Taking time out of our busy schedules to be a champion for the cause of the environment is something most of us can’t do. A club from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh is trying their level best to keep their colony free from garbage and waste. Gaining inspiration from Bollywood movie Club 60, these senior citizens around the age group of 60 to 70 in Shastri Nagar formed a club 60 in their block.  

Zero Garbage and Zero polythene

To keep the area garbage-free, they started a composting unit in their area. This citizen project has helped the entire area grow towards the direction of zero garbage and zero polythene. The association headed by Hari Vishnoi spoke to The Logical Indian “Earlier Municipality used to collect dry leaves from park and set them on fire, without even giving it a thought that it can be reused again. So, we took the help of a scientist from Central Organic Farming Institute, who gave us a waste decomposer to be used as a composting unit.” These men explained about the community composting unit in their park, which has a capacity of 200 litres, where they mix dry leaves and water to make compost.

Better usage of dry waste

This Vermicomposting unit was started two months ago by a group of elderly persons, which is now used in nearly 100 parks out of 400 parks in Meerut city. According to Hari Vishnoi, it is an easy method and better usage of dry waste than the regular method of decomposing. Usually, the regular method of decomposing takes a longer time to form compost than Vermicomposting.

Appreciating their work, Municipality Corporation rewarded the club with 1.5 lakh rupees for the vermicomposting unit. Hari Vishnoi also said that “Every house now has cement pot with holes in it, where they dump wet waste and decompose it and use the compost in the park.”

They have other inherent skills too

Apart from working on composting unit, these retired people use their inherent talents like yoga, gardening, teaching and other skills to teach the younger generation in their society. They even act as matchmakers where they have their own social media group and help in arranging marriages.

Despite their schedule, the group of 70 people that was initially started by a single person has eventually grown into a larger family. They have continued to concentrate on the individual composite unit and sidewise have started to expand to organic farming, keeping them busy throughout the day.

“Just like Rock Garden in Chandigarh, even we will collect all the plastics and build a park out of waste materials in our block” concludes Hari Vishoni, whose organisation was recognised by Meerut’s city commissioner and Nodal officer for their noble work. They also wish to implement the organic composite at every house in the handloom city in coming days.

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