USE ME

KOODA DAAN

Heena Vyas (26 yrs, Female)Information and Interface Design

National Institute of Design, Bengaluruheena.v@nid.edu | +91 8722178418

Cleanliness is next to Godliness!

PROBLEM / ISSUE ADDRESSED

What are amenities?Things that make life easier or more enjoyable are amenities - meaning they are unnecessary, but desirable. Examples of amenities are things like escalators and toilets; they assist in making life more convenient yet are not required for survival. Public facilities and utilities are other types of amenities.

Cleanliness is next to GodlinessThis is what we all have been taught since we were kids, but how much of this do we practice in real life? We can place as many garbage bins in the city and the roads might still remain dirty. What we need is to instil the motivation in every individual to use them.

My Design InterventionMy concept is the design of a Garbage Bin as a public amenity in such a way that every individual feels the need to use it. I am not targeting the waste management process but the process of collection of waste.In this document I am talking specifically in the context of Mumbai as an example, but it can be extended to any city, town or village.

Mumbai, a major city in India With more than 18 million inhabitants, the most popular and populous city of India 6th most populated city of the world The richest city and entertainment capital of India Also the commercial hub of India, attracting thousands of immigrants from all over the country This has resulted in a spike in urban poverty giving rise to slums in Mumbai. According to statistics 62% of people live in slums, making it a considerable percentage of the total population of Mumbai. Even as the Census figures indicate a reducing population growth in the city as compared to the previous decades, the garbage generated by Mumbaikars over the past one year has grown by an enormous amount. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) environment status report (ESR) for the year 2011-12, the exhausting capacity of dumping grounds is set to make garbage disposal a matter of serious concern in the future. Presently there are very few garbage bins, and the ones present are already overflowing with no one to clean them Though the city boasts of being so advanced, every year in monsoons city drains get clogged causing floods in Mumbai. A major reason for this is garbage in the sewage which results in clogging.

There have been many “zero garbage” campaigns in Mumbai but they have never been 100% successful. The basic civic sense is what lacks among people. There are drives that involve active participation of private property owners and housing societies and the corporation also levies substantial fines against those who fail to comply in the recycling of garbage. But until and unless each Mumbaikar as an individual doesn’t take the responsibility of managing his own garbage, these kinds of drives will not succeed.

DESIGN CONCEPT

BrainstormingPublic amenities as such was a very broad topic to select from. I tried brainstorming on various topics as shown in the figure alongside. In order to make the scope of selection narrower, I selected Mumbai as my target and researched on the problems regarding public amenities, existing in Mumbai.

Arriving at final idea!!I have my vacations and I am back home in Mumbai. The other day I saw a lady, in her thirties rushing towards an oncoming train at peak office hours at Dadar station, when suddenly she threw some old tickets from her pocket on the station. I rushed to her and said that it was inappropriate for an educated woman like her to do so but all that she said to me was “When in Rome, do as Romans do” and rushed again to board her local. Intrigued I walked around the station to look for a bin but couldn’t find one.

This is where the idea of a much required garbage bin struck me. Whether on railway stations, roads or any public area, well designed garbage bins are required, which would not only facilitate disposing waste but also motivate more and more Mumbaikars to do so.

The name of my garbage bin is “Kooda Daan” where,Kooda = Garbage / TrashDaan = DonateSo, donate your valuable garbage for a productive cause and help your city be clean, green and disease free.

RESEARCH & CONCEPTUALIZATION

Cleanliness attracts Cleanliness and Garbage attracts GarbageIf a corner on the road is filled with garbage, everybody will throw garbage in that corner rather than in a clean area. So why not get rid of dirty corners itself? If there are bins provided, people will not litter places around.

Basic civic senseOne of the major reasons why people lack the sense of hygiene and cleanliness (which has NOTHING to do with somebody being poor / rich, educated / uneducated, or corrupt / not corrupt) is the lack of education and a sense of belongingness. An Indian when abroad will follow all rules of hygiene in public places, but in India he again litters like everybody around him. Why is that so? There is a very well known saying in Hindi, “Taali ek haath se nahi bajhti (it takes two hands to clap)”. So, while it is true that he tends to not feel responsible and accountable to keep his city clean, it is also true that the government provides very little opportunities for the taxpayers to do so. It has to be taught at a very basic level in school itself about not only cleanliness and its benefits but also to question the wrong doer and make him accountable. As a child, I was taught the importance of cleanliness in school when sweeping and swabbing were a part of my educational learning and that is why this issue is close to my heart.Taking the example of the same lady at Dadar station. I asked her not to litter the station, she walked past me arguing with me. If another person would have questioned her, she would have maybe ignored him too. But if everybody around her questions her and makes her accountable for littering the station, she might not do it again.

