IMPACT AND CONCLUSION

The Green Mile Project aims to create villages and neighborhoods in Darjeeling which are zero waste
environmentally friendly and sustainable.

The initiative taken by TIEEDI , has limited waste dumping , revived rivers ,ensured waste
segregation at source, community composting and even created India’s first Zero waste village. Through
these efforts they have off set 300 tons of waste from reaching the landfills and local rivers each year.

The climate is now not “Changing” but is in “Crisis”, to alleviate the enormous pressure on our
environmental ecosystem, there is a need to change the perception of waste .Waste needs to be seen as an
opportunity where it can be converted into meaningful resource for the local community in which it is
found. A waste Innovation centre or a decentralized waste management institution is a must which can be
managed along with the local community for an efficient waste management system that promotes clear
economy. This will boost local employment, generate clean energy, improve health and sanitation, limit
pollution and develop every day Zero waste solutions ensuring that not a shred of waste reaches our rivers
or landfills.

The Zero Waste Andolan as it is called is the need of the hour. This is the type of social service that
we as youths of this country need to undertake. De- centralized Waste management is the only answer to
the weather crisis that we are facing in the form of unnatural floods, cloud bursts, cyclones, heat waves
and thunder storms.

We are now at a stage where we have to “not seriously think but act “. It is now in our hands whether
we are going to leave behind for the coming generation a cleaner air to breathe in and a greener earth to
live in or a earth which needs air filters and artificial greenery.