National Games, Suchitwa Mission and US
GREEN PROTOCOL: A SMALL STEP FOR SPORTS, A BIG LEAP FOR HUMANITY
Memoirs of Dr.C.N.Manoj and Dr.K.Vasuki IAS, Green Protocol Committee, National Games
Mind, body and spirit - The
primary goals of any sport event! 35th National Games gave yet
another novel goal for the young and strong of future India - Environment!. With
many firsts, a novel initiative of insinuating environmental protection inside
sports was undertaken. The ensuing words will capture the essence of this Endeavor.
“Earth
is not disposable”. So they say. Thus when we “despised the disposables and
adored the re-usable”, for the first time in the history of our nation an event
of this magnitude was organized with almost absolute absence of disposable
materials thereby preventing waste generation - right at the start.
Discipline,
dedication, endurance, esprit DE corps, leadership, sportsmanship……so
are the values taught using sports as a medium. For the first time in the
history of sports, imparting environmental consciousness, not just among sports
persons but to each and every individual associated with the event, was given
equal importance if not more. Spectators who walked in with the mood for
entertainment walked out with a mind for environment.
Reduce,
reuse, and recycle. So were we taught! For the first time in history of the
nation each and every one of these textbook words broke free from print and
sprinted with life all through the games. All the utilities for National Games
was planned in such a manner that maximum importance was given for prevention
of waste generation, many of the items used are still being reused and all that
could not be reused were sent for recycling. Above all the three musketeers
found a found fourth musketeer “Refuse” when we refused all environment
degrading materials and “replaced” them with environment friendly materials.
“Waste
is but a design flaw”. So said a great mind! We stuck to these words and for
the first in our country an event of this magnitude was “designed” to make it a
Zero Waste Event.
“The
reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in
trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the
unreasonable man. - George Bernardshaw.”
This
is an unreasonable story.
Clean and green National Games
Was
conceived and declared in 2012 by the then Sports Minister of Kerala, Shri.M.Vijayakumar. Doing
that, the proprietors would have envisaged greener venues, more tree plantings
and a few banners proclaiming that. Never in anybodies, it would have occurred, in 2015,
the 35th National Games would rewrite what “clean and Green” means.
Was
conceived and declared in 2012 by the then Sports Minister of Kerala, Shri.M.Vijayakumar. Doing
that, the proprietors would have envisaged greener venues, more tree plantings
and a few banners proclaiming that. Never in anybodies, it would have occurred, in 2015,
the 35th National Games would rewrite what “clean and Green” means. |
| THE OFFICIAL LOGO OF NATIONAL GAMES |
It all started when Shri Shine
Varghese, A UST Global official met Dr.C.N.Manoj, Trustee, Pelican Foundation
at his office at Cherthala, Alleppey, Kerala, an April 2014 morning. Shine,
National Coordinator for Taekwondo Federation of India, wanted to invite
delegates to clean venues in National Games. He wanted a massive cleanup drive
of the venues and the roads leading to them mobilizing the 20000 strong
taekwondo members.
That was when the first salvo was
fired!! Dr.Priya of Pelican Foundation asked – where are we going to put this
collected waste?? In whose backyard?.
Meanwhile the
same question was aired at a small stake holders meeting chaired by Dr.Vasuki
IAS, Executive Director, Suchitwa Mission, the previous week.
By cleaning
up aren’t we giving a wrong message: You may litter, we will remove it!
That’s not
the way. For a change why can’t we stop waste being created in the first place?
When Dr.Manoj met Dr.Vasuki the next week, the final pieces of the puzzle fell
in place. Green protocol had a new meaning, abbreviated as GP; it will
be known as Garbage preventer rather than garbage picker.
Baby
steps of the Green Protocol Committee: Even before the formal constitution of
the Green Protocol Committee, the two crusaders of GP started participating,
(read “hijacking”) in various committee meetings where Green Protocol has to be
observed. Convincing people on the possibilities of a disposable free event was
not an easy one. People were concerned about hygiene, about logistics and the
“practicality” of the idea. The more people were skeptical the more we were
convinced about our idea. Their doubts and questions filled in the blanks that
we had.
The very process of
winning arguments, converting people and painting their vision green, gave a
feeling of winning our minor battles before the major war. That in it gave a
sense of achievement to GP, whether or not it will be successfully implemented
because we were already accomplishing what we set out for, bringing an attitude
change.