Clean city, Green cityPlacing garbage bins will help keep the city clean, but will it ensure a green city? The waste disposed can be segregated into biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. There could be periodic checks to ensure proper segregation. The biodegradable waste can then be used to make compost and the same will be used for plants planted in the trash cans.

Garbage used for Making compost, a key ingredient in organic farming Generating electricity Recycling paper consequentially also saving trees Producing Bio gas Metal scrap recycling

Religions, a soft spot in IndiaIn many metros today, there are murals of deities in public places so that people do not urinate or spit alongside the pathways. Similar attempts should be made in all the places to stop people from not only urinating or spitting in public places but also from throwing garbage.

Trashcans can be beautiful!The trashcans should be beautiful, clean and inviting so that the common man feels like using them. They can be made from recyclable material as well. Beautiful but inexpensive so that they can be deployed in huge numbers.

FINAL PRODUCT

Thermocol Model of ConceptAs a prototype, I made the model in thermocol to get a final shape of the product.

Front View

Side View

Top View

Final Product

How Biodegradable Is Your Trash?The following chart outlines the estimated amount of time it takes these everyday household items to decompose when they are exposed to light and air.

Banana peel 2 months Notebook paper 3 monthsComic book 6 monthsWool mitten 1 yearCardboard milk carton 5 yearsWooden baseball bat 20 yearsLeather baseball glove 40 years Steel can 100 yearsAluminum soda can 350 yearsPlastic sandwich bag 400 yearsPlastic six-pack ring 450 yearsPolystyrene foam cup Maybe neverCar tire Maybe neverGlass bottle Maybe never

Segregated sections for Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable wastes.

Base of bin fastened with screws to avoid theft of the garbage binPush to throw trash

I am the Golden Jade plant and I get my nutrients from compost made from trash donated by you. Thank you to help me keep your city CLEAN & GREEN!!मैं हूँ गोल्डेन जेड पौधा और मुझे मेरा पालन पोषण मिलता है आपके दान किये गए कूड़े से बने खाद से. आपके शहर को हरा भरा रखने में मेरी मदद करने के लिए शुक्रिया.

Biodegradable Waste Non-biodegradable Waste

CONCEPT NOTE

In Conclusion:I wanted to design a product which had more than just its normal usage. From some important trivia about biodegradable materials, to a slip attached to the plant with its name, this bin is more than just a waste discarding product.

Following are some of the key points of Kooda Daan: Kooda Daan comprises of two compartments, one for biodegradable waste and the other for non-biodegradable waste There would be regular cleaning of the bin to ensure that cleanliness is maintained and is encouraging for everybody to use it An alarming 62% people live in slums and slum inhabitants are generally assumed to be uneducated and therefore ignorant of the importance of health and hygiene. Kooda Daan targets the entire city regardless of such demographic disparity in Mumbai. Trained workers from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation(BMC) would check for proper segregation of the waste After proper checking they would send the biodegradable waste for making compost As shown in the figure previously, the bin would have a chart to show some values of estimated time taken by some of the materials for degradation, for the general knowledge of people. This could also give an idea to people who want to make their own compost at home. Every plant in Kooda Daan will have a note attached with its name on it The bins would be of recyclable plastic in white and green as shown in the figure. This would be much cheaper than stainless steel and economic to mass produce. There are many bins in the market today with sensors to automatically open and close it. However, I refrained from adding any sensors in my design keeping in mind the large population of Mumbai and the probability of the sensors getting spoilt adding to the cost of repairs. Normally people do not like to touch waste bins because of which they throw garbage in the open. To avoid this bins would be kept very clean, like they would be in our houses, to refrain public from littering the city. Also, pedals can be provided to open and close the bins. The bin is fastened to the ground with screws to avoid any kind of theft These bins will be placed on all bus stops, outside and inside railway stations, near schools, in gardens, on skywalks, on the promenade in big societies, slums, etc. to eradicate garbage from the city completely

कृपया अपना "कूड़ा दान" करें और अपने शहर को हरा भरा बनाएँ

Thank You