Here is the video on it from the game. They have achieved 72% diversion.
Several key preparatory facts turn out in the video that discusses behind the scenes. Great stuff, too bad that the football as a sport is not doing that well at Ohio.

I found this at at Waste and Recycling news website. Seems logical to do at least at entertainment events. Perhaps someone can try it out an IPL game or even better at a local cultural event.

One of them being Grist. They provide a humorous take on various issues that affect the United states of America. I have found most articles by them authentic.

The other update is called PA-update run by Pankaj Sekhsaria (psekhsaria@gmail.com) at Kalpavriksh. It provides a thorough, across the states of India, report on the protected areas.

I have learnt quiet a bit from both of them.

Recycling PET bottles or their non-recycle- caps via recollection has been an effort consistently blocked by major soft-drink manufacturers such as coca-cola. I recently came across this group called As You Sow.

They recently came out with a U .S. Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard and Report, 2011.

Take a look at where your favourite soft-drink company stands. Before you read it, the report is based on a survey response and does seem to give F to everyone who did not respond. Has some interesting statistics on supermarkets as well. Some instituting a program of recycling themselves.

Has anyone come across/worked with/working this group ?

I found this recent announcement at here at WRN. Its new location will turn alcohol and sugar-based beverages such as old beer, wine, soda, juice and liquor into fuel grade ethanol. The facility will also process the used beverage containers and packaging into recycled plastic, cardboard, glass and aluminum.

From what I understand, the model here seems to be to offset, alcohol taxes, tipping fees and freight costs by tax recovery with conversion and ofcourse the sale of Ethanol.

I recently attended a webinar hosted by ORBIS. I learnt a lot from it as well. You can listen to entire webinar here. You can use my email address sivaathreya@yahoo.co.in to view the presenation.

Seems like a really neat thing to see and do.

Bangalore Solid waste management functions broadly in the following manner. The BBMP announces call for tenders (for each wards); winning bidder is usually a locally politically powerful personality. Winning bidder then arranges truck owners, who then arranges drivers and they employ two to three helpers. Residential garbage, in some localities, is picked by workers (called *-karmikas) who then give it to local auto/tempo [not sure if they are employed by the winning bidder or the BBMP via a separate bid] who then gives it to the truck. At times truck itself comes to delivery point and picks up the garbage. Money given to the bidder is not typically spent on resources required.

The winning bidder is then supposed to take the garbage to BBMP Dodhaballapur landfill. Typically no monitoring is done and garbage is dumped at local lakes, empty plots and along with construction debris on lake beds. There are no emission norms for burning garbage at a landfill or on an empty plot or a lake bed.

In general efficiency is low because money for the work in contract is pocketed and not used to collect waste. This is further enhanced by the (view or) fact that there is not that much money in household solid waste. This discourages private players entering independently to make the system more efficient at collection.

Given the above, local garbage contractors would take our garbage and dump it in the next empty plot or nearby Bellandur lake (or if lazy lake bed). I even blogged about it in an earlier post. This is when our association hired Waste Management Solutions. They had only one condition and that was: garbage had to be segregated. Black bag– all kitchen waste and Non-black bag– all non-kitchen waste. They are still at it at our complex.

In our ongoing efforts to understand the waste industry, on a sunny march Saturday we (Sharad and I) met up with Helen Govindaraj and Prema of Waste Management Solutions. The “company” is a registered NGO and has permission to collect/dispose waste from Pollution control board. Its main tasks are to: collect waste from companies and apartment complexes (largely household waste); segegrate waste at Hoskote landfill; compost and sell recyclable waste to companies; and awareness creation plus training (housekeeping staff, helpers, waste handlers) in handling solid waste.

They employ 150 people (mainly ragpickers). It is run by Helen and Prema. They own/rent a total of 7 Trucks and collect 3-4 tons of solid waste per day. The costs include:- truck (movement+ maintenance) 60%; staff salary (20%); land rental miscellaneous (20%) and revenue: charge customers maintenance fee, sell segregated material (600 Rs per day). They do not have any grants (typical of many social enterprises).

