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some textbooks had outdated and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