WASTE! An unnecessary use of substances or materials when there is a limited amount of it. In today’s society waste has become a common thing. There are lots and lots of waste piling up every day in our whole world. These waste includes left over food, fruits, and vegetables peels, waste paper, unwanted plastic objects [ such as plastic bottles, toys, bags, covers etc.] old wooden objects, oils, liquid wastes, wastes from shops industries, trading estates, sewage.
Due to an increase in population the generation of waste is getting doubled day by day. This increase of waste are causing serious problems and affecting our environment. It can result in pollution [such as air pollution, land pollution] and could also cause numerous different health conditions to lives of many people. Those dumping wastes and living near the landfills are at the constant hazard of a number of diseases. India generates 150000 tons of waste every day and of that approx. 80% is collected.
How do you feel if you see people dumping their waste along the street, at the seashores, on the road and at the riversides? We feel inappropriate, like it’s not good. We see insects like flies and cockroaches in the dumpsite, this happen when people do not dispose their waste properly. Disposing of waste has huge environmental impacts and can cause serious problems. Some waste will eventually rot but not all of them, and in the process it may generate toxic gases which are explosive and contributes to the greenhouse effort. The people can get health problems like lung diseases heart problems skin irritation problem in breathing. It can also prevent resources from being reused and loss in resources. If there is loss of resources like soil, metals, water, food the human resources on earth will go extinct. Not only human but also animals and plants will go extinct. The increasing population is one major reason in the overuse of resources; it leads to over-consumption of resources making them scare. The people are consuming more than they need and hence wasting the resources. The sources of waste are waste from households, schools offices, hospitals, restaurants, and other public places. It’s a battle against a system that doesn’t seem to care at all about the waste we are producing or the impact we are having.
Before trying to find a solution we need to acknowledge that it is a serious problem, only then we might find the solution. We have to accept the fact that our country India is not the cleanest in the world. Rather we can say we are one of the dirtiest countries in the world. I as an Indian feel very bad to say this but this is the truth. Everyone has to keep their nationalism and emotions aside and face this fact then only we might find a solution to this problem.
The first thing we need to do is to make oneself aware of how waste effects individuals, since most people in India are extremely poor, malnourished children and susceptible to a number of illness and health condition. These include the rag pickers they are involved in the waste collection. These are the same people exposed more to the more to the danger. While there is easier access to masks against Covid-19 now these workers mostly do not get to use gear to keep them safe.
The second thing is the Segregation of waste. It is the best solution for reducing wastes in our daily lives, the most important and easiest step in waste treatment. Waste segregation means separating and sorting of waste to facilitate recycling. The amount of waste being generated today causes immense problem, so segregation of our waste is essential. Waste segregation basically means separating the dry waste and wet waste. It is the simplest thing to do, while everyone are busy in their life running behind the money this can be the easiest and quick way to reduce waste. Waste is classified into 2 categories. The first is Wet waste, wet waste is also known as bio degradable waste this includes kitchen waste, off fruits and vegetables, papers bags and newspapers, cardboard and cotton cloths and rags. The second is Non bio degradable waste, which can divided into: recyclable waste also known as Dry wastes, this includes plastic bags, polythene covers, wrappers, metal items such as tin cans, sheets, foils, scrape etc. glass bottles, Synthetic cloth fabric. Toxic Waste, this includes Old Medicine, paints, Chemicals, bulbs, Spray Cans, fertiliser and pesticide containers, batteries, shoe polish. Soiled waste: this includes Hospital waste such as cloth soiled with blood and other body fluids. Toxic & soiled waste must be disposed of with utmost care. There are other important categories, such as hazardous waste. This includes sanitary napkins, medical waste at d domestic level including sharps (needles), glass bulbs. This group need to be tackled separately as any unguarded human skin contact may cause harm. These are mostly incinerated. The next is, e waste which is amenable for recycling, E-waste contains a laundry list of chemicals that are harmful to people and the environment, like TV appliances, computers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, fridges, washing machines, and stereo systems, toys, toasters and kettles. As e-waste breaks down, it releases toxic heavy metals. Such heavy metals include lead, arsenic, and cadmium. When these toxins leach into the soil, they influence the plants and trees that are crowing from this soil.
Segregation makes the recycling of the waste easier. This practice of waste segregation can be done by keeping two dustbins at home. These dustbins can be labelled in different colors or marked in writing as dry waste bin and wet waste bin. THE COLOR CODING OF WASTE BINS Organic is GREY, Glass is GREEN, Paper is BLUE, Metal is YELLOW, Plastic is ORANGE, E-Waste is RED ! By segregating wastes in these sources we can keep our surroundings clean, keeping it clean would help us to experience fresh natural resources like water, and air and also need to keep the pollution down. Environment is a place where humans as well as plants and animals live. It is necessary to keep our environment clean because we get fresh air, reduce pollution etc. Waste or garbage should not be thrown anywhere, but only in trash bins. Throwing garbage all over the place will dirty our surroundings, pollute the environment. Controlling the use of plastic bags will help to keep our surroundings clean. While the intellectual idea of reducing one’s waste can be overwhelming, a great place to start is within the comfort of your own home. IF YOU CAN’T KEEP YOUR SURROUNDING CLEAN THEN DON’T MAKE IT DIRTY.
