Goa Goodness

The 600km overnight drive from Bangalore to the Portugese settlement of Goa was estimated to take about 10 hours, on the good road. While asleep, our anti-social driver, Raju, decided to go for the road less traveled, which included dodging trucks and elephant-sized potholes for at least 40kms.



After 15+ hours, we arrived at the Wednesday Goa flea market in Anjuna. It was a good opportunity to stretch our legs and get some broll of the colourful bazaars that Goa has become famous for…that and the beaches, hippies, Israelis, Russians, Canadians…etc.



We spent the next day getting some much needed rest in the beachside village of Arambol. Andrew hooked us up with rooms in a house of a family he knows as well as scooters to explore the coast.



And so we did.



By Friday, it was back to business. On good advice but no appointment, we drove to meet Elvis, Chief Municipal Officer for the famous port city of Vasco (aka da Gama). 2 years ago Vasco banned plastic bags. And not just the thinner bags, ALL plastic bags.



Once again, Cryptic Moth got lucky. We found his office, waited 20 nervous minutes and presto, we're interviewing him on a courtyard balcony.



Elvis had as much positive enthusiasm as frustration. He told us that the plastic industry challenged the ban by lobbying the government to define the term “bag.” The definition turned out to be any bag with handles.



Can you see where this is going?

That’s right, a new square plastic “sack” was born and another attempt at municipal enforcement squashed. Still, the “bag” ban has reduced the amount of visible litter in Vasco and one of the first plastic bottle return systems in India began in Goa (more on that later).



As is Indian tradition, Elvis graciously provided Cryptic Moth with a gift: jute bags, a city-made alternative to plastic bags. This material is locally made, long-lasting and 100% biodegradable. Unfortunately, the jute industry cannot compete with the cheap convenience of disposable plastic.



The next day we had an appointment with Claude, a 30+ year activist and current President of The Goa Foundation. The group made headlines years ago when they dumped trucks of empty plastic bottles at the gates of one of the major mineral water bottlers and instantly got a bottle-return system implemented.



On this day, Claude took us to the local garbage dump of Mapusa. It was a smaller scale dump to Delhi but this time, it was on fire.



Of course, feral cows were moseying around and feeding while families scavenged for various materials. We interviewed Claude amid the dioxin clouds from burning plastic while slapping away a constant assault of flies. And he was a trooper.



After almost an hour interview – covering everything from the health hazards we were standing in to the failures of government, the pressure of industry and the ease at which all of this could be fixed. His solution: establish a government-funded operation that separates all materials at source. Then one can easily compost the organic waste, recycle the materials that can be recycled and stockpile the other plastic waste for a rainy day.



Claude definitely made the journey worthwhile and provided the team many insights before our upcoming meetings with the plastic industry in Mumbai.



Cryptic Moth also had to say goodbye to Andrew. We can’t thank him enough for the inside info, the inside prices and for showing us his India. We couldn’t have done it without you.



Cryptic Moth will spend the next couple of days gathering scenic shots before taking the overnight train to Mumbai. Luckily, Nandu and his wife, Kanta, are continuing on with the team.



Out.

G+I

High-Tech Plastic Waste

On Saturday, the Cryptic Moth team said goodbye to Tewari and jumped a flight from Delhi to Bangalore.



It was Nandu’s first time on an airplane and – for once – Ian wasn’t the most anxious flier of the crew.



We arrived quite late to our room at the Ivory Tower Hotel – a wonderful 12th floor suite overlooking India’s most high-tech and “cosmopolitan” cities.



We spent Sunday filming the low-tech sides of Bangalore like botanical gardens and the Nandi Temple. It was interesting how plastic bags were a common conveyance for offerings.



Thanks to a family friend, we met up with one of our local contacts, Partha, who has been a great ally on this trip. Partha greeted us at his office with the customary Masala chai and biscuits. Within minutes we realized how dedicated and influential he is to the greening of India. In a nutshell, he worked in film, the government, NGO’s and all the while pushing for corporate responsibility and government enforcement.



But Partha didn’t want to hog the spotlight. Instead, he offered up a young prodigee, Dr. Yellappa, a fiery environment minister who wasn’t afraid to voice his dissatisfaction with the powers that be.



Originally a forestry expert, Yellappa has seen how plastic pollution can infiltrate the soil, the water, the animals and now humans. To show us one example, he brought us to the outskirts of Bangalore where illegal dumping occurred. It wasn’t hard to spot the piles just off the road but Yellappa had one in mind.



This was medical waste.



Closer inspection revealed a literal pick-up-sticks of syringes, razors, plastic tubing, IV bags, and lots of packaging. To his credit, Yellappa climbed into the pit for a stand-up interview as locals looked on with mild curiosity.



Perhaps to lift the mood, our host drove us to see his friend at Bangalore University who teaches mechanical engineering.



Dr. Amarnath’s most recent research has been in the viability of waste plastic as alternative filler for concrete.



On site testing has shown the material to be quite denser and road trials have shown it almost impervious to cracks.



The following day we visited Bineesha at the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. She deals mainly with e-waste and was more than happy to accommodate us at the last minute.



She brought us to Syed’s recycling shop where one entered through a small opening and into massive warehouse of yesteryear’s mainframes, monitors, keyboards, printers and even floppy disks are salvaged for just about every knob, circuit and screw that can be sold on the second-hand market.



Unlike the scenes witnessed in Delhi, Syed’s operation was legit and obviously flourishing.



On the other hand, much of the plastic housing is still sent to landfill and one has to wonder how such operations can keep up with the obsolescence of high-tech crap from both inside India or shipped as “aid” from western nations. What’s more, the bulk of Syed’s workforce was barely in their teens.



Once many pictures were taken – of us – Cryptic Moth sped off to meet some Canadian friends and friends-of-friends for dinner and drinks. Then, to save some money on hotels and cover some kilometers, we rented a car for the overnight drive to Goa. Palm trees, papayas and, yes, plastics await us.



Out.

G+I