MICA students make garbage bin talk

AHMEDABAD: The mundane garbage bin has started talking. Three students of Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) at Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) Sapan Kadakia, Atul Jain and Shobhit Shubham came up with award winning idea of speaking garbage bins' during Ecolosseum competition held on the campus.
The Ecolosseum is an eco-friendly initiative of Gujarat government and Jagriti the social service wing of MICA-EDC to communicate social messages through eco-friendly means.
Shobhit said, "We have used simple mediums like bins and envelopes to target larger public. The bins are fitted with a small battery operated speakers with a recorded cry of a baby girl calling for her mother." It is a message to create awareness about female foeticide.
"The cries grabs attention of the passers by and when they go near the bin they see a poster pasted on it with a message Maa, take me home. You left me inside'. According to them, more than 2,000 newly born girls are abandoned every day in India. The national sex ratio of female per 1000 male is 933 as per census 2001.
They also came up with specially designed envelopes for medical reports for pregnant woman. Jain said, "We will tie up with hospitals and clinics that offer services for couples, who are planning a child. On the back of envelope there will be a picture of baby girl when the envelope opens, the girl appears beheaded, giving the message to save the girl child,"
The participants were judged on feasibility of their ideas, innovation and their focus on eco-friendly products. Gaurav Nijhawan of MICA said, "As a part of this initiative, the students were required to focus on generating social awareness through material and media that are eco-friendly. The strategy needed to be practical, and simple enough to influence the masses."
The ideas ranged from recycling, to the use of hybrid water bottles, the minimum usage of plastic bags, the use of eco-bikes for short distance travel and observing a Green Day.