In an attempt to address the global problem of waste, WasteLess, an NGO from Auroville, launched Garbology Lite on World Earth Day last week.
Targeting the young, Garbology Lite is a set of educational classroom activities for Class I to VIII (aged 6-15 years) on waste management.
“Cleaning up garbage is not the only solution. Garbage is a bigger problem than that. The future generation holds the key to solving the problems by adopting positive habits,” said Chandrah Nusselein, Co-founder, WasteLess.
Online resources
Ribhu Vohra, Co-founder of WasteLess added that Garbology Lite provides the resources online. “Anyone can register for free and download the materials. This series is launched in English and Tamil and WasteLess is looking to establish partnerships to translate them in more languages and adapt them to suit students all around the world,” he added.
A total of 10 educational activities were created and three of them have been launched. This includes ‘Introduction to Solid Waste’- a comprehensive introduction to the topic for students, ‘Waste Relay Race’ - a creative and fun class on waste separation and recycling, ‘How Long Does Trash Last’ - a scientific look at waste decomposition and disposal methods, ‘Map My Soft Drink’ - an original systemic thinking activity to compare packaging lifecycles of PET bottles, aluminium cans and reusable glass bottles, ‘Spot the Batteries’ - a colouring activity to introduce batteries, their impact on the environment and simple steps every student can take, ‘Timeline of Stuff’ - a visual group activity to analyse the history of packaging and the impact on waste.
In addition to this, there are activities on ‘Litter Clean Up’- a complete guide to organising the litter clean up with a waste stream analysis to help students understand what is littered and why, ‘Follow that Bottle’- an introduction to the lifecycle of plastic bottles and steps to help students increase recycling, ‘Less Packaging’- a critical thinking hands-on activity for students to analyse packaging and reduce waste and ‘Garbology Nidra’- a combination of art and the ancient practice of Yoga Nidra developed with Awareness Through the Body in Auroville to help students visualise a world free of waste.
The online resources are available at www. wastelessindia.org for free.
