Gobar Times Magazine (Environment for Kids Monthly) - Centre for Science and Environment

Gobar times: Environment for Beginners

ECOLOGICAL LITERACY

Andaman and Nicobar… Islands Waste-d?

I must confess I was really excited about my trip to Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. I was going to attend the launch of Gobar Times Green Schools Programme. Once known for the terror-provoking Cellular Jail, these Islands are now buzzing with tourists. With modern Infrastructure and communication facilities, these islands are today on the fast track to development. But development comes with its own baggage, in the case of Andaman and Nicobar Islands – it happens to be a baggage full of waste.

Solid waste management is a huge challenge here. While the local government is responsible for it, gigantic volumes generated are mostly dumped into the sea or burnt. Not the most eco-friendly disposal technique!

An enthusiastic lot doing the waste audit.

	The GTGSP Awards in Port Blair, December 10, 2009.

The GSP Audit

Undaunted by the lack of infrastructure, the schools in Andaman and Nicobar Islands geared their teams for a waste audit of their own schools. The task was to assess themselves as managers and they went about recording their waste in terms of production (per capita per day), collection (segregation into bio-degradable and non-biodegradable), recycling, disposal and the initiatives undertaken to spread awareness in the school community on waste-related issues.

Assessments

Production: Audit reports showed that the schools were producing per capita per day waste of 32.4 gms, way below the national average of 150 gms.
Collection: While the waste was segregated into bio-degradable and non-biodegradable at source, the segregation somehow could not be sustained till the end. This seemed to be an obvious evidence of missing infrastructural support.
Recycling: The schools displayed remarkable innovation and originality in recycling their waste (See box).
Disposal: A few schools recycle most of their waste, thereby disposing less, but majority of the waste from the rest end up in the landfills.
School Initiatives: The schools have interacted with authorities of hotels and resorts which generate a lion’s share of the waste, in order to help them manage it better. Clean up drives on the beaches are also a regular affair.

Awards

The top rankers, Girls Senior Secondary School and Model Senior Secondary School, walked away with the trophies because they recycle 90 per cent of the waste, and dispose a negligible amount.

Clearly, the schools in these Islands have decided to go the GSP way,which is, maximum segregation and recycling with minimum production and disposal. For all the effort that they put in, this was just a small token. The bigger reward will be a cleaner set of Islands for the people who live there.

— Mariam Jafri, GSP team

Vermi-composting of all biodegradable waste.

Using waste glass for fencing the walls.

Making envelopes out of waste paper and selling them to the shopkeepers, especially seashell sellers.

Using scrap metal and plastic for creating unusual teaching aids.

Making dustbins out of scrap cardboard boxes.

Using second-hand textbooks.