Chandigarh Civic body’s green push: A wedding with zero waste

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Chandigarh, November 26

Moving towards a garbage-free city, the Municipal Corporation (MC) supported a zero-waste wedding held at Sector 35 here last night.

Adopting the principle of reducing, reusing and recycling of waste to ensure maximum resource recovery, the event was conducted without single-use plastic products under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) 2.0.

Robust mechanism adopted

Robust mechanism was adopted to handle waste generated at the site of the event. The entire waste collected was periodically emptied and transported in the waste collection vehicle in a segregated form. Anindita Mitra, MC Commissioner

The MC conducted the ‘zero-waste wedding of Pooja, daughter of Ram Kumar, and Mukesh, son of Sarnam Singh, both residents of Attawa village, where 100 per cent scientific processing of waste was done.

While sharing information about the initiative, MC Commissioner Anindita Mitra said public events posed a challenge to the MC in terms of generating substantial quantity of waste and their subsequent disposal. There was a need to ensure that all public events be conducted on “zero-waste” principles, she added.

Mitra said to minimise the amount of waste generation and need for its safe disposal were the major components of the zero-waste events. It would be possible with the use of environment-friendly products, easy access to toilets and waste disposal facilities at such events, she added.

She said apart from its own events and functions, the civic body supported zero-waste weddings and other celebrations.

The MC Commissioner said sufficient safai karmacharis were deployed and a waste-collection vehicle was stationed at the venue while water sprinkler were used to check dust pollution at outdoor events. Besides, twin bins and toilets/mobile toilet vans were provided at the venue.

She said robust mechanism was adopted to handle waste generated at the site of the event. The entire waste collected was periodically emptied and transported in the waste collection vehicle in a segregated form.

Parameters followed

• No plastic/flex poster used for displaying info about the event
• Event details printed on eco-friendly paper material
• Welcome board at the gate mentions ‘Zero-Waste Swachh Event’
• Natural flowers used for decoration, which are later composted
• No plastic water bottles, plastic cups used
• Water, food served in steel glasses procured from MC ‘bartan bhandar’
• Only biodegradable cups used for coffee, soft drinks
• Hand sanitisers placed at snacks counter, tables
• ‘Do not litter, use blue dustbin for dry waste and green dustbin for wet waste’ messages displayed at various points
• Mascot of Swachh Bharat Mission ‘Swachhman’ showcased
• Green and blue bins placed at easily accessible locations
• Separate toilets of males and females; seats kept clean and odour-free at all times