The city Corporation and the Suchitwa Mission have formulated a programme to take the message of segregation to students, and through them reach their families.
Titled ‘ collectors@school’, t he programme which will be launched on a pilot basis next week, seeks to train high school students in the basics of waste segregation.
According to an official of the city Corporation, one day of the week – Wednesday – will be chosen for the purpose.
Three kinds of waste
The students will be asked to bring three kinds of waste from their homes – waste paper, plastic milk packets, pet bottles – in a segregated manner. Separate containers will be kept at schools, in the model of the waste collection hubs in the city, in which the waste could be deposited. The Suchitwa Mission has designed a container for this purpose.
As part of the programme, the students will be provided training sessions in segregated waste management and related topics. The possibility of providing incentives for students who actively participate in the programme is also being thought about. The green army units in each school and the Student Police Cadets will coordinate the activities in each school.
In the pilot phase, the programme will be launched at Model Boys’ Higher Secondary School, Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School Manacaud, and Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Peroorkada.
“Based on the success of the pilot phase, we will scale up the programme and take it to more schools. Also, changes, if necessary, will be made based on the response of the students,” said the official. The green army, the city Corporation’s initiative with school-college students, to create awareness among the city residents of the importance of waste treatment at source, has been successful in spreading the message of waste treatment and sanitation in schools over the past two years. The students have been trained in the various techniques of waste treatment at home and segregation of waste and sensitised to the harmful effects of burning waste.
Many of the green army volunteers are now part of most of city Corporation’s initiatives, including flood relief material collection and in sensitising the public against the use of plastic carry bags.
