Waste management is an issue that plagues the whole words, not just Goa & India. If we are willing to take up the responsibility of this issue and have a change in mindset (with regards to consumption patterns, and how we work with our own waste), problems in waste management can be turned into solutions, argued Mr Vaz.
Since practice is better than preaching, the speaker approached his ideas with a visual presentation in the background and a live demonstration of separation at source. He spoke about low cost, low tech and easy to implement solution at source. He also spoke of the zero waste concept and compared systems in Goa & Europe, and suggest that perhaps it is finally time that the West could learn a little from us. When the presentation and discussion ended one wondered why they did not get started so long ago!
Mr Clinton Vaz, aged 26 is a self employed environmental consultant based in Benaulim, Goa. Quitting his job as a mechanical engineer in 2004, he pursued his interest in the environment and has been working with wildlife & environmental protection for the past 8 years. Starting out with assisting Swedish students on an awareness campaign and the formation of the Benaulim Environment Trust (BET), in 1999, he has since worked on various issues such as environmental education, river pollution and hospital waste and has been invited to conduct talks in Delhi, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal & Nepal. After a three year project with the Corporation of the City of Panaji, Vaz works now to build awareness with interactive presentations in Goan villages and also by means of an ecotourism booklet directed towards tourists that will be out by the end of November.
P.C. goastreetz.com
