Saturday, December 20, 2008

Painting Dust Bins at Sangam Trip : Honeywell : 14 Dec 2008

Honeywell sponsored a trip and items required for the painting of bins at Sangam (confluence of Arkavathi and Cauvery) picnic spot.

There is no report from this trip. This trip coordinator was Pradeep Singh. Sandeep sent detailed notes on the procedure and items required as a preparation for this trip. Which is a Painting Bin 1-0-1 at its best. Refer group mails for the same.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Clean Up Trip to Mutthathi : Wipro Cares 22 Nov 2008

The Wipro Care trip to clean up Mutthathi was preceeded with a short corporate presentation to the volunteer group, conducted by Deepa.

This trip too does not seem to have followed the trip report format. There is a personal post by Deepa Mohan.

http://deponti.livejournal.com/468244.html

The formal notes of the Clean Up Event
On the 22nd of November, the Wipro and the Clean and Green Volunteers left rather later than usual, as the caterers did not deliver the food earlier.

Meanwhile, Roopa had spoken to the Forest Department officials regarding our use of their campus for lunch.
It was nice to meet the people from Wipro, and luckily for us, though it remained cloudy for most of the day, the rain held off. We had breakfast on the bus, and Geetha organized tea/coffee from a nearby teastall as we stopped.
However, we were in for a further delay, as the bus got diverted at Kanakapura town, due to ongoing road work; we had to crawl over very bad roads,and reached the cleanup site at 11.30 am... a record of sorts for such a cleanup I think!
Deepak and a few friends had also found the going pretty rough but had got there by car and were waiting for us.
I gave the volunteers a short talk about C'n'G and our objectives, and also about how to segregate and collect the plastic. Rakes, sacks and gloves were unpacked and the volunteers fanned out and set to work. I must say that in my opinion, the picnic area trash has come down in volume.
Once the work was under way, Deepak, Anush, and I went to Bheemeshwari and met Mr Sundar Raj (landline 08231 694248/695249/218252/ 218232, mobile no. 94495 99768, email: Sunder@gmail.com) , the Resident Manager of JLR, and told him that the sacks would be ready for collection in a couple of hours' time. He said that he would send a jeep at about 5.30pm.

Mr Sundar made the suggestion that instead of concentrating on repeated cleanups, C'n'G could change its approach. He said that for Rs.6000 p.m, he could organize the local tribals to patrol the area and clean up the litter regularly, and the practice of collection by JLR and delivery to KK Plastics could continue, and that he could supervise this.

He pointed out that probably the cost of that day's cleanup was more for Wipro; so, if we could organize a regular supply of money from the corporates, it would be a sustainable way of dealing with the trash. Deepak feels that this should not pose a problem at all. I think we should meet and have a discussion about this, and if we really can organize a regular source, then putting the tribals to work on a daily basis would certainly be a better solution than repeated cleanups. We have to work out the modalities of how to get the money, and also, how to disburse it in the most effective way possible.
After about two and a half hours, we called a halt to the trash collection, and the sacks were stitched up and weighed; a total of 167 kgs was the day's collection. I must say that the Wipro volunteers showed a lot of enthusiasm! It was great to work with them. The rakes, sacks and gloves were packed away (Roopa, do let us know where they are being stored now...are they with you?)
Roopa spoke to several of the Forest Department officials, and the locals also. can give the details of her conversation. The Forest Department was supportive, as always.
We all walked to the Forest Department campus where lunch was served and eaten;in spite of the caterer's warnings that lunch should be consumed at 12.15, the food was still perfectly good at nearly 3pm!
Many of the volunteers then opted for the pleasant walk (4 km) from Muthathi to Bheemeshwari, and the others packed up the food, and came in the bus, picking up anyone who was tiring, on the road. It was delightful to walk down, and Anush and I managed to spot several birds as well, and I had earlier seen a couple of mongooses on the path too, so it was truly a Nature walk!
The way back proved slightly less tortuous, but still the diversion at Kanakapura took some time. We stopped to have tea/coffee at Harohalli, and came home, tired but happy with what we have achieved, at about 7pm.
Sandeep Sanwal of Wipro has already joined the egroup as a C'n'G volunteer. I am sending a separate email to Geetha to be forwarded to the volunteers, giving the details of how to join the egroup, and where to upload the photographs that one volunteer took. I have already uploaded the photographs I took to the C'n'G Photobucket site and have forwarded them to Geetha too.

