The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : At IIT festival, waste culture trashed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 20, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

At IIT festival, waste culture trashed

Staff Reporter

This year's Saarang will be eco-friendly

CHENNAI: Student organisers of Saarang, the youth cultural festival of IIT-Madras, have decided to go more green and eco-friendly this year and reduce plastic trash.

In 2005, student volunteers from colleges in Chennai and Vellore conducted a series of audits on behalf of the Green Festival Initiative (GFI) at Saarang. The findings of the audits were released through a report titled "Trash Culture" last year.

It stated that in five days last year Saarang generated 3.5 tonnes of garbage and a large volume non- biodegradable waste including disposable tetrapak plates, plastic cups, forks and spoons.

Corporate sponsors

The study also found that instead of showcasing responsible youth culture, the festival showcased corporates and their products in return for sponsorship.

A banner space of 16,459 square feet was allotted as advertisement space of which over three companies took 14,400 square feet, and only 133 square feet was used for Saarang.

Over 90 per cent of the display material was PVC or vinyl, whose manufacture, use and disposal is associated with the release of toxins like dioxins and phthalates.

Social responsibility

The GFI has now lauded the IIT students for their efforts to make Saarang to be held later this month, more "socially and environmentally responsible"

The GFI was initiated with an intention to raise awareness among college students about the environmental and social costs of their cultural festivals and help make their festivals more eco-friendly, youth controlled and socially beneficial.

The initiative hoped that similar audits were conducted every year and the results made public so that other institutions could benefit from Saarang's experience.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu