According to the International Union of Conservation of Nature, “At least 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year, and make up 80% of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.” This plastic strangles marine plant and animal life, is consumed by fish, and causes untold harm to our marine biodiversity.
A great deal of this plastic ends up in the oceans through consumption – people throw their bottles, straws, bags into the nearest dumping site which go into rivers and streams that feed into oceans.
The debris of plastic bags, bottles, and food containers is higher near seaside areas which receive a lot of tourists.
Waste pickers catch the plastic before it gets into the ocean and this simultaneously creates and enhances their livelihood. In the coastal city of Mangaluru, the Netravathi and Gurupura rivers merge into the sea. These rivers have traditionally given water and fertile soil for farming and fresh water fishing. However with increased plastic in the rivers and sea, the water is contaminated.
On 26th Jan 2020, Anti Pollution Drive Foundation and Hasiru Dala led 120 citizens to clean up this beautiful area.
Video: Hasirudala
Challenges
Mangaluru is visually a clean city – the plastic water pollution is not apparent and with a huge floating population (tourists) the emotional investment of the people to the city is limited. The coastal city is very hot so the locals and the tourists resort to bottled water.
During the rainy season the amount of plastic entering the Gurupura and Narmada rivers are much larger than the other seasons.
Solid waste management has to be a conscious concern and cannot be organised without dedicated planning and awareness. But this means that the studies on how much waste is generated in Mangaluru, where it ends up, and how to manage that waste sustainably – all these methodologies need to be built from scratch.
Our Approach
Hasiru Dala believes that door to door collection of segregated waste along with processing waste locally will reduce pollution in the waterways. It is important to bring awareness to the people including the floating population.
Our strategy is to engaging waste pickers to collect the plastic before it reaches the water.. The Mogaveera community speaks of a gradual but steady increase in the amount of plastic in the local waterways, the beaches, and in the sea. With the support from Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), an international organization, Hasiru Dala partnered with the Anti- Pollution Drive. In early 2019, we all joined hands to raise awareness of marine plastic pollution in the city, as well as encourage and help facilitate the establishment of solid waste segregation and management infrastructure. Partnering with them was natural to address livelihood and working on preventive measures of waste pollution.
A detailed on-ground survey was conducted to find local 30 hotspots of waste dumping in the rivers and along the riverside. We chose two hotspots to cover– one within Managaluru Corporation and one in Ullala Corporation (local bodies).
After a series of discussions with Ullala Corporation, we are able to get Dry Waste ( inorganic waste) collected separately and processed. This has created a new team – one entrepreneur and 4 people have predictable jobs. This strategy is creating livelihood and addressing plastic pollution.