We must all thank Geetha for a lot of hard work that she put into this day's outing; I think the food, in particular, cost her a lot of effort! But she not only did a great job, but was smiling through it all, even though she has a tremendous backlog of work to address!


Looking forward to getting more volunteers to strengthen our hands, and hoping that the next meeting will bring about more fruitful solutions to the ever-present problem of trash,

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Clean Up Trip to Mutthathi : Wipro Cares : 30 Aug 2008

Sandhya Ranjit : Wipro Care and Vee Clean and Green join hands to conduct a massive clean up drive at Mutthathi on 30 Aug 2008. See the excerpts (duly edited) of the thank you note from Sandhya to members of Vee Clean and Green in the note below

From: sandhya.ranjit @ wipro Date: Sep 1, 2008 12:59 PM
Subject: thanks for making it
Hi, A big thank you to all of you for making the visit to Muthathi happen last Saturday. And a bigger thank you for the opportunity you gave us to contribute our mite to the environment.

….now that we have done it once, we will be at it on a regular basis. Wiproites enjoyed it very much and want to have more such trips.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Clean Mutthathi Trip with Honeywell : 14 Jun 2008



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 Bangalore at about 8 am and reached Kanakapura about an hour later, and we halted for a hot breakfast at Ratna Upahara, our customary joint! The other bus with Roopa and the medical camp volunteers went independently to Alathahalli village.

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 Bangalore.


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

Friday, June 20, 2008

Clean up Mutthathi with Honeywell

Week of Giving in Jun by Honeywell. The second time with Clean and Green. In tandem a Health Camp at another village in Mallavalli District.

Honeywell's CSR group joined hands with Clean and Green again to conduct a Clean up trip to Mutthathi on 14th Jun 2008.

There has been a lot of activity since Apr. Sun Micosystems Clean up at Sangama, Kiosk at HP, Presentation at Wipro and now again a cleanup with Honeywell at Mutthathi.

Medical Camp at Allathahalli : 14 Jun 2008

The Honeywell as part of their Week of Giving, on 14 Jun also organised a medical camp at a village close to Mallavalli, called Allathahalli ..

Close to 800 villagers were assembled at the school village to greet the volunteer team when the team reached at about 10am. Young, old, men, women.. educated, aware, completely unaware.. there were all of them. Waiting to pour their woes and get free medicines..

We assembled to for a bit of a "do", of lighting the lamp and soon after that school children were engaged in various competions. In the meantime, the doctors - a GP, a Gyeanec, Optho, Nuero, ENT and Dentist setup their respective consultation rooms. Each of these rooms were assigned numbers. The volunteers setup benches where the people were recieved, name, age, weight were entered in slip. The volunteers would ask the people what the primary complaint was and put the room number they had to go for consultation to.

For the very old a volunteer would lead them by hand to the room they had to meet the doctor at. Much commotion prevailed all through the day, as the weary people did not want to wait their turn. The problem was, they had assembled at 6am for the medical camp to start. Yet the volunteers tried to streamline the people/patients to some extent. This was extremely tiring but the exchanges were generally pleasant during the entire transaction.

Breaking up for lunch proved even more difficult as the patients all wanted to sure, they were examined before we left.
The wash up, the simple lunch at the caterer's house (who works on a contract basis with Honeywell), the simple hospitality, the amble back to the school made one feel very welcome in the community. Genuine respect for what the volunteer represented felt appropriate.

Time at the dispensary that was setup was very well thought out.. The recieving of the prescription, filling it out, the handing it out the correct patient, explaining the dosage, worked well, almost without hitches. The experience of setting up a mobile medical camp. the logistics involved, the coordination that takes place in the background to put together a camp of this size, which appeared effortless, was am sure an outcome of tireless work by many in Honeywell.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Clean and Green Kiosk at HP : 9th and 10th Jun 08




World Environment Week !! Here we come ! Sharing the same space as the Environment espousing giants such as WWF. Clean and Green made its presence the large cafeteria of HP in their CV Raman Nagar facility.

