Bhupi Maru with "Joy of Giving Week" posters

… Joy of Giving Week in Puducherry promises to be one mass coordinated effort involving the entire town. Sample this: over 90 schools, 30 colleges, 20 stores, 10 restaurants, 45 industries, 15 clubs and organizations, and a couple of banks and hospitals have pledged their support to the campaign. A few government departments are chipping in as well.The credit for all this goes to Shuddham, an NGO working towards solid waste management in the town, and CAOS (Creative Art of Souls) Apparels, an environment conscious export company, who have taken up this cause of giving in Puducherry…

The Hindu, in its Metro Plus Pondicherry section of the 26 September 2009 issue details the incredible support by the citizens of Pondicherry for GiveIndia’s Joy of Giving Week which starts today and goes until 3 October 2009.

Please click here for the full article.

To volunteer, please contact Shuddham at: 0413 – 2214868 or email: joyofgiving.pondy@gmail.com

To drop off usable items listed in this article, or in the previous post, please visit:

C.Dakchana Moorthy Chettiar Kalyana Nilayam
59, Eswaran Dharmaraja Koil Street
Near Nallam Clinic
Pondicherry – 605 001

Hours of operation:  8:30am to 8:30pm, 27-30 September 2009.

Joy of Giving Week

The Joy of Giving Week is a movement organized all over India by GiveIndia Foundation. It aims at bringing together people from all walks of life in giving back to the society in a way that they choose – money, time, skills, resources, or just simple acts of kindness.

There is joy in giving and joy in receiving! It is this JOY that unites us all across numerous divides – urban-rural, caste, class and gender.

In Pondicherry, Shuddham and CAOS are collaborating with Goonj to celebrate this unique nationwide initiative “Joy of Giving” to be held from September 27 until October 3, 2009.

We invite you all to experience the Joy of Giving with us!

You can support us by:

• Joining us as a Volunteer
• Organizing a Collection Drive at your Work and Residential Area
• Arranging Funds for this Movement
• Sponsoring Transportation of the collected material to Chennai
• Donating Packing Material
• Spreading the Word about this Movement

You can give:
•  CLOTHES: Washed and reusable Clothes, Woolens, Bedcovers, Bed Sheets, etc.
(No Undergarments please)
•  UTENSILS: Clean and washed (no Glassware please)
•  SCHOOL ITEMS: Clean usable Water bottles, Lunch boxes, Pencils, Erasers,
Pens, Sketch Pens, etc. Clean usable School Bags, usable Notebooks and
Drawing Books with a good number of blank pages. Usable Text Books, Toys and
Games.
•  RECYCLABLE ITEMS: Newspapers, Books, Magazines used Paper, Plastic and
Glass Bottles, Discarded Batteries, Waste Cardboard and Paper Boxes, Clean
Plastic Covers, Broken Plastic Articles.

COLLECTION CENTRE:
C.Dakchana Moorthy Chettiar Kalyana Nilayam
59, Eswaran Dharmaraja Koil Street
Near Nallam Clinic
Pondicherry – 605 001

Dates for Collection: 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th September 2009

Time: 8.30 am to 8.30 pm

Email: joyofgiving.pondy@gmail.com

Contact: 0413 – 2214868

Contact Hours : 9.30 am to 6.00 pm

Goonj: Vastra-Samman a Nationwide Initiative
Goonj is an organization that mobilizes clothing as a resource to empower rural India. Every bit of cloth is transformed into a utility and all usable clothes are distributed to those in need through a well-organized chain of NGOs. Goonj respects the kind hearts of the givers and the self-dignity of the receivers. Every act of “giving” is matched by “work” the receiver does for his/her community.

Shuddham: Connect-Collaborate-Change the World
Shuddham, an NGO, is working to evolve sustainable ways to convert waste into a resource. It is proactively collaborating with the Pondicherry Municipality in the Raj Bhavan ward to create a model for managing solid waste. What is considered waste can actually be invaluable when segregated at source and put to use innovatively. Shuddham also offers training and project experience to volunteers and enthusiasts to come together and help change attitudes towards waste.