In
November 2014, it dawned to all, with just 80 days ahead, is it possible to
pull this out?
 |
Building team and convincing brought Peoples
representatives, bureaucrats, NGO’s, technical and social scientists &
experts, to the table and field.
|
Close to a
miracle!! And that miracle came in the form of Shri Jacob Punnose, CEO,
National Games Organizing committee. He summed up his attitude on GP “I have not
purchased a packaged drinking water bottle ever in my life. This is the best
thing to happen in National Games, next only to the Games itself”.
That
was a good start. It put us all back to track, with reinvented energy. We
realized we got the last missing link to the National Games operations. But
what next? The task ahead was humongous. 30 venues stretching over 600 Km across spanning
across 7 revenue districts, more than 12000 delegates, 3000 officials, a lakh
spectators per day, around 20000 volunteers and police personals. The answer
came from the CEO himself. “We will try. If we fail, it is still worth trying”.
Next day the first draft of GP was in place, quoted below, is a reminder how much clarity we had in our thought process.
The primary deliverables of GP was very clear
- “despise the disposables”. Once we started conceptualizing the above tasks,
it dawned to us – waste management need not be managing
the waste generated – it can be reduction in waste!! Just by avoiding the
disposables, we were actually achieving the biggest challenge – segregation, that
too in a fast and furious event like National Games.
However GP had a disconnect with the folks who handled sports. "waste"--- in National Games - - -How and why we should bother? Expected, A question asked by all those who have not seen the back stage, not only in sports but in any walks of life.
we made this story for them.
Significance
of National Games and what GP can do there got more clarity.
National game is a mile stone every Indian sportsperson strives to achieve. But the bitter truth is, no matter how much the body is
trained to achieve health and well being, it doesn’t materialize unless each of
us strain ourselves to maintain a healthy environment. All National Games
delegates, with this thought, step into Kerala, famous for its cleanliness and
environmental friendliness. National games can be a wonderful platform to
catalyze a cultural revolution that our country needs. Our messages for
adopting responsible waste management practices could be best heard if we could
use this monumental event well. If executed with commitment, it could be a
great hit as the cleanest and greenest event that has ever happened.
That Helped! The whole sports family fell in line.
One more step forward. So
where are we going to interfere? How can we avoid the disposables?
 |
Jam packed stadiums without packaged drinking water were nightmares
for us.
|
We started
small. By banning disposables in the most controllable area, Games Village,
with 600 cottages, around 6000 delegates, but inside a compound, with one vendor providing
food. That led us to the next door - The food committee. It took all of us, to
get the food committee, start listening to us. Very reasonable! They would
rather have tons of waste than have one delegate a loose bowel. That is when we
realized that we are trying to break a “10 year old” tradition, a new “life
style” practices that “safe food is with disposable package, anything in
reusable cutlery have a chance of microbial infection.” It took immense effort
to convince our own team members the other way. We debated on the following
questions.
Isn’t the
disposable culture, a planned event? By the markets? Creating paranoia amongst
the deceived public to sell their products! What were the same folks doing 10
years back when the disposables were just catching up? We all coexisted reusing
the cutleries, carrying a reusable water bottle and eating out of biodegradable
leaf plates. Suddenly we are all sensitive to infection?
Every
one claims that introduction of disposables has reduced infection rates though
it has never been documented under any research in our country. The idea food
and water can be safe only in disposable packaging has been propagated so much
by the manufacturers of such products themselves, that it has proved the theory
that advertisements can be more convincing than scientific facts and that
perceptions are more important than truth.
If this is the case why is
that five star hotels use reusable cutleries instead of disposables? Was every event in the past ended up in food
poisoning or on the contrary, whether all events organized today with
disposables are free from infections? Food poisoning occurs mainly during the
process of making food rather than because of the medium in which it is served.
The fact that unsafe water enter packaged drinking water by the many loopholes
in the distribution network once again reiterate the point that the source of
water is more important than the pack it comes in.
We
placed all the above arguments and more, and tried convincing that a little bit
of inconvenience, a little bit of restructuring the logistics plan and fund management;
we can prevent huge environmental costs by preventing unscientific dumping. One
such meeting is a memorable one where the members went to the extremes to prove
that this cannot be done. They cited the procedures of food logistics that had
no significance whether or not GP is in place, until we pointed out its
irrelevance. We were simply dealing
with the typical textbook definition of resistance to change and fear of the
unknown. Such interactions taught us a lot on “mind change management.” One of
the best strategies was taught to us by Sri.Gopinath, IPS National Games organizing
committee, who initially supported all of their arguments, sided with them and
even argued against GP. We realized where he stands when only to end the
deliberations, he threw out the final punch words “Yes I agree with you! It is
close to impossible but if you make it possible you will do a great service not
only to Kerala but to whole humanity” – concluding the matter.
