Number of Volunteers : 28 from Honeywell + 4 from Clean and Green
- Trip Briefing:
On Saturday, we all went by bus for a Clean and Green cleanup drive to Muthathi. We left
Post-breakfast, we arrived in Muthathi village, and drove up to the picnic spot, where all of us alighted, and brought out the rakes, sacks and gloves. Sandeep gave all the Honeywell volunteers a short briefing about the different kinds of plastic to be picked up...bottles, plastic covers and cups, composites like Kurkure packets, and so on. He advised them not to pick up glass, to drink plenty of water, and use gloves if necessary.
The volunteers fanned out and began working with a will. Meanwhile the Range Forest Officer, Mr Kempe Gowda was invited over to the site. He came along with a few of his colleagues, and inspected the work going on. He also gave Sandeep the quotation for making boards at the picnic site. Clean and Green is glad for this support from the Forest Dept, and hope to be able to put up the signboards and place some waste bins soon.
Several visitors to the picnic spot were curious about our work. "How much are you getting for all the stuff you are collecting?" one lady asked Deepa. The concept of cleaning up the waste, and how it might affect the area if left unclean was explained to her. She looked thoughtful as she left!
It was great to see the Honeywell volunteers working so hard. Mutthathi needs as many volunteers as we can have for every clean up. All of us stopped from time to time to exchange jokes, drink water, or wash our faces...it was rather hot, dusty and sweaty work. The volunteers displayed great enthusiasm!
The work went on until about 1.30pm, when all the trash that was collected was stuffed into the HDPE bags, which were sewn up, and weighed. This was also great fun, with Sandeep asking, "how much will THIS sack weigh?" and estimates being made loudly, from 10 to 30 kg (that particular sack weighed 12 kg) We found that 31 volunteers had collected 74 kg of plastic!
All of us then got into the bus and adjourned to the Forest Department campus, where we all had a much needed wash and then had the delicious lunch which Honeywell had brought along. We also invited Mr Kempe Gowda and his colleagues to join us. Meanwhile, Sandeep had made a very valuable contact.
Mr D C Raju, a social worker who works for an NGO, and who is a member of the EDC (Environmental Development Council.) His mobile no. is 98456 02265, and his landline (residence) no is 08231 698002. He has promised to let us know, a week in advance, when the next EDC meet is going to be. Getting our foot in the door at the EDC meeting is very important for us to have a dialogue with the villagers, so this contact is really important.
So leaving some people to clear up lunch and wind up at the Forest Dept, the rest of us set off on the walk. On the way, we saw a goddess astride a tiger being taken in a procession to the river.
The road to Bheemeshwari was green and beautiful, as it meandered along the banks of the Cauvery. We had lovely view, and we really enjoyed walking along.
At the JLR camp there, we were unable to meet Lokesh,but met Mr Pampapati, and told him about the trash waiting to be collected at the usual place. Some of the volunteers had a look at the JLR property (oh, the Giant Grizzled Squirrel was very much in evidence today!) and then we all drove back contentedly to
All in all, the cleanup part of the day was a great success, and I got to meet several people and exchange views.
Kind of plastic collected:
The usual Bottles of Water, and other beverages, Ghutka Wrappers and other variants of it, plastic cups, plates, food content wrappers, soft drink bottles, soft drink cups.
- Amount of Plastic collected in volume and weight: 74 Kgs of plastic
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