CAOS: Collaborate for a Better Future
CAOS Apparels Private Limited (Creative Art of Souls) is an ethical and environmentally conscious export oriented company that designs and manufactures apparels. It is based in Pondicherry, South India, and was founded by Anjali Schiavina in 2002. CAOS strongly believes in ‘collaborating for a better future’ with various organizations and shares the passion and vision, of Shuddham and Goonj, in changing waste into a resource. CAOS and its team are headed towards becoming zero waste.

Shuddham Wants Your Batteries

Used batteries are hazardous waste.  They contain toxic heavy metals that end up in the waste stream.  In humid conditions or when thrown into dumping grounds or landfills, the battery casings corrode and the metals may contaminate the ground water.  When incinerated, the toxics are released into the atmosphere, and the incinerator ash is contaminated.

The two most common battery types disposed of in Pondicherry are alkaline and zinc chloride, each type making up about 50% of the 23 types of batteries collected so far at Shuddham.  These batteries contain mercury, which can cause brain and nervous system damage to humans.

There is currently no safe handling or recycling of batteries or portable e-waste in Pondicherry.  In order to take one hazardous stream of toxic waste out of the system, Shuddham is collecting used batteries to be sent for recyling.  Shuddham has set up collection points at retail outlets located in the Raj Bhavan ward of Pondicherry, such as Grinde R. Sridharan and Bon Appetit, as well as at the Lycee Francais, the French Instutute and Creative Art of Souls.

Once Shuddham has collected a ton of batteries, they will have it sent to E-Parisaraa, an e-waste recycling company in Bangalore.  At the moment, E-Parisaraa is also collecting batteries.  Once they have sufficient volume, they will either send it abroad for recycling or set up a processing facility in India.

What can you do?

1. Reduce.  Limit the number of battery-operated instruments, appliances and tools you use.
2. Reuse.  Purchase rechargeable batteries.  The best option is nickel metal hydride batteries that contain no toxic heavy metals.  Other batteries, including nickel cadmium and rechargeable alkalide batteries, still contain toxic metals such as cadmium and mercury.
3. Recycle.  In Pondicherry, you can drop off your used batteries at one of the collection centers mentioned above.  Or, start your own collection box.

Listening to Rajamanikam

25 March 2009

Today, the eighth standard students of Lycee Francais de Pondichery visited Parivarthan, Shuddham’s resource center.

Watching the secondary sorting

After Rajamankiam explained the process, they watched the secondary sorting taking place.

Sorted Materials waiting to be "baled"

The Lycee does not currently segregate their garbage into compostable and recyclable materials – their mixed waste can only go to the dump.  The students are now committed to working with Rajamanikam to reorganize their garbage into segregated waste streams.

This morning, in a Republic Day ceremony at Pondicherry’s Indira gandhi Stadium, Lieutenant Governor Govind Singh Gurjar honored our dear friend and colleague Probir Banerjee for his extraordinary devotion to voluntary service to the people of Pondicherry.

Probir serves as the president of both Shuddham, the innovative NGO pioneering simple, effective solid waste management strategies in Pondicherry, and of PondyCAN! (Pondicherry Citizens Action Network), which fights for critical environmental protection and advocates a farseeing program of integrated regional planning. He works tirelessly and selflessly to staunch the erosion of quality of life in our town and to assure that its future will be healthier, happier, and sustainable.

There were two interesting aspects to the Republic Day ceremonies award from which speak volumes about Probir’s impact on the well-being of his community. First, of the two-dozen-or-so awardees felicitated the Lieutenant Governor, Probir alone was honored for social service. Other honorees were policemen, intellectuals, athletes, students, and educational institutions. Second, the event program, which contains a lengthy exposition of the LG’s development agenda for the coming year contains the following item:

To keep pace with the developments, the Government could hardly afford to ignore environmental protection. Sustainable development is the watchword and toi ensure that development is not made at the cost of environmental degradation, the Government of Puducherry has constituted a committee to campaign and implement a “Clean and Green Puducherry” policy. The Ousteri Lake has been declared a protected place for avian fauna. The Governmentis willing to re-examine its policies toward the prevention of coastal erosion.

