Catch them young Teaching Kids about Garbage

[Music]

trashonomics

empowering students today to become

responsible citizens of tomorrow

we live in a world where it is becoming

increasingly difficult to live a life of

harmony with nature and our environment

the convenience of the youth in through

culture has become so

deeply ingrained in our daily lives that

it seems impossible

to think of another way to be this

however is a new culture that has taken

over in a matter of just a few years

and has reached even the remotest parts

of our country

drinking coffee and paper cups and

throwing it out of a moving train

discarding waste in stormwater drains

washing clothes with heavy detergents in

a river

burning waste the question on our minds

was

how do we change this culture back to

the one that revered nature

the answer was simple through children

in schools

before we decided to embark on the

journey of educating the young

to become responsible green citizens

specifically on the topic of waste

we did a recce of a few textbooks

some textbooks had outdated and

incorrect information

but most spoke of garbage is a problem

no child would be able to make a

personal connection

with every single human being

on the planet generates solid waste

waste water and other pollutants every

single day and yet

not everyone is aware of the

consequences of their actions

we with the backing of the anonymous

indian charitable trust

decided to create simple yet

comprehensive material for schools

called trashonomics with the aim of

teaching

students the very important life skill

of waste management

yes an essential life skill just like

learning to brush teeth

cook handle our finances we teach

children

how to handle their waste we begin with

teaching them where their garbage ends

up

not in a void like most people would

like to believe

but quite literally in another child’s

backyard if not managed

properly along with the local problems

that are caused

by irresponsible disposal of waste what

is also taught

are practical local solutions

what each child can do in their own home

sorting waste in proper bins using the

tubing’s one bag methodology

home composting of organic waste

importance of waste workers and waste

pickers

what happens at a local dry waste

collection center

alternatives to disposables in order to

reduce waste

the waste water management module

focuses on the problems and solutions at

both the rural and urban scenarios

all this is taught in a workshop format

with

fun and engaging hands-on activities

creating the material was not the

challenge since we worked with several

subject matter experts at swmrt and

biome

from whom we picked the best practices

the challenge was acceptance of this

material in schools

this is where a passionate army of

volunteers comes in

from retired school teachers to

corporate professionals looking to make

a social change

with the help of csr funds we conducted

training of trainer programs for

over 500 volunteers trained teachers

from 300 schools translated the material

in six languages and

reached over two lakh students in three

years

we created videos including a few for ww

of india and we’ve even won a few awards

every child we have reached out through

this program now has a seed planted in

their minds

we are already seeing the impact of this

children have started to teach the

adults

try their hands at home composting set

up bins in their homes and schools

and are overall sensitized to the

problem

what we did in the past three years was

a drop in the ocean

there are over 300 million students

currently in india

to reach every child we need waste

management to become part of the

mainstream curriculum

in all the official languages this is

where we need your help

let’s get every school to make caring

for

our planet as important as

math and language thank you