Market Visit - 2

Visit to Hulimavu Market 

On 20^th of January 2015, Sambhrami Patil of BGS NPS along with Mrs. Rajasree went to the Hulimavu Market to make retailers aware about Waste Management. The retailers were told about Tetra Pak Recycling and were asked to tell their customers about the same. They were also made aware about the waste that is being generated daily by all the markets which is dumped in an open area. It attracts flies, rats, and other creatures that in turn spread disease. Normally it is the wet waste that decomposes and releases a bad odour. This leads to unhygienic conditions and thereby to a rise in the health problems.

There is a pic which shows the same. When properly observed 50%of the waste was of Tetra Pak and other 50 % was of Plastic. One of them was just in front of Meenakshi Mall. The main environmental problem associated with these types of disposal sites is the potential risk posed to the soil. Since the waste is being disposed directly onto surface of soil, a number of contaminants including heavy metals readily penetrate and eventually they contaminate the soil and affect vegetation abundance of the area.

Not only that it was found that these dumping areas where just by the side of markets due to which the retailers threw their waste there. And most of the people were found smoking there too. Every Day more than 100 people visit the mall and they cross by this area. This direct exposure can lead to diseases through chemical exposure as the release of chemical waste into the environment leads to chemical poisoning. Many studies have been carried out in various parts of the world to establish a connection between health and hazardous waste. When we saw all this we thought that if this will continue then there will be serious health and environmental issues. So to stop this, first the retailers should be aware that Tetra Paks and Plastics can be recycled. So, we chose to visit our own area’s market areas.

Then the journey started…We covered at least 10 - 15 bakeries. They were given a bin on which a label was there which represented our project idea. The retailers were made ware about all the things they had to do.

In one of the bakeries we heard a person saying that he wanted a curd tetra pak carton. We were surprised that he knew about Tetra Paks. So we went to him to ask more about how he managed waste generation at his home. The answer was positive. He said that he reused all types of waste as much as possible and then he sent it for recycling. Then we asked him that what he did with the Tetra Paks, and did he send it to the proper recycling agency. He said that he had a hobby of making handicrafts. So he had developed a hobby of making many types of jewellery out of Tetra Pak. He said that he lived in apartment and the Tetra Paks were sent to proper collection agency

All the retailers agreed to give their whole support in this. We hope that this will be successful………