The formal decision to conduct
the event in a disposable free manner aiming at Zero waste event was taken on
the first Green Protocol Committee meeting on December 4th. Truth be
told, the team had to pinch itself to make sure that it was not a dream that it
was decided at the highest level that an event of this magnitude will be
conducted as a disposable free event. Bu the reality also told us that this is
a daunting task, an attempt nobody has ever tried ever before. But the words
that kept us motivated all through the event were once again that of CEO,
National Games, when he kept saying “even if we fail, let us fail trying for a
good cause”.
This battle is tougher than
conventional warfare as it is a fight against long established attitude and
habits towards disposables.It was the
youngsters in the team, who lived a major fraction of their life with disposables,
than the elders, who picked it up first. They realized their future is at
stake, due to a habit forced on them. Sruthi, a find of cine actor Suresh Gopi
was to lead. Brought up as an environmentalist by her parents, she met Suresh
Gopi for assistance in starting organic farming in unused land in Trivandrum,
while doing her ACS. She and her team Jithu, Ebi and Dipu – provided our first thrust.
The
Green Protocol Committee decided to engage the team for a few awareness programs
promoting the significance of “Clean and Green National Games”. Thus was born “AMMU* & KATHU* CLEAN VENUES”, an initiative
by which various community groups like Residents associations, Students Police,
Chamber of commerce, sports councils etc were requested to take charge of waste
dump spots in and around the venue, segregate the waste into recyclable and
biodegradable. The biodegradable waste were filled into grow bags and planted
with ornamental plants. The dump sites were converted to beautiful gardens
overnight. No wastes were further dumped into the area since then.
Cleaned up
areas and the garden were monitored and maintained in a daily basis, with Kerala
Police adding muscle to the care takers. Suchitwa Mission pitched in with grow
bags & sanitary materials like sanitizers, hand gloves, face mask etc. It
was truly a people’s movement, the message loud and clear. People want change, a
clean neighborhood and are ready to participate too.
(*ammu:
mascot of National games & Kathu of Suchitwa Mission, the nodal agency for
Sanitation in Kerala.)
“Ammu and Kathu provided our boosters. People started believing us.
GP got frequently mentioned in the meetings. While Ammu and Kathu were on
roads, the GP committee got reorganized. FPR’s were identified, tasks defined,
micromanaged & assigned to the most apt member of the team. SS water
bottles, cups & plates, composting bins, were ordered. Shri Suresh Gopi
again showed the lead by donating 3000 plates and cups. 700 volunteers were
recruited by Suchitwa mission across Kerala and trained.
The
District Organizing committee (DOC), caterers, and the venue managers were the
key. They could make GP a success or failure. Again the universe conspired.
Dr.Karthikeyan, Sub-Collector, Trivandrum Corporation (and soul mate of
Dr.vasuki) took a stand, to dispassionately execute the GP decisions. In him we
found the operations man who could get the act together, without emotions. Once
Trivandrum started getting converted, other districts started watching. Kannur
with its eco-friendly collector Shri Balakiran and efficient suchitwa mission
officer Sudevan was the next to respond. One by one all the other districts switched on. GP, thus only conceived
initially for Trivandrum got its anchoring in all the six districts – Kollam,
Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Trichur, Kozhikode and Kannur – covering all the venues.
By the time
the above exercises were over, it was Jan 1st. New Year just passed
by. There was no time even for a customary wish. Nobody noticed. We were all
damn busy working, 16 hrs days, 20 hr days staring at us. We now need
to communicate, effectively, swiftly and clearly, without any dilution to the
1000 odd team, train them and prepare for the job nobody has done before.
THE SHOT
IN THE ARM:
Will the delegates comply with this? Detractors
were back!!. We decided to check out. A Chef De mission (of all participating
states) meeting scheduled towards the last week of Jan was the testing ground.
Dr.Vasuki managed to squeeze in a slot and made an appeal from the heart. The
results were overwhelming. Every official, from all states in India, Personally
met the Green protocol committee members and appreciated the initiative. They
promised to carry back home the story. They wanted a Letter. Dr.Manoj was quick
enough to get a single pager signed by CEO, NG, Jacob Punnose for distribution
within an hour. It read as below
Date:19-01-2015
To
Dear Sir/Madam,
The preparations for the National Games 2015 are now
reaching its final stages. While gearing up for the last lap, we would like to
welcome you all to a “Clean and Green” National games. For the first time in
India, environmental considerations will be of equal importance as Sports in a
National Games.