A small table, a few pictures a banner and a few spirited volunteers behind the desk complete the picture of the Clean and Green kiosk at HP.

With interested employees coming to the kiosk to get more information about the group, the common comment has been .. this is a wonderful initiative.

The whole exercise enabled Clean and Green to socialise its philosophy with the HP employees. Some of the enthused employees are now members on the e-group of Clean and Green


Fotos on display at the Kiosk :







Friday, May 30, 2008

Presentation at Wipro Electronics City

Mail and telephonic discussions with Wipro and we decided to do a plastic awareness presentation and on how to responsibly use and dispose plastics at each of the 15 locations of the Wipro offices. Each presentation is to be followed up with a trip to clean ..

The first of the Shrinkhala or series is set for the 30 May ...

Deepa Mohan conducted the session, at the Electronics city office .. Notes from her mail about the presentation.

I was really happy that there was a lot of questions and interaction from many members in the group after I finished speaking...and I found that many of the members of the audience were brimming with ideas, not only to partner with Clean and Green, but also about trying to make a
difference in small ways on their campus itself.

I was very happy to see that we were addressing individuals who are already pretty socially
aware.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Citizen Matter : 29 May 2008

Clean and Green has been media shy for a long time, wanting to truly make a difference than just talk about it ...

Yet when one of the key volunteers is also a regular contributor to one of the most read blog in the country / definitely in the city.. some drums to sound .. some trumpets are raised

Here is the Latest write up about Clean and Green @ Citizen Matters : Titled No Talk, Just Clean and Green by Deepa Mohan
http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/209-no-talk

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Sun Microsystem : 2nd Year Running










Well, what do you say when you are overwhelmed .. I guess just the trip report and allow that to speak for itself..

Yet a few noteworthy highlights ...

2nd year with Sun Microsystems and the operations are much smoother, operating on a groove. The discussion that Adarsh had with some of the shopkeepers to have them maintain the Sangam picnic spot..

Clean and Green – Trip to Clean

Date: 26 April 2008

Place: Sangam [Arkavathy and Cauvery]

Number of Volunteers that participated: 65 + 8 = 73

Trip Report:

Sun Microsystems kicked off their World Wide Volunteer Week of 2008 on 26th April from Sun office, where two buses, full of volunteers, started at 7:00 AM for a Clean up Drive. This year the location was Sangam, Confluence of Arkavathi and Kaveri rivers. 100 Kms from Bangalore under the forest, this place is one of the favorite places for picnickers.

73 people from all walks of life, Sun Employees, their family and friends, students form UVCE college, BITS Pilani and volunteers from Clean and Green participated in the trip. The team stopped for breakfast at a school campus in a village. The team reached Sangam little before 11:00 AM.

Here people formed small teams. With rakes, sticks, gunny bags and gloves in their hands volunteers were collecting and segregating plastic under 3 categories. From the stretch of the bank on both sides of Arkavati river, bringing the loads of plastic in gunny bags to the team doing stuffing, stitching, weighing and loading of these bags.

At 1:30 in afternoon the vehicle from KK Plastic Pvt Ltd., was fully loaded with the plastic. After a quick lunch all the volunteers took some rest under the trees.
Sun Microsystems, sponsored 5 dustbins for the Sangam, which we installed there a week before the trip. The tempo took the collected plastic to KK Plastics, where it will be used in the bitumen mixture for laying roads. One Bus started back at 3:00 PM. Some people stayed back to explore the Mekedattu and started back in second bus at 5:00 PM.

Highlights of the Trip:

  • 5 dustbins sponsored by Sun Microsystems
  • Sponsorship for 2 signboards approved by Sun Microsystems. Clean and Green needs to implement
  • Discussion with local shop keeper, with one of the shop keepers suggesting that he can take on the onus of cleaning up Sangam on a regular basis for a small consideration.

Kinds of Plastic Collected: Water Bottles, Toffee Wrappers, Ghutka Wrappers and other variants of it, Ice-Cream cups, plates, food content wrappers, soft drink bottles, soft drink cups.

Amount of Plastic collected in volume: 226 Kg of plastic !!!!

