House of Hiranandani Upscale in Egattur, Old Mahabalipuram Road has taken an impressive stride towards sustainable festivities, one likely to prove exemplary for geographically-defined communities that celebrate festivals in massive numbers.
The gated community came up with a set of guidelines for responsible management of the festival waste it generates during the season.
Disseminated ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi (one of the biggest festivals celebrated by the community), the guidelines are being carried forward as a sustainability template for every big event celebrated, Onam and Dussehra being the recent ones, in the community.
Led by Shalini R, Sabita Menon and Rajeswari Harish of the society’s Green Team, the recommendations include use of coloured, labelled bins to drop bio-degradable and non-bio-degradable waste at the venue, the use of biodegradable cutlery, communicating SWM protocols to private caterers, creating awareness through consistent announcements and messages and minimising food waste.
The core team members of the Green Team point out the 10-day massively-attended Ganesha Chaturthi festival turned out to be the perfect showcase for these zero-waste practices. With the support of the team organising the festival, the guidelines were circulated on various communication channels patronised by the apartment association.
“We had Green Team volunteers standing next to the bins through the days of the festival, requesting people not to waste food, and that if they had to throw away food, they had to drop it in the right bin,” says Rajeswari.
Persisting with the messages did make a big difference. The community generated
Bring your own container
For the prasad distribution, messages encouraging residents to bring their own dabbas were announced. “For the huge turnout, the number of people who brought their own containers was small but the message clearly got across to the community," she says. The Green Team coordinated with the organisers to ensure surplus food reached the needy.
“We were expecting a huge crowd during one weekend but the turnout did not live up to the expectations, so the food was packed and sent to service-based organisations that could feed the needy,” says Rajeswari.
Children contributed to the initiative designing posters exhorting people not to waste food.
Making it a standard
Onam was the next big event in the community's calendar where the guidelines were repeated. And ditto for Ayudha Puja. “In November, the community will have a children’s carnival with zero waste as the overarching theme,” she adds.
