Waste Segregation

Date: 10 September, 2023 | Location: IITK Campus

Introduction

On 10th September 2023, a waste segregation program was organized by the National Service Scheme, IIT Kanpur, under the guidance of Prof. Niraj Mohan Chawake. The program included spreading awareness, survey reports, and feedback from various citizens residing within the premises of the Campus, ranging from Undergraduate students to the senior most professors teaching at IIT Kanpur. The number of responses received was overwhelming. Over 90 percent of the campus residents cooperated and spared a few minutes of their time to fill out a feedback form presented to them by the volunteers.

Waste Segregation is a very important aspect of maintaining cleanliness in our surroundings and leading a healthy and hygienic life. The basic aspect of this process includes separating the waste generated into the separate dustbins according to the nature of the waste. For example, all kinds of dry waste (such as paper, glass, etc.) should be disposed of into blue colored dustbins whereas the wet waste (such as vegetable and fruit waste, left-over food, etc.) needs to be thrown into a green colored dustbin. There are separate dustbins for sanitary waste as well as electric waste.

Key Activities

Upon receiving feedback from the campus residents, we got to know that this segregation of waste rarely takes place in the campus community. The adults living in the community mentioned that they separate the waste into two categories (wet and dry waste respectively) on a regular basis, but the garbage collector does not maintain that separation and mixes all the waste into one container. This leads to unnecessary manual work by both the faculty members and the workers who separate the garbage in the subsequent stages.

Additionally, not enough dustbins are kept on one floor of a block in the faculty residential areas and are not cleaned properly on a regular basis. This leads to the accumulation of germs and unwanted insects inside the garbage box as well as the residential area. Diving into some of the data collected by the volunteers, we get to know that a little over 50% of the residents were already familiar with the process of waste segregation. Nearly one fourth of the population was somewhat aware and the remaining people were not aware of the process at all. When asked how often they segregated the waste, approximately 50% of the population responded “always” whereas 35% and 15% of the people responded “sometimes” and “rarely” respectively.

Impact and Outcomes

Awareness was also spread in the hostels where most of the students of IIT Kanpur reside. Posters were put up on the main gathering spots in the campus. Some students were also surveyed and their feedback tells us that the cleanliness and waste segregation in the hostels are not proper either. There is one dustbin in each wing in all girls’ and boys’ hostels. The dustbins are not properly covered and are toppled over by the dogs in the hostels on a daily basis. This leads to extremely high inconvenience to the students.

To encapsulate, the measures to maintain cleanliness in the campus are not proper. Students as well as faculty members are not provided with proper waste segregation means. Awareness about waste segregation is increasing rapidly especially after this event organized by NSS. Everyone should do their part and make sure that our surroundings remain clean.

Volunteer Experiences

This concluding full-width section can be used for reflections, volunteer testimonials, or future plans related to this type of event. It provides closure and can encourage future participation.

Many volunteers shared that the experience was incredibly rewarding, offering them a chance to contribute meaningfully and connect with different parts of the community. We look forward to organizing similar events in the future.