Himalayan task: Youths start off with the bits for cleaner towns

[caption id="attachment_251262" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Volunteers segregate waste at the cleanliness drive in Dimapur.[/caption] Dimapur, May 26 (EMN): Youth groups are cleaning their respective locale as part of the Himalayan Cleanup campaign. Youths in Dimapur and Phek district issued separate press releases informing about the event. Members of Chizami village in Phek district undertook a clean-up programme on May 25. The event had 258 volunteers clearing the village of waste, a press release from the village's community groups informed on Sunday. The cleanliness drive was led by Chizami Students' Union, in collaboration with nongovernmental organisation North East Network and local groups form the area including women and youth forums; Baptist Youth Endeavour, and the Catholic Youth Association, the updates stated. The Himalayan Cleanup campaign was initiated in 2018 during which India was a global host to World Environment Day 2018 with the theme ‘Beat Plastic Pollution.’ The campaign is an annual event that is conducted on May 26 across the Himalayan states of India with the aim to bring attention to the problem of waste management in the mountains. The campaigns aims to specifically address single-use plastic waste. "The cleanup was organized following a uniformed guideline. (sic) It aimed to bring larger attention to the issue of waste and also an effort to understand what constitute trash through a process of segregation, waste and brand audit," the pres release stated. [caption id="attachment_251263" align="alignleft" width="300"] Youths of Chizami village in Phek district collect waste during the Himalayan Cleanup campaign.[/caption] The Chizami chapter of the event was organized in lieu of a similar event called the 'Clean Chizami Vision.' The press release spoke also about 'commitment to National Action Plan on Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals 2030.' Delivering the keynote address at the event was Seno Tsuhah, director of the North East Network. She spoke about the process and challenges of the campaign, the importance of mountain environment, and the role of youths and communities and Nagaland towards a cleaner, greener and sustainable management of waste. Tsuhah said "we are living in a global world with better connectivity and increased supply of products from external markets." However, the press release stated quoting her, "It has a flip side as the waste accumulation have increased due to consumerism and changing lifestyle." "Solid waste management is a challenging issue in the village and the rising amount of massive plastic waste generated is daunting," she said. She highlighted the need to "come together" to combat the menace of plastic pollution by starting with self, the press release explained. "She mentioned that the award received by Chizami for THC 2018 campaign represents our community’s solidarity, inclusive and strong cohesiveness. It was decided that the prize will be utilized solely for environment and waste management activities in the village." At the Chizami clean-up event, two teams of volunteers covered a stretch of 2.5 kilometres, starting from Lake ‘Ezii’ to Sacred Heart higher secondary school. The stretch covered important places such as two local playgrounds, a government school, and six 6 'khels' in the village, a stream, and churches etc., the updates stated. After "segregation, branding and auditing," the top waste pollutants found were pet bottles, "multi-layered plastics and single use plastics," the press release stated. It added: "Hindustan Coco cola Beverages private Ltd., Pepsico, Som Pan Products pvt. Ltd., Ahinsa Pure Water, Assam emerged as top major offenders." "This was a zero waste event as volunteers brought their own water bottles, and no plastic plates and spoons were used during lunch. It may be mentioned that Chizami cleanup team was awarded the winner in THC 2018," the press release declared. The Himalayan Cleanup for Dimapur was conducted at Padam Pukhuri village on May 25, jointly organised by local youth capacity-building group CAN Youth, North East Welfare Society, and Nature Ambassadors in collaboration with the Padam Pukhuri Village Council. Educational institutions in the area also collaborated in the event, a press release from the CAN Youth informed on Sunday. The clean-up started at 7:30 am and concluded at 3:00 pm, the updates informed. Volunteers cleaned four locations of Padam Pukhuri from the village's gate to the village council's office. The volunteers were from the CAN Youth, Eastern College, and village council members, GB and women, the source informed. 'Altogether 220.2 kg of waste were collected and 118 sacks were used. During the segregation and brand audit, most of the waste items collected were pet bottles, Gutkha packets, TetraPak, chips packets and single-use plastics,' the press release stated. There was a short interaction between the volunteers, and village council leaders about how to minimize the use of single-use plastic, and on matters about setting up bins at shops.