Operations start with collecting segregated waste (Kitchen waste and other waste) from companies in ITPL; residents at Palm meadows; and other apartment complexes. The waste is then (locally) primarily segregated in the truck itself. Compostable material in one corner and plastic bags + rest in another corner. At their Hoskote facility: garbage is carefully segregated piece by piece. Recyclable stuff is sold off ; Facility in Madurai takes bottles/tetra packs to make plastic sheets + Sahas takes e-waste + local company takes plastic bits to make roads+ glass,iron, steel sent to respective recyclers. Rest is dumped/burned in a local pit that they have. They do composting and are able to sell manure.

Helen and Prema were not clear on how and where to expand. They did however have one short aim. They would like to get to 30-40 tons of waste-collection per day. They have not done proper costing of the business and did not think of revenue from processing of waste themselves.

Helen can be reached at 9845574929. The company can help your apartment complex with regard to solid waste management. It could be for a large function or on a daily basis. All you need to do is to segregate your waste.

Then one day while searching the UBC website in trying to find out the department responsible for waste management, I came across notices for two workshops. One on water (Feb 8th, 2011) and another on waste ( Feb 10, 2011). These events where part of the process in which the administration was trying to formulate an action plan for water and waste on campus. I registered for both and attended them. It was fun. Though the status of water (plentiful but wasted) and waste (plentiful but diverted/taken to landfill) were different from Bangalore the problems and ideas to deal with them seemed the same. A week before the workshop I received the discussion papers [ water, waste] for each of the workshops. They are both excellent reads.

At the water workshop we were separated into groups. In each group one had to select a partner and perform an interview (thankfully the questions were given on a sheet). The questionnaire had a “management consultant or HRish” feel to it, i.e. essentially espousing grandiose abstract thoughts that rarely lead to anything. I had a good interviewer from the office of sustainability. She made sure that we got to specifics and not indulge in random problem shouting on water.

Once the interviews were over, there were three speeches on water. All very short but differed in content. Vancouver has a lot of water and it rains a lot, so go figure why would anyone care about saving water. This was addressed in speech one. The second was by the water engineer at UBC who walked us through the discussion paper. The final one is what I really enjoyed. The waste-water engineer/manager who gave us a run down on the storm water system on campus, waste water treatment plant on campus and the city and nitty gritty details (I will share them below). After this, we as a group (6 on our table) were asked to present our vision in terms of water. This had to be done comparing notes, throwing out ideas and finally creating a vision statement, a poster and an action item to be worked on by the community (towards the vision). My group mates were a mason, a manager at plant operations, staff from the sustainability office and a faculty from CIRS. The discussions were pretty detailed. We came up with a vision of being “Net positive on water by 2015″. Our action item was getting traction on using waste water.

In the afternoon (after a good lunch) we were then asked to form groups where in we discussed the action item. You could choose to go into any task you want (not necessarily the one from the morning that your group suggested). I went to waste water. The engineer/manager from the morning was there, so were three others who worked on waste water on campus. There was a master’s student and a elected official, Maria Harris who represented the Electoral area A of Vancouver . The discussion was really enriching. Again like I mentioned earlier, the ideas/problems were rather the same as in Bangalore but the current status was different. It was cool to be able to talk to people who worked in these areas and were participating with the public in trying to form an action plan for the community. The workshop ended with all of us sharing specific tasks that should be carried out by the university administration. Ours was a water audit ([entry] usage and [exit] waste water) in 8 buildings. The number 8 came to us in the middle of the discussion as one of the engineers knew there was a water audit already on in campus at these 8 buildings. Based on the audit, a complete classification/plan for reuse. The final item was having a social network on which competitions to be held to highlight/complement conscious water usage.

The waste workshop was very similar. I got to talk to food services employees and those managing student housing on campus. Did not stay for the afternoon session in the Waste workshop.

Now I will outline the nitty-gritty details that I learnt at the workshop about campus/Vancouver in general with regard to water and waste. The details were either mentioned in discussions or in speeches and I have not validated all of them. If you were at the workshop then please feel free to comment on the errors and omissions.

