Rural Plastic Waste Management Study 2022

We study so that children learn about the environment.

State

15 States

District (1)

70 Districts

Village

700 Villages

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Environmental Studies is a part of all children’s education in India. Like most other very interesting subjects, there is a danger that EVS will become a bookish exercise. Pratham’s Learning for Life curriculum will soon undertake an exercise to help rural Indian children learn about the environment using its 4Ex framework – Expose, Explore, Experiment and Exchange. Children will be first exposed to information, then encouraged to explore issues in their villages and experiment with solutions. The children will then exchange their experiences. In order to create engaging learning experiences in environmental education for children, we needed to understand the situation and be aware of the facets of the plastic problem in rural India. Therefore, Pratham conducted an exploratory study in its project villages. In May 2022, a study encompassing 8400 households, in 700 villages across 70 districts and 15 states was conducted by 700 Pratham staff and volunteers. Data was collected from households, establishments such as schools, eateries, hospitals, as well as scrap dealers present at the villages, and members of the gram panchayat. The observations and inferences from this study will be woven into a curriculum to introduce children to different types of plastic, the problems they may cause and the ways to manage different plastic waste. Early analysis of the data indicate that majority of multi-layered and flexible plastics like polythene bags, plastic wrappers, sachets etc. are either burned or discarded with the rest of the waste in the households. Less than 30% households are aware of negative impacts of burning plastics and majority of rural households burn such plastics regularly. It is expected that the 4Ex learning exercise will help to make the children aware and participate in solving the problem at household and village level from an early age.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Environmental Studies is a part of all children’s education in India. Like most other very interesting subjects, there is a danger that EVS will become a bookish exercise. Pratham’s Learning for Life curriculum will soon undertake an exercise to help rural Indian children learn about the environment using its 4Ex framework – Expose, Explore, Experiment and Exchange. Children will be first exposed to information, then encouraged to explore issues in their villages and experiment with solutions. The children will then exchange their experiences. In order to create engaging learning experiences in environmental education for children, we needed to understand the situation and be aware of the facets of the plastic problem in rural India. Therefore, Pratham conducted an exploratory study in its project villages. In May 2022, a study encompassing 8400 households, in 700 villages across 70 districts and 15 states was conducted by 700 Pratham staff and volunteers. Data was collected from households, establishments such as schools, eateries, hospitals, as well as scrap dealers present at the villages, and members of the gram panchayat. The observations and inferences from this study will be woven into a curriculum to introduce children to different types of plastic, the problems they may cause and the ways to manage different plastic waste. Early analysis of the data indicate that majority of multi-layered and flexible plastics like polythene bags, plastic wrappers, sachets etc. are either burned or discarded with the rest of the waste in the households. Less than 30% households are aware of negative impacts of burning plastics and majority of rural households burn such plastics regularly. It is expected that the 4Ex learning exercise will help to make the children aware and participate in solving the problem at household and village level from an early age.

FINDINGS TO BE RELEASED IN

Findings of our study

STUDY STAKEHOLDERS

Households

Kabadiwalas

General/Medical Stores

Tea/Snack Stalls

Sarpanch

Clinics/Hospitals

OUR JOURNEY

प्लास्टिक सर्वे मॉनेटरिंग के दौरान मैंने अनुभव किया की, कबाड़ीवाला हमरा हीरो है।

कबाड़ीवाले का सर्वे करते समय हमारे सर्वकर्ताओं के व्यवहार व बातचीत में

उनके प्रति आदर व सम्मान के भाव देखें जा सकते थे।

दिनेश बोरसे, मेंटर लीडर, छत्तीसगढ

गाँव के लोग बहुत ही इंटरेस्ट से सर्वे में भाग ले रहे थे, और अपने गाँव में प्लास्टिक को लेकर चिंतित थे।

उन्होंने बताया की गाँव में प्लास्टिक की थैली खाकर बहुत सारे जानवर बीमार पड़ जाते हैं और उनकी मौत हो जाती

है जिसके कारन उन्हें काफी नुकसान होता है।

रविकांत चतुर्वेदी, मेंटर लीडर, मध्य प्रदेश

गाँव में लोगो से सवाल पूछने पर उनको भी ज्ञात हुआ की हमारे खुद के घर से भी

बहुत तरह के कचरे निकलते है जिसपर उनका ध्यान इससे पहले नहीं गया था।

मेघा, मेंटर लीडर ,रांची, झारखंड

प्लास्टिक एक विकार है,
सर्वे आया पहली बार है,
सफल शत् प्रतिशत रहा ऐसा हमारा सद्विचार है,
क्योंकि हर प्रथम कार्यकर्ता था बना, इसका करणधार हैl

जग राम सिंह, मेंटर लीडर, उत्तर प्रदेश

STORIES FROM THE GROUND

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipi- scing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tin- cidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat vo- lutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nos- trud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipi- scing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tin- cidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat vo- lutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nos- trud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure

EXPERT ADVISORS

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