Veena and the Lesson of Waste Segregation

In the city of Bangalore lived a girl called Veena.

Veena was a kind and friendly girl. Veena was also a lazy girl. At times, she was so lazy, that she literally drove her parents up the wall. 

Recently, the Sky Heights – the apartment in which Veena lived – had introduced the waste segregation system. The akka who had visited from the neighbouring apartment had nicely explained to the Sky Heights residents:

“Segregation at source, by each one of us, is very important. This practice will be the first important step in solving Bangalore’s garbage crisis.”

Through a presentation and games for adults and children, the 2-bin-1 bag system was clearly explained to the residents.

Very soon, every home had two shiny closed bins – one red in colour and one green in colour – along with a bag. Most of the residents were excited. There were of course a few who had a barrage of complaints. Anyway, the managing committee and volunteers stood strong, and so began the important process of waste segregation.

The Chocolate Wrapper Incident

One day Veena invited her friends from the apartment to her home. They played games and then had lunch together.

Just as the children were clearing the curry leaves and red chillies from their plates into the green bin, Durga remarked:

“Veena, what is this? You are throwing the chocolate wrapper also in the green bin? Don’t you remember that the green bin is only for organic waste? The wrapper should go into the dry waste bag.”

“Yes, yes!” chorused the other children.

“Hey it is so boring. I do not want to go to the other side of the balcony to put the wrapper in the bag. Its ooookkkk!” replied Veena lazily.

The children shook their heads and went back to play.

Ganesh Chaturthi and Another Mistake

In a few days was Ganesh Chaturthi. The residents of Veena’s apartment enthusiastically gathered to celebrate the festival together.

Veena and her friends had planned to put up a skit that evening. They were busy backstage preparing their props. Just then, Veena took out the old batteries from her torch and threw them in the green bin.

“What are you doing, Veena? The batteries need to be dropped in the E-waste bin. Not in the green bin,” remarked Manjusha.

“Hey it is so boring. I do not want to go all the way to the other block. Its ooookkkk!” replied Veena lazily.

The children looked at each other. They were rather angry, but could not say much as the skit was about to begin.

But when the skit was over, Veena’s friends huddled together after Veena had left for home with her family. They came up with a plan for lazy, lazy Veena.

A Lesson for Veena

That weekend, Veena and her friends were invited to her friend Suma’s house.

When Veena walked in, all the other friends were sitting together and chatting.

“Oh! Looks like I am the last to join in. I was feeling lazy to get ready,” said Veena, “but its…..”

“….its ooookkkk,” completed her friends. “We know Veena and her lazy ways by now,” they said with sly grins.

Veena laughed with them and dug into the aloo bonda.

Just as she was relishing its taste, she made a face and then covered her nose – “iiissshhh, what’s that stinky smell?”

“It’s only the stinky smell of mixed waste,” shouted her friends, and then quipped – “its ooookkkkkk!”

“What is going on here?” asked Veena.

This was the moment her friends were waiting for. They took her to the kitchen utility area and showed her.

“See Veena, like you, we also decided not to segregate our waste. We also decided to be lazy. Now, this bin has mango peels, onion peels, cartons, batteries, diapers.”

Veena stared at the bin. The stench made her observe the contents closely. She had never looked at her own bin so carefully. She ran back into the living room.

“Ok, ok, I get it. I will try,” promised Veena.

Her friends called out high fives and cheered out loud!

The Picnic Realization

In the coming weeks, Veena’s friends monitored her closely, and slowly but surely Veena was practicing waste segregation.

Till one day when they went for a picnic. The children sang songs in the bus till they reached the picnic spot. They then began to unpack and decided they would have a quick snack before they went to play.

Here again, the children had thoughtfully brought two old boxes – one for organic waste (marked with a green cross) and the other for recyclable waste (marked with the appropriate sign).

The children ate bananas and put the peel in the box with the green cross. That is when they saw Veena cutting a packet of murukku and throwing the cut corner in the same box.

“Stop!” roared her friends.

“OMG! You all scared me!” responded a visibly surprised Veena.

“Firstly, why did you cut a corner of the packet?” asked Manjusha. “You have unnecessarily created a small piece of trash that will be floating around.”

“Yes,” added Mani. “And then you have mixed it with the organic waste.”

“It is only a small, teeny-weeny piece! You people are making a mountain out of a molehill,” snapped Veena.

“Veena, it is a big deal,” responded Suma calmly. “Come, we will all enjoy the picnic today. Tomorrow, I will take you to Swachagraha Kalika Kendra (SGKK).”

And with that, the matter was put to rest and the children got busy with their games.

The Turning Point

Next morning, Suma and Veena visited the SGKK at HSR Layout. Veena was amazed by the meaningful work that was happening at the centre – the composting units, the vegetables that were grown, and the upcycling initiatives.

As Veena was soaking in the newly acquired knowledge, Suma said to her – “let us try our hand at sieving compost.”

The two friends wore the gloves provided by the centre and sat ready. On a large flat sieve, ready compost was poured by a staff member.

As Veena and Suma began to sieve, the staff member instructed:

“If you find any small pieces of plastic, metal or anything that is not organic, please remove it and keep it in this tray.”

The first two batches of compost were free of inorganic materials, and it seemed very easy to sieve. And then came the third batch.

Now Veena and Suma became very attentive. They picked up few buttons, pen caps, staple pins, and most of all small cut corners that were snipped from milk packs and snack packets.

As they finished, Veena nursed her aching arm, and sheepishly said to Suma – “now I understand why you all were angry with me yesterday. I thought it was only one small cut corner of plastic that I threw. But when everyone does the same, it is no longer a molehill, it is a mountain – a mountain of mixed, stinky garbage. And once mixed, it is difficult to fix.”

Veena the Waste Warrior

From that day, Veena became a waste warrior, spreading awareness on waste segregation wherever she went.

                    

About the Author

Swati Kakodkar is Principal Storyteller, Learning Strategist & Founder of Story ki Bory. She is an enthusiastic Green Champion & Sustainability Practitioner. Through Story ki Bory, she unleashes the power of stories to bring about positive change, especially among children.

👉 Follow her work: @storykibory