We have talked to several people and companies in this area. It would be fair to say we are still searching for the idea. However, we have encountered several good ideas and almost tried one out. We are sort of in the middle of the story. Over the next few blog postings, I will try to relay that story (not necessarily in order) that has happened so far.

I will begin the series with a book log. It kind of began with a meeting that I went to. It was organised by New Ventures India. It was a day workshop where venture capital firms and start-ups in the green technology space ( broadly defined) had a forum to meet together. Below, is a list of companies that presented (along with my notes about what each one does). Needless to say my notes may not be error free. Figures are as off a year ago and not necessarily reflective of current status.

1. Nuetech Solar
   • Make solar water heaters and p.v. lights
   • Around since 1992
   • for residential homes and government
   • benefit from National Solar Mission
2. Proto-comm microsystems PCM ltd.
   • make lED lamps (solar and lithium batteries)
   • made 100 lamps, using wafer forms not PCB
   • 10 years lifetime and 24 hour between recharge.
3. EMSI
   • Make bio gas from biomass (energy crop, hybrid grass).
   • 400 tons per hectare of crop, lifetime 20years, water once in 10 days
   • yields 15kg/day/acre of bio gas (methane 70% and C02 30%)
   • purification technology to make CNG
   • have adsorption storage technology at low pressure
   • no fertilizers used.
4. Enlen Energy System
   • in april 08 Sapgreen.com (tree sapling gift company; closed)
   • in Jan 09 invertors (closed)
   • in Jun 09 — Biomass gasification
   • focus now on agri processing industries (Coffee processers)
   • Revenue 2.7 crores/annum at a plant
   • have one big project (3 MW plant) starting up in Kushinagar.
   • Idea:- use cured coffee hus– gasify– electricity
5. Samki-Teck Resources
   • developing technology for recycling plastic and rubber waste to fuel oil.
   • sell complete plants
   • can dig up landfills (not much sorting/cleaning of plastic is required)
   • claim to prevent toxic emissions
   • Revenue 1400 crore /year
   • have a plant running in coimbatore
   • Expected return is 240% in 3 years
6. Black Gold Market Eco watch
   • Propose to do Solid waste management in Tier 1 and 2 cities
   • developed a rotating compostor
   • Mainly work with gated communities
   • plan to dig up dry waste for FMCG data
   • sell analysis/market research to companies
   • set up cost per apartment is 50000Rs
7. Ecologix
   • Carbon software that allows enterprises to track and analyze energy consumption and GHG emission and undertake reduction projects.
   • Inventory tool, Optimisation tool; Analytical tool
   • these provide enterprise energy solution
   • said it was LP based
8. Autoboxx
   • The company is in the business of remote monitoring of air-conditioned spaces thus providing energy efficiency services
9. E-farm
   • agri suppl chain management
   • sustainable agriculture and supply chain
   • connect folks: farmers, storage, retail, transporter
   • Turnover 1 crore by end of 2010-11
10. Pro-nature organic foods
    • procuring organic foods and selling through a multi channel approach
    • branded certified organic food products
    • bangalore based, plan to move all over south India
    • Products: pulses, flour. plan to get into snacks, processed food.
    • Procurement:- all over india UP to Orissa; plan to be changed:things to bought at harvest rather than from storage on a monthly basis
    • Distribution:- chains, stand alone retail stores.
    • cash flow issues and had low fill rate
    • 2009- 50 lac, 2010 1 crore (turnover)
    • will make 10 crore this year and 100 crore in 5 years
11. Dubdengreen
    • moved to organic farm 20 years ago
    • pilot project in south delhi (a stand alone store)
    • claimed, interest and premium is not an issue anymore
    • need to provide broad range of products.
    • Plan– set up flagship store along Harods model
    • outsource production
12. Skyshade delights
    • provides energy efficient solutions in buildings by allowing sunlight to enter premises reducing lighting needs
    • taps light coming from outside spreads it across the room, to reduce electricity usage.
    • have a technology called light pipes, installed in factories (10 pepsico factories have taken this up)
    • 2.5 crores per year turnover
13. Potential green
    • develop closed cell drainage / water infiltration systems and Rainwater harvesting systems.
    • did not get much else out of the presentation
    • could be a good company
14. Greentech Aqua
    • desalinate seawater using waste heat from refineries, thermal power plants
    • cost of water very minimal, energy used is waste heat
    • pilot plant in tuticorin
    • scrub the gas and clean it out, also reduces temperature of effluent gas from 140 to 70degrees cent
    • 360 crores revenue
    • need a refinery or a thermal power plant to run this desalination or distillation of bad water
15. Nextgen PMS Pvt.
    • developing bio gas for use in enterprise client premises using food waste
    • break even for a plant is 3 years
    • getting into carbon accounting, emission management project
    • started by Bits pilani students, average age 21
    • has tetrapak as one of the listed clients
16. Ecoloove
    • social enterprise is attempting to develop a rural sanitation and for sanitation for slums
    • had data on amount of shit, open defeacation and prolems for women
    • design and build eco-san toilets
    • sell fertiliser
17. Prakruti Hydro
    • makes micro hydro turbines.
    • need flowing water, creating 300 kw turbines to home usage turbines
    • 1 crore turnover
18. Kata hydro desilting systems
    • treat silting of tanks through hydrosuction
    • want to give technology away for commercial purposes
19. Mars Vapours
    • use tidal waves for generating electricity.
    
