‘NoKunu’ Transforming Colombo into a cleaner city

• The slum households were taught to segregate garbage and secure disposal
• Toilets were made haphazardly  without septic tanks flowing sewer to Kelani'
• The CMC extended its support very effectively by cleaning the clogged drains
• The vision is to build a system of civic engagement and cleaner Sri Lanka

Everything about the environment is turning pale. The blues and the greens are fading away and it is us humans who could treat Mother Nature better. From the irresponsible dumping of garbage to every other attempt made at polluting the environment impose huge threats to all living beings. With plastics becoming a major threat to the environment, this year’s World Environment Day theme -‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ correctly addresses this issue. Although Sri Lanka imposed a ban on polythene it has deemed to be unsuccessful. Yet there’s hope. Recently a door-to-door campaign by the name ‘No Kunu’ which translates to ‘No Garbage’ was launched. This is an initiative by Sumi Moonesinghe, a retired lady with a desire to see a cleaner Colombo and a team of like-minded individuals. 

 Speaking to the Daily mirror , Moonesinghe shared her thoughts about this initiative, how it all began, progress and plans for World Environment Day.

Lessons from Morocco

“I retired in September 1996 as the Founder and Managing Director of a very large essential food company after the owners decided to sell the business to a multinational company when the market share reached 70% in a span of 12 years,” recalled Sumi. “I had a team with me whom we referred to as the A Team named after the famous TV programme. Since then I lived a very quiet life. In April last year I went on a trip to Marrakech with my daughter and the family. I went everywhere I could go and I was amazed to see that there was zero usage of plastic in Morocco. Even the roadside vendors selling tomatoes, onions etc use cloth bags. Paper cups and glass bottles are used to store items and there are also no plastic spoons, straws etc. Thereafter I brought all samples as much as I could when I came back to Sri Lanka. After my return I contacted my A Team members who are now retired and they all agreed to the idea and started supporting me. I felt very encouraged and thereafter Rosy Senanayake was sworn in as the Mayoress of Colombo. She had supported me when I was building a brand. I told my team that we need to be grateful to people who supported us and this is one way of showing her our gratitude. I then approached my friends in the corporate world and suggested that they adopt the slums in the vicinity of their offices. The first to respond was a family-owned company in Grandpass. So we chose a map around this office and selected an area which doesn’t overlap with another company. We go incognito and adopted our clarion call for action as the ‘No Kunu’ pledge in which each person and company that comes on board becomes the guardian of the city, forest or beach they pledge to protect. The vision is to build a system of civic engagement that will help Sri Lanka become the cleanest country in Asia.”

Before starting this initiative, I contacted former Sri Lanka’s cricketing ace Kumar Sangakkara and he agreed to support us in this cause. His message has been extremely powerful and it’s viral on social media as well

The ‘No Kunu’ initiative 

In the initial plot, the team walked to 500 slums and each house was given a bucket with a lid and a polysack bag and people were taught how to segregate garbage. “People in these slums don’t have the money to even buy a plastic bag or a polythene bag because they have enormous issues,” Sumi continued. “The Municipal Council truck doesn’t go to the houses to collect garbage. Therefore we decided to go inside these houses and showed them this TV clip about segregating garbage. Before starting this initiative, I contacted former Sri Lanka’s cricketing ace Kumar Sangakkara and he agreed to support us in this cause. His message has been extremely powerful and it’s viral on social media as well. Each team has a member from the sponsor, the Environmental Police and the relevant staff cleaning the area while one person from my team conducts the census. The census collects data such as the number of children in the household, what do they do in school, whether they have money to buy shoes, whether a family has a terminally ill family member etc. The information received from the census team was sent to our sponsors. The first programme kicked off from Layards Broadway in Grandpass on May 19 and the second programme took place from Leslie Ranagala Mawatha in Wanathamulla, Borella. All these waththas (Houses on narrow lanes) have illegal toilets; these people have lived there all their lives. When we went there, we saw a drain which was full of sewer because they have built illegal toilets without a septic tank. They have just built them and each house has around three families and all the sewerage is coming into the drains and from the canal it goes to Kelani river. The CMC is doing an excellent job and when I informed them they came over and helped us to finish cleaning the drain by Sunday evening. The third programme held at Kew Road in Slave Island with the blessings from Ven. Galaboda Gnanissara Thera (Podi Hamuduruwo) of Gangaramaya Temple. It is quite a satisfying experience and it is an ongoing project which will be done every Saturday.”

Eventually one city at a time, we will move from city to village, to beach, to forest and farm, from house to house , shop to shop and company to company. We will teacg them how to separate their garbage. We will mobilise company workforces to help clean our country. We will co-opt 1500 business leaders to pledge to be guardians of our cities and mobilise their resources and workforces to help demonstrate, clean-up. reiterate, resource and monitor a programme to keep Colombo clean first. Then every city, river, beach and forest and wherever possible  to convert ‘kunu’ into a valuable resource. 

People in these slums don’t have the money to even buy a plastic bag or a polythene bag because they have enormous issues

World Environment Day

 Sumi showed us an interesting bag which could be folded into a pouch as well. It is waterproof and the pouch could carry your home keys, mobile phone etc. “I have been in touch with the three leading supermarkets and also the garment manufacturers,” she continued. “I have asked if they could make cloth bags from their cut pieces. We had meetings at my house and they all agreed to support me. I have given them the materials and the plan and the bags will be made by unemployed women in the areas. This is a suggestion that I have; I would like to invite all corporate entities to do something different in view of World Environment Day. The world is going digital today and people necessarily don’t need calendars. Once it’s used it is another item that adds to garbage. So if they could distribute a cloth bag such as this in place of a calendar it would cut down the garbage problem to a greater extent. Secondly I will be calling upon all FCMG companies to add one clip in their commercials in a way to give out a message on the segregation of garbage. If every household, office or factory keeps their perimeter clean, that is a step taken in the right direction. These companies could also run a promotion in the supermarkets and familiarise it among the public.”

The No Kunu Team along with Ven. Galaboda Gnanissara Thera of the Gangarama Temple and the CMC will be engaged in cleaning the Muttiah Park - opposite the temple - today (June 5) in view of World Environment Day. The Team could be approached on Facebook via the ‘Nokunu’ page  and if you believe in a cleaner, greener tomorrow, do join them and support the cause.