Abhiramapuram residents encourage eco-friendly lifestyle

The association covering 200-odd families in the locality, has been slowly transforming the neighbourhood into an eco-conscious group of citizens. 

Talking to DT Next, Sushi Nataraj, a member of the association, which was formed last year, said that they have been urging residents to adopt source segregation, composting and offering a push towards recycling of bags. 

“We had a campaign last week in our neighbourhood to make residents carry their own bags for shopping. The idea was to prevent non-recyclable bags from landing in the landfills. It had a good response and the shops in the locality too had welcomed the idea,” she said.

As part of the campaign, the association printed posters put it up at outlets in the area. Volunteers stationed at these outlets during peak shopping hours in the morning and evening to pass on the message to the customers. Nataraj added, “We now plan to put up bins in the area for people to donate unused bags so that no new bags are brought into the picture.”

The residents have also been working towards garbage segregation and composting, she said. “We are planning to make all residents register with kuppathotti. com to find an ecofriendly way to discard unwanted items.” 

Several residents have also begun composting in the locality, either through ‘khambas’ or through pits in their gardens.

For future, Nataraj added that the core committee, which comprises 20 members—mostly women—plans to give more push to their existing initiatives. She said, “I have to admit that it has been slow, but each time, we manage to bring more people into the fold. However, we are doing something about it and not just sitting back and complaining,” she said. 

Dividing the area into seven sections, the association has been divided into seven sections, with each having two volunteers. Nataraj said that most of them are retired citizens.