Panchamithras- Friends of Nature

1. Mukkala Nammalwar Chetty Vivekananda Vidyalaya
Kundrathur, Chennai 69
Panchamithras - Friends of Nature
Panchamithras – D. Manikandan, Dilip Prabhakaran, S.Dhivyasri, P.Amruthavarshini & L.Nivetha
Feel
Problems that bothered us
1. Traffic jam at the market place.
2. Traffic signal not functioning properly the cross road.
3. Low lying electric cables broken by passing vehicles.
4. Damaged roads.
5. Drainage block due to plastic waste.
6. Growth of weeds in vacant land.
7. Unhealthy, unhygienic roadside food stalls.
8. Lack of proper drainage system in extended areas of Kundrathur.
9. Littered plastic waste in and around the school premises.

2. Talk to people involved
We talked to the residents around the school locality regarding the
problems faced by them regularly (Sambandam nagar & Manickam nagar). The
following were the problems listed
1. Too much of mosquitoes
2. Blockage in the sewage line
3. Over flow of sewage water
4. Breathing problems
5. Irritation of eyes etc.
We discussed with the residents as to why these problems are prevailing in
our locality. The reasons are: the littered plastic waste blocks the drainage line
and leads to the overflow of sewage water into the streets which breeds germs
and mosquitoes causing several diseases among the residents, burning of
plastics garbage also leads to breathing problems and irritation of the eyes, the
plastic waste littered spoils the beauty of nature
Imagine
Problem Chosen
To fight against plastic waste generated in and around the school locality.
Reason
Problems like low lying electric cables, traffic signals, traffic jam etc need
to be solved by the officials of governing bodies. Plastic garbage, misuse of
plastic is considered as the main cause for many problems listed above. We
were emotionally disturbed by the news of outbreak of communicable
diseases like dengue, cholera in several places. Clearing plastic litters and
creating awareness among the public could be done by ourselves so we
selected the problem.
Solutions
Create awareness about hazards of plastics to the students
Create awareness about plastic pollution to the residents by arranging
for a meeting of local residents at school.
Cleaning the locality with the co-operation of school mates, residents
and NGO (Hand-in-Hand)

3. Keeping information boards in locality, which insist the proper
segregation of waste and harmful effects of plastic.
Final decision
To create awareness among the residents and to clean the area of
plastic waste, with the help of the Vidyalaya students and Hand – in –
Hand a nongovernmental organization in Kundrathur.
Do
Resources needed to implement the solution.
Pamphlets – to invite residents to the meeting held at school with
information for segregation of biodegradable and non biodegradable
waste
Placards – carrying messages related to plastic waste management
Badges, meeting hall with mike, chairs, projector with LCD, camera,
gloves, facemask, tools for cleaning, bags, band to draw attention etc.,
People needed
Scouts, Guides and JRC students from the Vidyalaya.
Volunteers from NGO (Hand-in-Hand)
Members of residential associations to do follow up work
Residents from the locality (Sambandam nagar & Manickam Nagar)
Principal and teachers of the Vidyalaya.
Budget required
Money needed for pamphlets and awareness boards to be kept at
vantage points of the locality.
This is our story of change
The plastic waste littered around our school premises troubled us so
much that we thought we should do something to create awareness
among the residents of the area about the hazards of plastics, how it
affects the environment and also the living creatures.
o Prepared pamphlets and placards for an alertness walk
o Sought permission from Principal to organize a meeting for the
residents in the school premises, to use the LCD projector, help of
Scouts, Guides and JRC Students to help clean the locality
o Went on an alertness walk
o Invited the residents for a meeting
o Issued pamphlets about segregation of domestic waste.
o Met the Sambandam nagar welfare association president to invite
for the meeting.
o Sought the help of NGO (Hand-in-Hand) to help clear the plastic
waste.

4. o Appealed to the school students to sponsor some old newspapers
to meet the budget requirement.
o Cleaning of the locality was done on two days – 13th & 14th
September 2012.
o Collected the old newspapers from the students.
o Sold the old news papers to the old newspaper mart and
generated Rs. 820.00
o Displayed placards carrying slogans stressing the importance of
segregating plastics waste and keeping the earth a better place to
live
Outcome
o A teacher has decided to avoid items made of plastics to be
presented to others during functions and celebrations.
o The residents have promised to segregate the waste as
degradable and non degradable
o Students have promised to speak to their parents about reducing
the use of plastics.
What we learnt and how we felt at the end?
We learnt valuable lessons while working on “Design for Change”. Our
respect and faith in Mahatma Gandhi’s words “Be the change” has increased
multifold. We realized that in order to bring the desired change outside, inner
change is the first step.
When we get ready to do something really good, we get the help and
support of a number of people. Winning the support of the local residents is
necessary to make this everlasting. Taking the first step was difficult. After
taking that, the rest of it was easy as we developed a lot of confidence.
When we try something on our own, quite a few people criticize but we
should not get discouraged by it. We have realized and have started reducing
the use of plastics and have also brought a positive change in our family
members and friends. But there is still a lot to be done and to achieve
complete success a continuous effort must be made to make our locality
‘plastic free’. We feel happy that we have taken the first step towards it. We
will make this world a better place to live.

5. Preparing placards and pamphlets
Alertness Walk

6. Inviting the residents for a meeting
PowerPoint presentation on hazards of plastics

7. Cleaning the area with the help of students of the Vidyalaya and
NGO (hand-in-hand)
Students at work

8. Panchamithras & their team
Panchamithras with Principal and Members of NGO (Hand-In-Hand)

9. Old Newspapers collected from students
Old Newspapers being sold to Old newspaper mart

10. Information boards put up at vantage points