Kerala, for many decades, has been famous for
cleanliness and environmental friendliness. We have a very strict waste
management policy to enable us to maintain that tradition and live up to the reputation.
The policy is based on the message of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover”.
Hence as the Head of the National Games Organising Committee, I request you to practice
the following guidelines issued by Suchitwa Mission, and adopted by the NGOC.
1. “Despise the disposables”. Packagings
like aluminum foils, plastic wrappers etc create soiled waste and hence are difficult
to recycle. Avoiding both is best.
2. Packaged drinking water is to be
avoided. Every guest will be provided a personalized water bottle, which, each
is requested to refill as required from the dispensers distributed at the
venues and the village. Delegates will be assisted by volunteers for refill.
3. No waste generated, be it wrappers of
merchandise, equipments or fruit and vegetable peals, should be strewn around.
Every individual should carry segregated waste to the manned waste bins and
deposit in the designated waste bin only.
4. Do not throw waste in public places.
5. Do not waste food.
6. All sanitary waste, Diapers, napkins,
medicines, syringes, used tissue paper etc (with body fluids) should be dropped
into the bin marked for the same in venue and games village.
Healthy mind in a healthy body is the dream of every
sportsperson. This can never be achieved unless we train in a healthy
environment. What our country needs is such an environment. National games can
be a wonderful platform to train our minds to adopt and promote responsible
waste management habits. Let this Games be the cleanest and greenest event that
has ever happened in the history of our nation, triggering a cultural
revolution in the pursuit of environmental protection.
I request all concerned to provide all support for this
unprecedented green initiative in India
1. Dr. K. Vasuki, IAS, Executive Director, Suchitwa Mission (Nodal agency for waste management, Government of Kerala) - +91-9447759854
2. Dr. C. N. Manoj, Joint Executive Coordinator, Green Protocol Committee, National games - +91 - 9447365542
Thanking you
With warm regards
Jacob Punnose
For National Games 2015 Committee.
Outcome: The
Green Protocol SOP (standard operating procedure).
The Green
Protocol SOP may be known for long that changed the way man live. The doc may
be of its first kind, explicitly telling how and why minor adjustments in life
style and accepting a few inconveniences like washing our utensils, avoiding
disposables can make a difference how we handover our earth to the next
generations. The Green Protocol SOP became the operational guide lines for many
programs conducted immediately after the National Games. The state CPM party
congress and the congregation of 30 Lakh women for attukal pongala saw “green
protocols”. Many more are to follow. The Green protocol SOP looked like this in
Yantha.com
News
National Games 2015: Simple Steps To Keep Games Green
Ban of plastic and disposable materials saves 3000 tonnes
of waste | Akhil Rajarathinam
On Feb 05, 2015
Trivandrum: One of the highlights
in the 35th National Games is the Green Protocol that has been adopted by the
Games. Around 700 Suchitwa Mission volunteers have been deployed for the
disposal of the waste created. It is also learnt that these volunteers have
the additional responsibility of spreading awareness on the green
initiatives.
Dr. Manoj, head of Pelican Foundation, an NGO working with research in biotechnology and sustainable process, and JEC of the National Games Green Protocol said that, through this Games, Kerala will be giving a message to the whole country. “The 35th National Games will be devoid of bottled water and other plastic products after we implemented the ban of plastic and disposable materials at the venues. This has reduced the waste to a huge extent. Without this concept, the committee expected a total of 3000 tonnes of waste from the venues. |
“We wanted to go back to a green environment which was
here 20 years back. The green protocol committee has decided to avoid
disposable materials and provide But, Suchitwa Mission, headed by Dr. M
Vasuki proposed the idea of ‘zero-waste campaign’ for clean and green Games
discarding the use of all disposable items during the games,” said Dr. Manoj
while speaking to Yentha. Alternatives
including steel glasses, tumblers and ceramic plates. Also, the athletes will
be provided a free steel flask to collect water. This will replace the 6-8
bottle water bottles per person, otherwise required, ” added Manoj.
|
We were All
set, 2 more days to go for the curtain raiser, what followed was CHAOS
– the
prologue ends here, what happened next – for the general public – was “The
Green games”. But for the green protocol team, it was a war – with the
mindset of the society, difficulty of the mankind to change, to see and
understand the catastrophe ahead.
In 2012, the National Games Organizing
Committee (NGOC) was worrying how to take care of the waste generated out of a
lakh of people engaged every day. In 2015, the Green Protocol team just sat
back and watched un-littered venues and Games Village (the residential area for
National Games delegates).