    Filed under: Environment, Working with Waste ]]> http://athreya.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/working-with-waste/feed/ 3 athreya http://athreya.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/marathon-running-a-perspective/ http://athreya.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/marathon-running-a-perspective/#comments Mon, 05 Apr 2010 09:05:45 +0000 athreya http://athreya.wordpress.com/?p=76 Continue reading »
    ]]> It was around 530pm in the evening on a wet winter day in Kodaikanal. My calf muscle was stiff and hurting. I was running the the 15km school run on the Berijam Lake road for 8,9 and 10th standard students. My P.T. teacher (on a motor bike) told me that I was about 2km away from completing. He told me that he never thought I would come this far (in a polite positive way). I came in last or second last but was really thrilled that I finished. This more or less has been a running theme in many of the runs/races I have done and still do. Running long distances was my only option in school. I was always 8th in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 meter dash. I started running larger distances because: it was okay to finish last; everyone was glad to finish wondering why we endure such pain; absolutely thrilled that we did it; and a genuine respect for the person who finished after you (as this person has worked longer).

    Marathon running began in college. I had heard before that a marathon was 42.6km race and was quiet hard to do. A few of my friends where getting a lot of attention as they were training for the 1991- Delhi Rath Marathon. There were two months left, I decided to train and give it a try. I remember the run very well. It was a sunny cold day in February. We had to go from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to Gurgaon (or half way there) and back on the ring road. I was doing well at the turn and I hit what is popularly called the “runner’s wall” around the 34 km mark. At this wall you are in real pain, muscles don’t want to move, life seems to come to a standstill. The encouragement I got from the folks who were watching was “all the ladies have gone ahead, why are you so slow..” I did not even have the energy to give a tight slap. I limbered along, the traffic was let on the streets at 3 hour 45 minute mark. There was only one other runner behind me, the rest had given up or finished. At an abandoned (last before finish line) water stall, I was sipping water. A police cop on his last round told me in hindi “bus chalte jana”. I remember running into the stadium: labourers were removing the presentation ceremony tables; rows of empty seats; and everyone was gone except around 10 of my friends. They had either run the half or full and were waiting for me. I crossed the finished line at the 4 hours and 9 minutes by my friend Nikhil’s stop watch. The runner behind me also finished and we shared a mutual admiration. There it was, I had done my first marathon. I was invited to give a speech at “sports dinner” at college, a nice icing on the cake for finishing. My title was “the also rans”.

    It took me 6 more years to run my next marathon. This time I was doing my Ph.D. at the University of Washington, in Seattle. It was a cold, rainy November day. It was my best marathon and I had trained well with my friends Robbie and Ingo. The course was mainly on the Burke-gilman trail. The current Seattle marathon runs through the city.

