WASTE RACE

Saahas collected over 1.6 tonnes of waste at the 10k Marathon this year.

The Recipe:

Plan carefully–

Chalk out the run route and the water stations where runners would be picking up their water bottle before drinking and dumping. Place bins, field staff and volunteers in the appropriate spots to ensure proper waste disposal and collection. Buy Nehru caps for the 50 field staff and make large pirate hats for the 8 volunteers plus Saahas folks. On all the head gear write a message ‘Look for a bin to drop waste in’. Then make sure the volunteers direct and coordinate the field staff.

We’re not quite done yet. Last and the most important is getting the volunteers along with Saahas folk to pick the waste off the ground themselves setting an example for all.

This final touch contributes to the delectable aroma to waft and cling onto the passersby, getting at least a few to come and mess their hands at stirring the pot. For those who are shy, it sure does get them to make a mental note of the recipe to try it later on!

Result:

Waste Type Qty (Kgs)

PET bottles 700

Carton boxes 538

Colour paper 145

Food waste 88

Rejects 88

Other Plastics 63

Tetra Pak cartons 4

Aluminum foil 3

White paper 2

Total 1631

700

538

145

Qty (Kgs)

PET bottles

Carton boxes

Colour paper

Food waste

Rejects

Other Plastics

Tetra Pak cartons

Aluminum foil

White paper

Thoughts:

Some of us, who hadn’t been there in the previous years, commented “So much waste is littered everywhere!” But Wilma having been there every year for the last 3 years felt there’s a lot of improvement in people’s attitude. “Many more people used the bin this year and there was much less littering”, she says. Hurrah! Bengaluru! Way to go!

But still if one is present at the event and sees so many tiny PET bottles manufactured for just a day, being thoughtlessly grabbed from a table, a couple of sips of water consumed and then just tossed by the side of the track and everywhere around the stadium, it’s hard not to think – What an awful waste of plastic, clean water and paper! Certainly we could do better!?

“Absolutely”, agrees Rohit Sudarshan, an avid runner, who tries not to miss any marathon across the nation. Even though he’s a runner who one would imagine would just want a bottle at the quickest and run off says, “Why can’t we just stop to drink from a cup at the water station and put the waste into the bin, instead of the bottles flying at us while we are running”? He was noticed by both the people manning a water station at the recent 10K as he approached closer and indicated that he wanted water, and both simultaneously threw a bottle at him. He managed to dodge one but was hit by the other. He said that the runners had been asked to make sure not to litter on the track but that they should throw the bottle on the side of the track. Certainly they needed to be told not to litter but to use a bin instead!