Long before the world traded carbon credits and Al Gore cried himself hoarse about “An Inconvenient Truth”¹ , one man drilled the environmental cause into the hearts and minds of people in Chennai, India. M. B. Nirmal gave up a plush bank job to begin Exnora (from Excellent, Novel, Radical) in 1988, because he was saddened by the debris and pollution on the streets of Chennai. Twenty-one years hence, Exnora has an international reputation, but is still very local in its relevance and work. Considered a role model for urban waste disposal, Exnora relies on the power of the common neighbourhood man. It is a model that has worked splendidly, requiring very little capital investment and, best of all, spawning about 2,000 jobs in the process.

Exnora is literally a household name in all of South India, thanks to its flagship project, the Civic Exnora. For a membership fee of Rs. 1,000 per locality and an annual subscription of Rs.100, a “street beautifier” is recruited. He collects garbage from every household in the neighbourhood to place it in hydro containers, so that corporation workers can easily mount them on trucks. There are 5,000 such chapters in Southern India, covering about 30,000 streets and settlements.

It’s a simple, yet ingenious, system: it generates livelihoods for thousands of ragpickers (or “street beautifiers”, as they’re known in Exnora Lingo), while giving residents in a neighbourhood a clean environment for as low as Rs.1 per month (contributions vary depending on the size of the civic chapter). Each Civic Exnora chapter nominates its president, vice president and secretary, who ensure a smooth work flow. They also deliberate other civic issues of the locality, such as street lights and condition of roads.

One of Exnora’s innovative projects is Home Exnora. Firmly believing that combating global warming starts at home, the project offers packaged solutions to households for recycling organic wastes, disposing of inorganic waste properly, and dealing with pollution. Home Exnora also advocates practices such as rain water harvesting and energy saving. As the slogan of the Home Exnora project encourages, “Think global, act local, but do domestic!”

For the student community, Exnora has a Student Exnora Programme (STEP), which works solely through volunteers who take the message to schools and colleges. They also plan activities such as treks and debates to sensitize the young about environmental issues. Says Nirmal, “Students are the future stakeholders in our environment, and they must act now. The challenges that the environment will pose in the coming years will always give rise to a number of career opportunities.” ² So far, STEP has been a runaway success, thanks to the devoted pool of volunteers, who make learning about the environment fun and enjoyable.

Coming up next on Exnora’s calendar is the Lights Out Campaign, which focuses on discovering simple solutions to global warming. The campaign will spread the message to switch off all electrical appliances for nine minutes on 9th September, this year (9/9/9). “This campaign is to sensitize more people about the causes and consequences of global warming,” says Nirmal. The 888 campaign on August 8th last year, along similar lines, was a resounding success; even government bodies chipped in.

Exnora’s unique selling proposition lies in its inclusive agenda. Everyone is welcome, socio-economic status, age, and qualifications notwithstanding. While environmental conservation is looked upon as a more elitist social cause than others, Nirmal and his team have done well to take it to the masses. “My strategy to reach the masses was to use simple communication in local language, and guaranteeing benefits, such as jobs,” says Nirmal. “I thought it was crucial for the poor in a locality to be sensitized about environmental issues, as they are more likely to be the worst affected in the wake of an environmental crisis.”

The ever-dynamic Nirmal, who is also involved in a variety of social and political causes³ spends every waking moment planning new activities and campaigns. “My next task is to do something for disaster preparedness. We can no longer sit back and talk of disaster management, we need to be on our feet, and be prepared for anything and everything,” he says. Knowing him, it is bound to be something that will be Excellent, Novel and Radical!

Footnotes:

(1) An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film about global warming directed by Davis Guggenheim, presented by former United States Vice President Al Gore.

(2) Nazar was fortunate to get Nirmal’s exclusive inputs over the phone for this piece.

(3) 5th Pillar, an initiative to combat corruption in India, was started by Nirmal.

Photo Courtesy: CarbonNYC

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