    Since then I have done Vancouver (2000), Mumbai (2005,2008), Runners-for life (2007), Kaveri-Trail (2008), Auroville (2010) marathons. Each has been a different story. Vancouver was great fun. The roads were filled with people on a warm April day and the race ran through Stanley park and other scenic points. I recall one funny incident. I was climbing a hill slowly in Stanley park and there in front of me was a sign which assured me the reason I was so slow. It read “speed limit 10km/hour”. Mumbai (2005,2008) were both hard to do. The heat and humidity are very energy sapping. Nevertheless it is still the best city marathon organised in India. The crowds come out, are very very encouraging, and the city celebrates. You can read more about my Mumbai run if you click here.

    Kaveri-trail is along the canal next to Ranganathitu bird sanctuary, near Srirangapatinam. This is well organised by a group called Runners for life. It is a beautiful route on a mostly mud road; a 21km up and down route. So you do two loops to finish a marathon. There are water stops at regular intervals and an enthusiastic group of runners take part in it. Auroville marathon takes place in Auroville, Pudducherry. It is a fantastic forest covered route. It is well organised and also the waste is controlled here. It is a little hot but water stops and mile markers are neatly done. I really recommend this race if you are doing one in India. How often can you run in India: where you are alone; the entire area is wooded and the only sounds; and sights you hear are from the insects, birds and the movement of leaves from the wind ? Sadly, not many places.

    The last three years I have been running for causes. Initially, I found this odd. You run is okay, you support a cause is okay but put together it sounded as an odd combination. As odd as a “pineapple and Jalapeno” pizza. If you have not tried those pizza toppings, the pizza tastes really good and you definitely finish it. The same is true for “running for a cause”. Somehow everybody takes it positively that you are reminding them that a cause is there for them to see. Additionally for you, since you told everyone, this obligation helps you to be more sincere towards the objective. So losers like me, even in the middle of training, do not slack off. There is not much pressure, as folks really want to see you try and are happy to donate to “the cause” that you have gotten them to notice. For me personally it has been a lot of fun to be in the Asha Bangalore marathon program. The amount raised has been consistently upwards on 1lakh rupee range and I have finished all the commitments that I promised as well. Take a look at my pages on that here (2007, 2008, 2009).

    As always one should know that there are people way beyond oneself. One such person is, a super-star in his own right, Santhosh Padmanabhan. He has run 100 mile runs and is a truly inspirational figure in the Asha Bangalore marathon program which he currently runs. He has managed to get children from Asha supported projects to run in the races as well. A true self-belief inducing activity for the under-privilege children. He also sends us regular newsletters, quizzes along with each weekly running schedule email. Santhosh is now a full time coach and has started Runner’s High. They run several programs for both the uninitiated and the serious runners who want to go to the next level. I recommend them.

    Marathon running can be tricky. The training is long and hard. It is still enjoyable always but painful at times. Typically one starts around 3 to 4 months before. In a gist, you start by running a 3-5km (say) the first weekend and slowly increase your mileage every weekend till you hit as close to 42km as you can three (or two ) weekends before the marathon. In the week you do a a variety of short runs and other activities to build up strength. A lot of things go wrong: you need to party the night before your long run; a virus hits you and you are down with a flu; you get injured; and the list is endless. It is a journey and has its ups and downs. For me running long distances on empty Bangalore roads on Sunday mornings or on lake trails or Cubbon park is a lot of fun. After the initial warm up pains, the middle stretch when everything is moving well is something that I remember a lot. Of course on a long run the last part which is new in terms of distance can get painful. Most of the time I tell myself, to make sure that I remember the painful parts so that I do not put myself through this again. It rarely works. The empty road/trail is there, you have t-shirt, shorts, socks and shoes, you got to run!

    My next race will be the Kaveri-Trail marathon 2010, on 19 September, 2010. If you want to train with me then please do join. I will start slowly in May and really in June.

    
    Filed under: Running ]]> http://athreya.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/marathon-running-a-perspective/feed/ 3 athreya