Operation Clean And Green
By Anitha S
03 March, 2014
Countercurrents.org
I am Sabanian. I am 12 years old and live in the city of Thiruvananthapuram. Is it not nice to relax and de- stress especially when exams are just around the corner and everyone- parents, teachers, neighbours, relatives and friends are all so tensed up about it? If you feel so like me, I want to share with you what I did this Sunday with my father.
I went for the program Operation Clean and Green in a school- not my school which is so clean with not even a leaf or paper or some soil to step on. Not even a big tree anywhere in my school. All concrete and plants in pots which need watering and care. I went to a school in the middle of the city with over 100 trees and a big playground. I am always happy to go there as the vastness and coolness in the campus makes me very peaceful.
The school campus as you might have heard is under threat from a bus bay and shopping complex which will destroy the serene beauty and purity for ever. Imagine 25 buses coming in and out all the time into this place. Imagine 200 shops functioning here and the cars and vehicles that will come in to shop. What will be the amount of carbon monoxide that will fill the air? With many of these trees gone, who will inhale the toxic fumes and give out life supporting oxygen? As we were picking the waste in the campus this morning, I also thought of the amount of waste which will be thrown away from the shopping complex- the flex advertisements, the packaging materials, the food waste in addition to paper and plastics. It was a real shock to even think about the changes in the landscape such a development project will bring about.
As I walked around, I looked at each tree and inhaled the pure air as if I am doing it for the last time. It was good to see that most of the trees still had the green Rakshabandhan we tied last week and the poster with the true value of a tree. The summer rains which poured down last evening had washed the dust off the leaves. Nature was really clean and green. But not so the remains that we, humans left behind. There were lots of Styrofoam cups and plates which I learnt is one of the most toxic of products that we have manufactured. It was shocking to hear that though styrofoam known as Thermocoal is used in food packaging and serving, it has also been classified to have cancer producing properties. How can one eat food in it so happily? The many plates that we collected today were all used to serve in parties in the school…would children like me have eaten from them tasty and hot biriyani and salad? Oily pappads and sour pickles? That was a scary thought.
Through the 2 hour long cleaning, we collected 12 sacks of non-biodegradable waste. It was even more confusing to think about where this can be disposed. Our general attitude is Out of sight, out of mind. Is that not why we can throw the waste we make on the public road or in some compound? . My father said there is an attitude called Not in My backyard but someone else’s backyard by which people throw waste contaminating the earth forever. I felt that if the school and the Institution functioning there could put separate bins in the compound where people will throw waste in a segregated manner it would be a relief. Now it is thrown anywhere and everywhere that harms the soil forever. I felt happy to hear that Tree Walk intends to interact with the students and teachers in the school, show them the waste and work out a plan so that this situation of waste all over can be avoided through conscious effort. Though it is not so easy to make an area Plastic Free, we can try with small steps.
I was happy when little Niranjan came. After the cleaning up and freshening, we both climbed the grand Raintree marked 13 around which we had tied a ribbon last week. My father wanted to attend the Pledge taking and Tree Planting ceremony by noted sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman. I have heard of him whenever we see the huge Mermaid at the Shanghumugham beach garden which he had sculpted long back. He planted a tiny Jamun sapling in the sandy soil that the school seems to be filled with. He lifted the plant to the air and with Earth and Sky as witness the tiny roots of the plant touched the soil. The pledge to protect the school was inspiring. It urged the participants to spare no effort to conserve and convert this school, now condemned as old and useless to a top Centre of Learning and Excellence. I wondered if I would get a chance to study here – how I would love to run and play cricket and watch the birds and flowers in this sylvan atmosphere. The pledge referred to Santhiniketan, the school founded by Tagore which linked learning with the greatest teacher of all- Nature. To have classrooms under the trees would be so enriching. I was so happy to hear many students who have studied in the school narrate their special experiences and memories.
The Operation Clean and Green opened up so many issues in my mind- of how to reduce waste, how to dispose waste, of protecting a school from bus bays and developers. It gave me a lot of energy to go back home and study for the exams starting tomorrow with dreams of classrooms under trees.
Anitha.S in conversation with Sebanian and Niranjan on 2.10.2014 at the Attakulangara Central High School, Thiruvananthapuram.For details of Tree Walk contact 94470-78113 or write to [email protected]
Photos: Veena, M and Suresh Elamon
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