Sponsors: The complete trip end to end was sponsored by Sun Microsystems. Sun Microsystems also sponsored 5 dustbins at Sangam, that was placed at site a week before the trip.

Other Expenditure : NA

Expenses Shared By: NA



Saturday, April 12, 2008

Dust Bins at Sangam

As part of the Recce trip in preparation for the Sun Microsystems upcoming WWVW Clean up trip on the 26 Apr, Pradeep Singh and Anitha Majji, went on bike to check out the facilities at Sangam for a large group.

The major accomplishment on this trip has been that they coordinated the purchase of 10 cement rings, forming 5 dust bins at Kankapura, transported it to Sangama and placed it at vantage points.

This is a major accomplishment, kudos to them for making this happen with no prior plans either !!

Way to go !!

Friday, March 28, 2008

A Month in Advance : Sun Microsystems

The World Wide Volunteer Week for Sun Microsystems starts on the 26 Apr 2008, so the plan is to kick it off with a Clean up trip to Sangama [instead of Muththathi].

So the planning has already started ... with still a month to go for the event ... Gives us loads of time to figure out all the details ...

Friday, March 14, 2008

Lull Before a Flurry ?

Just a few meetings and a lot of finding out about how to progress the Greening Part ...

A sudden one to one meeting with Wipro, Honeywell sharing thoughts sometimes

Then some more meetings.. at least we are meeting sometimes.. It is not completely out of circulation

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Honeywell Trip : 29 Dec 2007

Here is the usual trip report from the first activity with Honeywell... After the initial discussions with Paramesh and his team a while, this has now come up and successfully completed. Dont have any snaps from this trip ...

Anitha's injury is another thing ...



Clean and Green – Trip to Clean

Date: 29 Dec 2007

Place: Mutthatti

Number of Volunteers : 27 from Honeywell + 3 from C & G

- Trip Briefing:

Anitha joined the group at Banshankri and the Honeywell team with 2 volunteers from C & G were on the way to Mutthatti. Sandeep the other trip co-ordinator had left earlier as he was on a camping trip. Roopa had risen early to deliver the rakes to the Honeywell office,while Rakesh and Anitha had procured 30 pairs of gloves. Food, drinking water in the bus and a team of enthusiastic volunteers were speeding down the highway when a speed breaker taken at high speed levitated Anitha and her head hit the air-conditioning vent above. A cut in the scalp and probably a mild concussion was the result.

After breakfast at Kanakapura the team reached Mutthatti. Sandeep joined the group soon thereafter and after the customary briefing the volunteers were at their task. Lunch break was taken at 1.15 pm in the Forest Dept. premises.As the RFO was not at Mutthatti it took a bit of convincing to allow the guard to allow the team in but the words 'plastic' was understood and the rest was easy.

- 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. Volunteers had to go further into the picnic spot to pick up the plastic.The cement bins placed by the last clean up team were hardly used.( Education and supervision required if visitors are to made to use the bins).

- Amount of Plastic collected in volume and weight: 7 sacks weighing 55 kg was collected.

Logistics: The trip planning was done by Honeywell and Clean and Green. All the logistics of the trip was shared. Equipment for the trip was arranged by Clean and Green, transport etc was by Honeywell.

Sponsors: Honeywell sponsored the entire trip and paid for the transport, food and the gloves. Jungle Lodges supported the effort by agreeing to dispose off the waste in their jeep.

-Volunteers in action:

Some pictures.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Muththati Trip 1st Dec 2007 – One to remember for a long long time


Number of volunteers participated: 17 Volunteers

Plastics collected: 34 sacks

Trip Briefing : Departed from Indiranagar Park, Opposite to KFC at around 6:45 AM in a 20 - seater swaraj Mazda making pit stops in between to pick up a totally new gang of volunteers expect some of them and headed towards our mission.

We started off the fun by playing anthakshari but later people were about to sleep hearing some people sing so we shifted to dumb charades. That was fun, not very tough as most of them guessed the movie even before it was enacted fully. Meanwhile we reached Kanakapura for the much awaited breakfast at our famous hotel – Rathna Upahar.

After a nice breakfast, we left for Muththati, stopping in between to purchase “Cement Bins”, arranged separate transportation for the bins. We reached Muththati around 10:45AM. We 17 volunteer gang breaking into groups swung into action immediately after a brief by Roopa on what to collect etc.

