Garbage Concern tackles the problem of rubbish and imparts knowledge on the matter of filth

One of the most pressing problems of India’s unplanned urban expansion is the lack of sanitation and waste-management system. To top that, Mumbai is running out of space for dumping grounds. It is precisely to tackle this problem that Professor Francin Pinto started a non-governmental organisation called ‘Garbage Concern Welfare Society’ in 2005.

A former lecturer in Zoology at the University of Mumbai, Professor Pinto is currently doing her thesis on effective waste management and working as a visiting lecturer on environment & waste management at St Xavier’s College. “I never believed in one-day clean-up drives. I had a long-term vision and wanted to find an alternative to plastic bags. With that aim, in 2004, I joined an NGO called Oasis,” says Professor Pinto. She started pursuing her PhD and, after a year, launched her own NGO, Garbage Concern, in Kandivli and registered it as a trust. It is a research & education based NGO which has educated more than a thousand people on the environmental hazards caused by unattended and untreated garbage.

“The problem of indifference, which we face now, has been there since the start,” Ms Pinto says. “Initially, funding was a problem because nobody wanted to invest for the environment, where the results are not apparent immediately.” To support the initiative financially, Ms Pinto started an environmental consultancy company called 3-S Envo Solutions whose profits funded the NGO. Now, the consultancy too has grown and boasts a turnover of Rs70 lakh. Today, Ms Pinto and her team are approached by many corporates for their CSR (corporate social responsibility) and ‘green’ initiatives. Ms Pinto has recently been nominated for a ‘Woman Entrepreneur Loan’ from the State Bank of India for furthering her work.

Through seminars, workshops and photo exhibitions, Garbage Concern teaches local residents about proper ways of waste management, segregating dry and wet garbage at source and vermi-composting by making compost out of garbage by introducing worms and microbes in it. It even collaborates with BMC (Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika) and hospitals, sensitising staff and educating them in proper ways of collecting and segregating waste. The NGO also specialises in environmental awareness programmes at various institutions, and provides training to boys who are local school dropouts to take care of composting.

“We are involved in a lot of projects, like waste management in 192 slums apart from schools, colleges, public gardens and even many housing societies nearby,” said Ms Pinto. The strategies of waste management vary, because a compost pit is not viable everywhere. “In some places, we aim for biogas generation,” she says, “but if we have compost, we persuade the residents/corporates to use it for window ledges or terrace gardens. Marketing the compost without proper infrastructure is problematic; using it for gardening instead adds to greenery and releases oxygen.”

Thanks to Garbage Concern’s efforts, K Raheja College of Architecture and Environment Study at Juhu (western Mumbai) adopted a ‘zero-waste’ policy, which entails 90% of waste generated being reused and recycled. Starting with a two-bin system for segregating waste, the college constructed a unit to convert biodegradable waste into valuable vermicompost. “Today, more people are realising that waste management is a big problem; there are companies and authorities ready to take up the drive with gusto,” Ms Pinto says. Her students participate in the NGO’s activities, for which they also get stipends and certificates.

“It’s not just a matter of charity,” she says, “We want people to profit from it too. I say that the job must promise dignity, so that rag-pickers or our waste-collectors take up the profession with pride.” All contributions made to Garbage Concern are exempt under Section 80(G) of the Income-Tax Act.

GARBAGE CONCERN WELFARE SOCIETY

501/2, Royal Apartment
Sector VI, Charkop
Kandivli (W),
Mumbai 400 067
Tel: 022 3225 6427
www.garbageconcernindia.org
[email protected]