From cartoon characters to fun activities: It’s game on for waste segregation in the city!
These games are better than showing people some presentation on waste management. RUKHSAR GAURI, From a Gurugram-based NGO
Don’t be surprised if you come across a cute cartoon character explaining the concepts of waste segregation at a popular market in the city, one of these days. A host of Delhi-NCR-based NGOs have come up with games and many other innovative methods to explain the concept of waste segregation and ill effects of single-use plastic.
“We are planning to hold parades, puppet shows, magic shows in SDMC (South Delhi Municipal Corporation) markets; to explain these concepts. But of course, all the plans depend on the Covid situation,” says Ruby Makhija, from Why Waste Wednesdays, adding, “We recently had a very successful event at a city mall, where one of our volunteers dressed up as Santa and engaged the children as well as their parents and grandparents.” She explains the idea was to spread awareness on waste segregation at the source, and control single-use plastic bags. “We had cards with the names of various items mentioned such as leftover food, cans, plastic bottles, vegetable peels, syringes, expired medicines, cardboard boxes etc. Three dustbins were placed — one each for wet, dry and hazardous waste — and the visitors had to put the card given by Santa in the correct bin,” Makhija adds.
“Games are the best way to explain such concepts,” says Rukhsar Gauri, from Gurugrambased NGO, Saahas, adding, “We conduct these awareness games with the help of Resident Welfare Associations in societies. In one game involving golf, we make a path and put coloured glasses at the end. These are coloured in shades of segregation — green for wet waste, blue for dry waste, black for domestic hazardous waste and yellow for electronic waste. The one playing it, needs to use a golf stick to put the ball in the right bottle; depending on the card they pick... People are so interested in these games that the kids start fighting as to who will play first. This is better than showing people some PowerPoint presentation or giving them a lecture.”
And when one talks of games, how can snakes and ladders be left behind! So a Dwarka-based NGO, Rise Foundation has come up with one such waste segregation game, based on snakes and ladders, and darts. Madhukar Varshney from the foundation, explains, “In the waste segregation snakes and ladders, if you do a good thing, then keeping the concept of waste segregation in mind, you move ahead. The other game we make people play is a waste segregation magnetic dart game. This one has a chart paper with numbers corresponding to the colour where the dart lands, and each number has a message about waste segregation. This makes it exciting for the players, and helps us put across the much needed message of keeping our city clean.”