Before we could see, there were plenty of sacks collected and still going on with full energy while talking short breaks. In between the cleaning, volunteers got involved in placing the “Cement Bins” at the appropriate places and inaugurating them too.

Also volunteers spoke to couple of visitors (the number of visitors was less as it was a Saturday I feel) on what we do and how they can help protect the environment. They understood the problem and said they would not litter and would use the cement bins for the waste.

Finally, after 2 ½ hours of working, we decided to end the cleaning as the weather was at its extreme peak and also all of us were tired and hungry. Volunteers completed by stuffing in the plastics into sacks and stitching them making a total of 34 sacks by 17 volunteers.

We then headed towards Jungle Lodges and Resorts for the much awaited lunch. Some of them relaxed by enjoying the nature on the banks of River Cauvery and some went on a walk which had no end point and had to come back as there were people waiting for them to get back to Bangalore.

Overall, it was a great, fun-filled trip in terms of cleaning, setting up Bins as well meeting different kind of like-minded people who like to contribute for such a noble cause.

Kinds of Plastic Collected: 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 : 34 sacks – the plastic this time was not weighed.

Logistics: Clean and Green took care of the Logistics arrangements viz, Transportation, equipment for cleaning.

Noteably : All the volunteers together made arrangements for the procurement of the cement bins and the transportation of the same from Kanakapura to Mutthathi.

Supported by: Jungle Lodges and Resorts for transportation of the plastic collected for re-cycling and for permitting the volunteers to use their wash room facilities. Jungle Lodges and Resorts also provided lunch for all the volunteers, along with permission for the volunteers to enjoy nature from their premises. Forest Dept represented by the RFO’s staff during the clean up in deciding the placement of the Cement Bins.

Expenses :

Trip Cost :

Transport: Rs. 3200

Breakfast: Rs. 337

Total: Rs. 3537

Per person: Rs. 210

Cement Bins:

4 Bins: Rs. 1000 ( Each Rs. 250)

Transportation: Rs. 500

Per person: Rs. 90

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Meetings and Cancelled Trip

Since the trip we did to clean up Mutthathi, the group has been having regular fortnightly meetings, some well attended, some thinly, but the meetings all the same.

Some of the highlights of these meetings :

1. Wiki page - contents decided, Page to be constructed for events, updates, notes exchange etc

2. Deepa is collating the database of active members

3. To place order for the signboards

4. Procure bins and place them in Mutthathi

A trip to Mutthathi was planned in Oct and was cancelled due to poor response to the call for volunteers.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Oracle Volunteers ! Clean and Green Mutthathi

Folks, most of you on the google group, know about our trip to Mutthathi and this time with Oracle's volunteers, during their Global Volunteer Week. Honoured to have so many hands helping us clean up.

Some many more bent backs, tiring, sweating, with all the filth, grime, plastic and to top it the stares and glares before we befriend and educate...

Some videos, the Deccan Herald write up about the trip ..

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Nov202007/spectrum2007111936623.asp

Monday, June 25, 2007

Wonder Why !

Hi, Have you ever wondered what we would achieve with all the cleaning we have been doing ! Why are we doing, what difference does it make !

Well some pictures from Deepa Mohan who is a friend of Sandeep Chakravarti says it all. Follow this link to her blog. See the pictures but a statutory warning : It will make you feel poignant.

http://deponti.livejournal.com/245829.html

Trip 17 Jun 2007 ! Single Handedly !


This is the trip report of the trip done on 17 Jun Sunday ! Mohan was the only experienced Clean and Green member on the trip. He was the trip coordinator all in all - one man show ! Bravo !

The Team - You cant see Mohan as he is the photographer




Date: June 17th, 2007
Place: Muttati
Number of Volunteers who participated: 10


Trip Briefing: we departed in a 12 seater tempo traveler from Indiranagar at 6.15 am and from Banashankari Temple pickup point at 6.50 am, a ten person brigade left the town (seven adults and 3 teens) for a mission. Nine of them were new to the act. We had the breakfast at Kanakapura and the team played housie (Tam bola) on the way, The prizes went to the teens. Guess the prizes (table portraits of greenery pictures, wish list for greenery being a reality for many of us).


