Do we
ever wonder what happens to the garbage which is discarded from our homes or
drained water? Never, A busy common man with thousands of responsibilities on
shoulder would never find time to worry on these little things. Its obvious,
after all its a waste which is not useful to us at all.
In India urbanization
has raised waste generation to such an extent that if not managed properly it
may go as high as 161000 tons per year as per the study report. Handling such a
huge quantity of waste would be cumbersome and uncontrolled disposal would
occupy large amount of space as large as 1400 sq. km equivalent to the total
area of Hyderabad+Mumbai+Chennai by 2041
As per
Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1999 by Ministry
of Environment and Forest of India, the wastes from the houses has to be collected and
segregated as bio-degradable (includes papers, vegetables, food leftover) and
non-biodegradable (includes plastics, glasses and other inert materials). This
biodegradable waste is processed by composting, vermi composting and
non-biodegradable, non recyclable i.e. inert waste is disposed in secured
engineered landfills. In simpler words landfill is engineered designed pits
where these wastes are dumped and finally it is covered with liners, clay soils
and vegetation on top.
The waste
water has to be treated in sewage treatment plant where this waste water is
purified with series of operations and then discharged in water bodies.
Well it
is very difficult to ensure effective waste management as waste generated is more
than tons a day resulting in uncontrolled dumping or burning of waste.
Ineffective waste management may have following consequences:
 |
| Openly Dumped Waste |
1.
Waste burned in atmosphere creates air
pollution releasing Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Sulphur dioxide. Even eighth
standard student will list down at list ill effects of inhaling each these
poisonous gases.
2. Waste
thrown haphazardly attracts many flies and insects and becomes source of their
population.
3. Waste
generates septic condition and affecting hygiene of surrounding.
4.
Unpleasant sights and poor hygiene has
negative impact on tourism and trade
Being citizen its our duty to contribute though a little to keep our city clean. Handing wastes to garbage man
won’t serve the purpose we have to put little more efforts to stay in hygienic
society. Question is how? Answer is as simple as the question.
3R Policy
Its Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This could be followed in the same order as
mentioned, We should reduce waste generation after that waste should be reused
and whatever cant be reused should be recycled. Well they say its easy to
understand things with example so here are few:
Roadside tea vendors; they often serve tea with plastic cups and after use we throw
carelessly and walk away. Instead if he starts using glass cup he can very well
wash it and reuse it. Using glass cups would be even cost economical yes it
will take time to wash those cups.
At Office
- Aaaah!!! For rough work, in need of piece of paper, why to bother get new one from paper tray of closest printer. Isn’t it? Dear folks avoid using fresh A4 paper in office for rough work, Keep waste papers with you which you can use when needed for rough purposes and yes page has two sides we can always use both sides of paper for printing.
- Entrepreneurs should allow people work from home if that works. Why? That can very well save a little fuel burnt in travelling and so Air Pollution.
- Don’t throw chocolate wrappers on roads
better keep it with yourself till you find trashcan.
- Walk or cycle instead of riding bike
for closer commute. That would save your money and environment too.
- You don’t always need ATM slips after
every transaction, right? Many times we get one and throw It to trashcan, avoid
having one if not required.
- Avoid wastage of water
-
Segregate waste by yourself
biodegradable and non-biodegradable. In fact municipality should practice
segregated garbage collection that would ease in management operations.
- Avoid using use and throw items like
plastic paper plates even razors you can avoid.
- Don’t use plastic bags while buying
items. Yes many of us feel if its free why not to get one. But ultimately after
use it adds to garbage.
And many
more ways we can reduce our waste generation. We should understand the fact
“Waste is resource at wrong place” and keep our intensions in minimizing waste
generation and reusing. I feel if we all start putting little efforts soon we
will notice Greener and Cleaner Surrounding.
