comprised of Akshat Arora, Padmavathy Ramanarayanan, Meher Tandon and Parnika Mehra, all students of XI Standard. Aditya’s idea of undertaking a project that was self sustaining and helped reduce the menace of solid waste, hence, protecting the environment was agreed upon by his team and selected by his School before being given the go-ahead by the Vinod Dixit Foundation in May 2011.

With a sanctioned budget of a mere eight hundred rupees, these school children went ahead with a six week long project in their Summer Vacations despite Delhi’s soaring temperatures. The project essentially involved identifying a Housing Society wherein the residents were made aware of the threat posed by non-bio degradable solid waste to the environment, as a first step. Garbage from houses contains a large component of plastic through milk pouches, plastic containers, P.E.T. bottles, caps etc. which are not bio degradable and hence pose a major threat to the environment.

The students identified The Yamuna Co-Op Group Housing Society Ltd. near Alakhnanda in South Delhi as the one where they would undertake their project. After getting the approval of the Society, they interacted with the residents and distributed plastic bags to each of the 195 apartments in the complex, with a request that all plastic waste be collected in these bags. Thereafter, they collected this waste from each of the apartments on a weekly basis and consolidated it in a room given to them by the Society for this purpose. At the end of the six weeks project duration, these environmentally conscious students managed to gather 103 kg of plastic waste, which they transported and sold to a plastic recycler for a sum of one thousand and fifty rupees. This amount was then donated to the Society after demonstrating that this was a self sustaining exercise and beneficial to the residents of the society and the environment, both.

If Resident Associations across the country were to adopt the model that these young students have built and proven, it would clearly lead to a cleaner and greener environment while simultaneously making residents more environmentally conscious and reducing the strain on already stretched municipal resources. It is clear that our youngsters are concerned about their environment and want to do something about its further deterioration before it is too late. Organisations like the Vinod Dixit Foundation and its patrons and schools like Modern School need to be lauded at their efforts in getting youngsters to think and act on evils plaguing our society and environment. As citizens of this country, we need to start that change rather than waiting for it to happen!