Clean Coonoor is in the process of trying out neighbourhood cleanups in its bid to keep the township and its environs litter free.
A neighbourhood cleanup is just what it sounds like: residents band together to clean up all or part of their neighbourhood. The neighbourhood chosen this time was a rather small one with around 15 homesteads, and the area chosen for the operations was a patch of blue gum plantation alongside the Coonoor-Kotagiri Road.
Employees and volunteers of Clean Coonoor along with the few residents spent the better part of an hour and a half removing litter.
Though it may superficially sound pointless in making much ado about cleaning up a flyspeck on the map, neighbourhood cleanups serve other purposes.
It can instil neighbourhood pride, can break a cycle of hopelessness and helplessness, give everyone a chance to contribute whatever they can, quality of life, improve the self-image of residents and of the neighbourhood as a whole, serve as a springboard for other neighbourhood actions or activities, and most important – a neighbourhood cleanup program can encourage the embrace of diversity.
Today’s program may have been a small one, but the organisation will take this forward as a fortnightly affair, targeting the resident’s associations off the many gated communities at first, before moving on to much more difficult areas.
We hope this type of community participation will promote community ownership and a better tomorrow