Promoting zero waste

Laure’s next visits were to Auroville’s four food outlets: the Pour Tous Distribution Centre (PTDC) next to the Solar Kitchen; FoodLink next to PTDC; the Pour Tous Purchasing Service (PTPS) in Aspiration community; and HERS in Kottakarai community. “I was looking into how these outlets were dealing with food packaging: was everything pre-packed in plastic or cartons, were there any package-free options?”

She found PTDC to be far ahead of the other outlets. “Many of their products are stocked in large containers and the customers have to bring their own (preferably cotton) bags and flasks to collect each item. In this way the packaging for many products is avoided.” Grains, rice, pulses, pastas, muesli, cookies, soaps, shampoos, detergents and house cleaning liquids are now available in bulk. Oils, milk, yoghurts, juices, nut butters, jams and marmalades are mostly offered in glass jars, which people return after usage. Vegetables and fruits are also offered without packaging. Only cheese, tofu products, a few milk packets, spices, non-Auroville biscuits, dried fruits and nuts come pre-packed in plastic.

Foodlink came out second best, in Laure’s assessment. It is smaller than PTDC, but also offers package-free options for vegetables, fruits, milk, pulses and rice, mainly grown locally. “But PTPS and HERS still largely rely on packaged food items. One reason is that many of their items are ‘luxury’ items, which are not available at PTDC and FoodLink. Another reason is that the management is not as convinced about the need to go for minimum waste as the management of PTDC.” 

Is it really a matter of management? “It plays a great role,” says Laure: “The change in PTDC was not brought about because of pressure from the customers, but thanks to the ideology of the management. I believe if HERS and PTPS truly want it, they would find a way to change the whole concept of their stores. And if they take the lead, consumers will definitely follow. It’s like any transition: changes come gradually, but then become habits.” 

To help HERS evolve towards package-free options, Laure and her team recently conducted a survey to ask their customers if they would like HERS to have more package-free products. Of the 404 respondents, 90% were in favour and expressed they are willing to cut down their waste. The results were presented to the HERS executives who are willing to cooperate and are now working on implementing package free options. “I think it would be very inspiring for people everywhere to see Auroville become a successful model of plastic-free, local, organic living,” wrote one participant. “Kudos to HERS for considering going this route!” wrote another, expressing the hope that PTPS will evolve along the same lines. Laure is now following this up. 

But as long as HERS and PTPS continue selling packaged foods, and as she cannot shop at PTDC [people who recently joined Auroville cannot shop at PTDC as the space is too small to allow for more customers, eds.] Laure had to look for alternative solutions. She was lucky. “I suddenly discovered a home delivery option. I met Dinesh, founder of Samarpanam farmers market, who is a middleman between local farmers and Auroville/Pondy customers. He does home-deliveries in paper bags or metal containers, which is ideal. So everybody can get their daily needs to help the environment. But it’s a shame that I have to buy from outside Auroville whereas I’d like to support the Auroville economy. But all what I need is not available package-free here.”

Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot

There is more to zero waste than package-free food. In her book Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying your Life by Reducing your Waste, Bea Johnson introduces the 5Rs to achieve Zero Waste at home – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot. The method, which she developed through years of practicing waste-free living, reduced her family’s annual trash to an amount that would fit in a pint jar. Her system is now widely used by individuals, businesses and municipalities worldwide. How is Auroville doing in this regard?

“Pretty well,” admits Laure. “I can’t say anything about the ‘refuse’ principle as this is a matter of the development of each individual’s consciousness. But we are doing quite well at reusing and recycling. We have the Free Store next to the Solar Kitchen, where all unused clothing can be dropped; there is the Maharsaraswati Free Store in Aspiration for larger items; and the Auroville Library is a big receiver of books you no longer read. There is the up-cycling studio, which tries to find new uses for waste products. And I believe many households compost their kitchen waste, so nothing goes lost. Also, attempts are ongoing to reuse waste products in construction, as has been done in the International House in the International Zone where junked waste-hoses from petrol pumps were used for railings, and corrugated sheets made from discarded tetra packs were used for roof cover. Many more attempts to creatively re-use waste are constantly being made. At the Visitors Centre, most of the packaging is not in plastic, and there people cannot buy bottled water in plastic containers – which is quite unusual for India. And last but not least, there is Auroville’s educational outreach through WasteLess.” 

The villages

While Auroville is doing relatively well in handling its garbage, an increasing amount of litter is polluting the roads and fields of the nearby villages. “The plastic industry is booming. The villages have no waste management system to collect and process the waste,” says Laure. “Aurovilians and the residents of Kuilapalayam village are suffering from uncontrolled waste dumping along the roads and the number of garbage heaps is increasing.”

The project ‘Waste Without Borders’, an initiative of Auroville’s unit Palmyra, plans to deal with the issue for the villages in the bioregion of Auroville. The project aims at creating an easy replicable zero landfill model for rural India. It includes door-to-door waste collection from 50,000 people, the transporting of this waste to a Regional Resource Recovery Center, and the processing of the waste using various technologies. The Recovery Center aims at becoming a demonstration site to showcase “the revolutionary impact of synergies between various technologies for waste processing” and so give birth to the possibility of a truly zero waste system that will end the need for landfills. Funding for the first phase of this project is being sought.

Find Laure on Instagram and Facebook as EcoLorette where she documents her journey towards zero waste.



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