Most of these ideas reached the Governor’s Palace for the first time in a series of meetings, led by Probir, introducing the new head of the Union Territory government to the work of Shuddham and PondyCAN!. The stated willingness of the Government to take a serious look at Pondicherry’s massive, development-induced coastal management disaster represents a major policy shift. The politicians and administrative bureaucrats in Pondicherry have long supported port development and hard-structure “defenses” to coastal erosion in the form of seawalls and groynes, notwithstanding the patent stupidity of this approach. It’s not clear that the Lieutenant Governor’s good intentions can alter the destructive course they have set. But the mere fact that the question is on the public agenda illustrates the effectiveness of the work of Probir and PondyCAN! in less that two-short years.

So, as you celebrate Republic Day, spare a thought for Probir Banerjee – a kind of present day freedom fighter whose struggle is just beginning to etch its way into the national consciousness.

PRESS NOTE

INAUGURATION OF SHUDDHAM’S “PARIVARTAN” COMPOSTING AND RECYCLING CENTER BY THE LT. GOVERNOR, PUDUCHERRY

At 11:00am on Tuesday 25 November 2008, Shri Govind Singh Gurjar, His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, will inaugurate the opening of “Parivartan, Shuddham’s composting and recycling center for segregated solid waste collected from the Rajbhavan Ward in Pondicherry.

The following dignitaries will be in attendance for this auspicious event:

• Thiru A. Namassivayam

Hon’ble Minister Local Administration

• Sri Ramesh Tiwari

Secretary, Local Administration

• Manoj Das Gupta

Managing Trustee, Sri Aurobindo Ashram

• Thiru E. Vallavan

Director, Local Adminsitration

• Smt B.Sridevi

Chairperson Pondicherry Municipality

• Thiru Natrajan

Chairperson, Vilianur Commune Panchayat

• Thiru A. Balasubramaniam

Commissioner Pondicherry Municipality

• Thiru G. Aneetchan

Commissioner Villiyanur Commune Panchayat

• Sri V. Arjunan

President Odianpet Village Panchayat

• Smt Agilarasam

Councilor Odianpet Commune Panchayat

The inauguration will conclude with a tree-planting ceremony initiated by the Lt Governor.

The construction of Parivartan was funded by Direct Relief International, Santa Barbara, California. The land has been leased by the Sri Aurbindo Ashram.

Presently the residential and commercial solid waste in Pondicherry is disposed off in the only operational municipal dump yard at Karuvadikuppam or illegally dumped in the outskirts of town and around water bodies such as Ousteri Lake and Thengaithittu Lagoon. There is no treatment of solid waste done at the municipal dump; the waste is burned from time to time to make room for additional waste. This system of managing solid waste is a health hazard to the workers, the residents near the dumps, and all the citizens of Pondicherry, as the environment and natural resources are degraded through air pollution and toxic leaching into the soil and groundwater and vector-borne diseases are spread.

The government cannot solve this problem without the active involvement and collaboration of all sections of society; citizens, students, the business community, the media and NGOs.

About Shuddham:

Shuddham is a not-for profit, non-governmental organization based in Pondicherry. One of Shuddham’s objectives is to create a model neighbourhood where the government, citizens, students, and other stakeholders collaborate to keep the area clean. Over the past six years, Shuddham has worked to evolve an alternate system of waste disposal

Shuddham’s “zero-garbage” pilot program started with 80 houses and was inaugurated by the then Lt. Governor Rajini Rai in April 2002. This “zero-garbage” program entails the door-to-door collection of segregated household waste. The biodegradable waste is turned into compost and the recyclable items are further sorted and sent for recycling. The program has since grown in stages, first with the addition of 250 households in February 2003, then an addition of 700 households in September 2006. Today Shuddham manages over 16 kilometers of streets and 1,200 households in Rajbhavan ward, collecting a total of approximately 10 tons of “resource” a day.

