WasteLess

The WasteLess team made a presentation to the community on 26 July about their Sea Change Programme. This educational initiative has reached over 13,499 Tamil Nadu government school students, transforming their understanding of marine plastic pollution and nurturing the next generation of environmental advocates.

Try to imagine a life without water. Just think of your morning routine: you drink water from your filter or tap, you flush your toilet, take a shower and brush your teeth.

WasteLess, the Auroville unit that for the last 12 years has specialized in developing education on waste management, in its first Newsletter writes that it is in financial difficulty and is struggling to stay afloat, even though many community members have pledged their generous support.

Recently, Jay Naidoo, an ex-freedom fighter from South Africa, visited Auroville and addressed an important question to the youth: “You say you are open to everyone and invite people from all over the world, but have you actually created an environment where African people can integrate into the community?”

Since the unit’s launch in 2010 with the large-scale Litter Free Auroville Campaign, WasteLess has featured several times in the pages of Auroville Today.

International Youth Day is celebrated annually on the 12th August globally, and marks YouthLink’s largest annual event in Auroville. This year it was celebrated around the world, focusing on the theme of “Intergenerational Solidarity'', which it remains ever so important to be reminded of, even within the Auroville context.

The distant worlds of Zanskar, in the north Indian Himalayas, and Auroville’s coastal plains, met in December through the visit of Lobzang Wangtak, a Zanskari activist who journeyed down for the Auroville Learning Exchange (ALE).

On the 28th February, the RE-CENTRE welcomed the community to the inauguration of a multi-discipline centre dedicated to tackling humanity's most dirty problem – waste.

Auroville receives a minimum of 300 volunteers per year from more than 30 nationalities and this number is increasing every year. An official volunteer (registered with Savi) works at least 24 hours per week in one occupation from 120 work positions available in Auroville.

On Saturday 21st September, as part of the Global Climate Strikes and World Clean Up day, Auroville youth organized events to address challenges related to plastic consumption and the consequences of climate change, such as rising sea levels.

I wonder if this is a shared rationale, and whether being exposed from a young age to a dynamic and participatory learning environment is conducive to engaging in creating such opportunities.

The WasteLess team’s efforts to bring the issue of waste into our consciousness and inspire change in social behaviour through education have recently been taken up by the Tamil Nadu government.

The Journey of Auroville is a project under the special grants from the Government of India for Auroville’s 50th anniversary. Officially started with the Auroville Expo in Delhi, which took place in November 2017 and comprised an exhibition and two conferences at the Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts and the UNESCO Office, this 50th anniversary commemorative project has evolved into a festival format to reflect the many facets of Auroville’s vision and realities over the past fifty years.

The garbage heaps on the fields and along the roads leading into Auroville are increasing. What’s being done about it?

The Sea Trashion show draws a crowd and the RE-CENTRE begins.

The Education Secretary for Tamil Nadu has agreed to integrate a Garbology chapter into the Social Studies textbooks for two grades and the Garbology information boxes for grades 1-10.

A key highlight of the Litter Free Auroville celebrations has long been the Trashion Show, and this year was no different. A beyond full-capacity crowd at the Visitor’s Centre witnessed an incredible display of beautiful and creative fashion designs made out of trash.

Auroville, a melting pot of arts, culture, science and society, has been involved in many educational outreach initiatives since the 1980’s.

One of the most interesting initiatives to emerge out of the Auroville Retreat was the Integral Entrepreneurship Lab (IEL). Here some of the core team talk about its objectives and what they have been working on so far.

Gerald Frape is a social issues communicator who has been working for 35 years with government and non-government organizations on a wide range of social and environmental issues.