Reached Muttati at 9.07 am and immediately started the business of picking up the plastic litter after the quick induction. The team was very energetic and put a fantastic effort to collect 54 kilos gulping in 18 bags. As usual the bags were firmly stitched and placed for the forest officials to collect and send it to recycle firm.


The team went on enrollment conversations with the visitor’s onsite on the banks of river Cauvery. Many of them understood the litter issues and have pledged to reduce the use of plastics and make use of the bins effectively.



The team left the site onwards to JLR for much needed lunch. On the way, there were further enrollment conversations with the Muttati shopkeepers in and around the main streets and the temple. The shop keepers do understand the impact and will support the cause as much as possible. There is more work to be done in this area dealing with the shopkeepers. (Things can be further explored – like putting posters i.e. Do not litter in Kannada / English, placing bins in front of the shops, use paper cups instead).


In summary a very effective trip and the volunteers have showed interest to enroll their communities (i.e. schools, colleges and at workplace). Good job!!!!!!!!!





Kinds of Plastic Collected: Bottles of Water and soft drinks, plastic cups, plastic covers and trays, Ghutka Wrappers and other variants of it.


Amount of Plastic collected in volume and weight: 18 sacks weighing 54 kg.


Logistics: C & G took care of the planning and executing the trip.


External communication: Radio City announced about the Sunday trip details on Saturday 16/7/2007. Very effective, People were curious about the Clean and Green initiatives and some of them participated in the trip.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

19 May 2007 : First in the Fortnightly Series of Meeting

A small capsule of the discussion today

Attendees : Sandeep, Mohan, Rakesh, Yenne, Roopa.


The meeting started with moving from the venue to Megh Sagar on CMH Road for the hungry souls to have a stomach load of food. After which we came back to the Indira Nagar Park.

Some notes before I list down the actions and decisions that were taken in the meeting :

During the meeting we had a call with the DFO Mr Kumar Pushkar and the ACF Mr Shiv Kumar to discuss the following :

¨ To get the wording for the sign boards – one volunteer needs to call Mr ShivKumar on Monday 5/21 to get the material from him

¨ Seek permission to place the sign boards to which Mr Kumar Pushkar suggested that we approach the PCCF (WL) in Aranya Bhavan

After the initial discussions here are the list of Action Items that were identified :

  1. List of phone numbers of all the known volunteers to be prepared by Vijay and the same forwarded to Roopa
  2. Roopa to send the list of phone numbers to Madhu (volunteer who is willing to spend some time each week during working days). Roopa to speak with Madhu and explain what is required for discussions with each volunteer
  3. Roopa to speak with ACF (with the help of another Kannada speaking volunteer and get wordings of the sign boards from the Forest Dept
  4. Roopa to also get the costing and a sample sign board and details of fabrication required before the 2 Jun meeting
  5. Rakesh to identify good, durable, eco-friendly bins and buy a sample before the 2 Jun meeting
  6. A suggestion that we work with a corporate to employ additional security or on weekends when security needs are lesser – deploy four security folks at Mutthathi to screen people from carrying plastic and provide alternative cloth bags at the road heads. Roopa to speak with Mr Anil Rai – another volunteer who is willing to implement small projects end-to-end.
  7. During this week – Sandeep and Mohan are planning to make visits to Aranya Bhavan to meet the PCCF (WL) in case the PCCF (WL) is not away on travel.
  8. Roopa to prepare a brief proposal by Clean and Green to state our intention towards a Private Public Partnership for placing signboards and bins and also provide security service to monitor plastic traffic in Mutthathi
  9. Vijay to send all the trip reports to Mohan who will create a dossier for the meetings with the PCCF (WL) this week
  10. Sandeep volunteered to coordinate a trip for Mohan’s contacts – many of whom are wanting to do a trip – the trip is planned for 17 Jun. Separate mails on this follows.
  11. Vijay is to follow up with Mrs SenGupta – HOD Dept of Sociology in Christ College (w/o Principal Secretary Environment, Conservation and Ecology) for building awareness and also explore possibilities of doing a trip with the students.
  12. Sandeep will get in touch with some of the other members of the team to setup a visioning exercise.