The segregated waste collected in the Rajbhavan Ward will be taken to Parivartan, where the bio-degradable waste is composted (both ordinary and vermi-compost) and recyclable waste is further sorted. Prior to the construction of the 5,000 square foot recycling center, Shuddham operated the vermi-composting unit in a member’s yard and rented a small shed in Vaithikuppam for secondary sorting.

Shuddham is working with the Government to spread this “Beautiful Pondicherry” movement.

For additional information, please contact:

Ajit G. Reddy (Mobile no 9894092933)

Secretary, Shuddham

39 Rue Lally Tollendal

Pondcherry 605 001

Telephone: (413) 421-0032

Chandigarh, a Union Territory that serves as the capital of two states – Haryana and Punjab – lays claim to many firsts, including the first planned city in India.  Chandigarh was the first Indian city to ban smoking in public places on July 15, 2007.  And on October 2, 2008, Chandigarh banned the use of plastic carry bags.  While the city has already taken many steps to improve its waste disposal system, including removing pubic garbage bins and setting up sehaj safai kendras (SSKs), administrators have felt the need to improve the waste segregation system by segregating the waste at source.  Currently, waste is collected door-to-door, as in the Shuddham model, but unlike the Shuddham model, the waste is segregated at the SSKs.

It is no wonder that the segregation of mixed waste at the SSKs is not very effective.  Mixing waste at the source makes seperation difficult and precludes the recycling of much of the waste.  The organic waste is processed at the Solid Waste Processing Plant (another “first”) in Dadu Majra into pellets that are used in the cement industry.

Shuddham picks up waste which has been segregated at source – at the household level – and composts the organic material and resorts the recyclables which are then sold for various uses.  In the Shuddham case, almost all garbage (except hazardous materials, which are picked up separately) becomes a resource that is recycled.

Drawing a kolam in front of Shuddham office

Yesterday, the workers at Shuddham celebrated Ayudh puja.  The ammas who sweep the streets cleaned the office and the street in front of the office, washed their chetties (aluminum containers used to pick up waste), and washed and decorated their modified tricycles.  The supervisors washed their motorcycles and scooters, and the vehicle drivers washed and decorated their vans.  The ammas conducted a small puja at the office with a few invited guest, including the councilor of Raj Bhavan ward and one of the MLA’s deputies and other friends of Shuddham.

Washing the street in front of the Shuddham office

Sweeping the street

Washing the chetties

Clean and decorated tricycle

Tricycle tire

South side supervisor washing his scooter

Shuddham's Tata Ace

Watch the new Shuddham video, celebrating the wonderful work done by the Shuddham “Beautifiers” to help keep Pondicherry’s Raj Bhavan neighborhood clean and to help create a model for urban waste management that can reverse the epidemic of filth that plagues India.

Where most people see trash, Shuddham sees opportunity; so it was only natural that fashion designer Anjali Schiavino would turn to Shuddham with her problem. Anjali was making an exclusive line of organic cotton clothing for a European client and wondered if there was a constructive use to which the pattern trimmings could be put. Thanks to our friend Anshu Gupta, we came up with an answer which Anjali immediately proclaimed as, “super cool!”

Anshu is the founder of the much celebrated, Delhi-based NGO, Goonj, which collects and distributes used clothing in needy villages throughout India. A couple years ago, Anshu decided to do something about a problem which handicaps and creates serious health risks for poor women throughout rural India: the lack of cloth to use as sanitary napkins. Goonj cuts-up cotton garments which can no longer be worn to make simple, absorbent menstrual pads.

Now, Anjali’s Pondicherry-based fashion house, Creative Art of Souls is moving full-speed-ahead on turning waste organic cotton into an important solution to the health and social problem that virtually imprisons countless poor women each month. Anjali and her designers are working on variations and improvements to the simple “dosa-style” folded pad Goonj currently offers. The napkins will be distributed by Goonj.

To further cement the collaboration, Shuddham has commenced a clothing collection system for Pondicherry, which will supply Goonj’s recently opened Chennai branch.

Shuddham is proud to have been the link between the thoughtfulness of Anjali and the brilliance of Anshu – and we are excited to see this program take-off in Pondicherry.

Anjali and Anshu