An architect and now a filmmaker, Vishnupriya S was inspired enough by one of her design projects to make a film. “I wanted to design a toilet that consumed less water for government schools, as part of my social project. In most government schools, though they have toilets, it is kept locked because there is no water supply. I went online and researched case studies and accessed articles written by foreign authors. But, I wanted to see a live working model to learn more.” That’s when she heard about the eco-san toilet, a community public toilet at Musuri in Tiruchi. “It is located in a residential area where none of the houses has a toilet facility. They use the common eco-san toilet, which uses minimal water and the waste is composted along with ash, biomass, sawdust and rice husk to make manure. The Pathashala, run by The Krishnamurti Foundation also has eco-san toilets in its campus,” she says.
During her 10-day stay at Tiruchi, she met the members of an NGO that constructed the eco-san toilet model, visited garbage dump yard, and met the sanitary workers too. “It was an eye-opener,” she confesses. “The kind of impact garbage has on our environment is baffling. I wanted to make a film to share the information and spread awareness.”
“It’s all about simple solutions,” she realised and shared her thoughts through her documentary Meel (recycle). Shot across Tamil Nadu, and some parts in Bangalore and Hyderabad (she also plans to shoot in Delhi and Ladakh), the film gives easy solutions to manage waste. She gives an example. “Bathing water that goes to the drain can be used for non-potable purposes like watering plants, washing vehicles and flushing toilets. Similarly, non-biodegradable items can be recycled and reused. With small changes in lifestyle, we can avoid burdening Nature with additional waste,” she says.
Vishnupriya believes that segregation of waste at source can save the environment. “This way, biodegradable waste becomes manure while the non-biodegradable goes for recycling. With very little waste going to the landfill, you won’t see the heaps of garbage everywhere.” Starting with individual houses, the model can be applied across apartments and gated communities. “Once we start segregating, conservancy workers need not enter manholes and risk their lives to clean clogged drains,” she says.
The film also focuses on water contamination. “We are not even aware of it. In places like Kodungaiyur and Perungudi, in Chennai, the garbage has already leached into and contaminated the groundwater. In one of the studies done on quality of groundwater near municipal landfills (across nations, including India), our country tops the list along with other Southeast Asian countries like The Philippines and Indonesia in contamination levels. When we consume this water, toxins enter our body.”
What we need is a policy level intervention to bring about change, she stresses. “Rag pickers wade through garbage looking for plastics and suffer severe health ailments. If we segregate, they can get at the plastics directly and make a livelihood without endangering their health.”
She says water scarcity can be tackled once we stop untreated sewage from entering water bodies. “The froth, the floating dead fishes, etc. in the Yamuna, and the lake in Bangalore indicate grave levels of water pollution. With climate change, we already have unseasonal rains. We have to de-silt our water bodies and harvest rain water for drinking purposes and agriculture, and recharge the groundwater table. But, for this, we first need clean water bodies.” Meel , which is made in Tamil and English (with subtitles and voice overs), will be screened for the public soon. “Garbage, left unattended, can ruin us. Plastics have already entered our food cycle. In some countries like Sweden, the garbage is burnt (they also import garbage!) to produce electricity. We lag behind in such technology and infrastructure; we just have to look at simple solutions at hand.”
For more information about the documentary call Vishnupriya at +919677749511
