Go Green, says EMC

EMC India Center of Excellence (COE) recently held a two-day waste management awareness program between October 25 to 26, 2012 at its Bangalore campus for its employees, to spread awareness on water recycling.

This initiative is a part of EMC's journey of environmental sustainability, committed to improving its performance and reporting progress around its key priorities - energy and climate change, material use and waste, and water.

N S Ramakanth an active adviser to BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), Pollution Control board and to the Lok Adalats on waste management and a member of the core committees of SWMRT (Solid Waste Management Round Table Bengaluru) and Citizens Action Forum marked his presence on day one. Speaking at the event, he said, "Bangalore, with a population of 8.5 million, produces nearly 5,000 tonnes of waste per day. The message of garbage segregation at source needs to reach every citizen of this city to make a real difference. Initiatives such as these are needed to educate the masses and will help turning Bangalore from the garbage city it has become into the garden city it once was."

He was joined by Venugopal Bellary, an IT professional and a volunteer for waste management practices at Bhuvaneshwari Nagar in Bangalore. Both the dignitaries educational sessions on the importance of segregation at source, composting and significance of waste management.

Volunteers from EMC India COE's ‘Green Club' conducted a waste segregation demonstration for employees on day two. The demonstration covered best practices to be followed at home for waste management of different kinds of waste articles like dry waste, wet waste, e-waste, bio-medical waste, hazardous wastes etc. Methods to compost waste at home were also shown to the employees. This activity also included a ‘Pledge' drive which urged employees to vote and pledge to be responsible in waste management.

In order to develop a whole new community approach to waste management, EMC India COE plans to expand this project to schools in the city. The project is designed to sensitize students and will include information and learning activities on solid waste management that will encourage them to be conscious about waste and adapt to appropriate systems to reduce waste in their surroundings.

"Given the garbage crisis in the city, it is imperative for every citizen in Bangalore to be aware of the role they can play from their respective homes in responsible recycling of waste and in reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. Ways and means to follow the right procedures at home is simple, yet the city citizens lack awareness. Through the two day waste management awareness drive at EMC India COE, we have tried to do just that and have been successful in bridging the gap and in creating the right level of awareness amongst our employees," said Sandeep Kejriwal, CFO and executive sponsor, corporate sustainability, EMC Corporation, India Center of Excellence.

Latha Swamy, EMC, Green Club member, who also attended the event, said "The two-day program has helped us understand the significance of waste segregation at source and the impact we as citizens can make in helping Bangalore be a better place to live. Each of us needs to support the greater cause for responsibly segregating waste at homes to collectively contribute to the larger goal - zero waste to landfills".