Indian Express article

My Garbage is my Responsibility By sudha pai
Overflowing garbage bins unattended is a constant eyesore on the streets in all cities.
We read in the newspapers only unfulfilled promises from the civic authorities such as so
many crores have been sanctioned and so much of land has been allotted etc.Strict laws
are passed for segregation of wet and dry stuff. But what we see littered on the street is
something entirely contrary to this rule. Plastic bags, broken glass bulbs , batteries etc
along with wet waste like cooked leftovers rotten vegetables and fruits. The list is
endless. More over, littered food-waste provides a perfect environment for stray
dogs, cats and pests such as rats to increase in numbers, thus feeding a larger
problem. Ultimately the common man is left with no choice but to live with an
increased exposure to diseases in these unhygienic and dirty conditions. It has been a
long wait without seeing any positive results.
This slogan “My garbage is my responsibility” is written after evaluating the
existing reality. If we want to live in clean surroundings all of us have to make an effort
to achieve this. All of us as educated, civilized and responsible citizens,seriously follow
this slogan , we will be creating a clean and peaceful breakthrough in our garbage
situation.
Wet waste created in an average household after segregating the dry waste, is
hardly few grams may be even less than one kg per day. If we can handle this
individually without throwing it out into the common garbage bins, the problem will be
reduced to a large extend. Our future generation will be able to learn and adapt to this
culture and benefit from it.We will be teaching our children the awareness of our moral,
civic and social responsibilities at home. But how do we do all this?
Many youngsters have taken up this challenging job by designing various types of
products that can take care of our wet waste very effectively in our homes especially in
flats where it is needed most.One such product, Daily Dumps(brand name) commonly
known as Khamba has been tested and proved effective. This product has been designed
by a young entrepreneur, Poonam Kasturi from Bangalore. It is a modular three tier
terracotta composter. It is quite an attractive piece which can be kept in a corner of a
balcony in a flat along with the other flowering pots.The compost prepared in this would
be ready in about three month’s time. It is also environment friendly as it is made of clay.
Details about usage and maintenance etc are given separately along with the product.You
may please visit www.dailydump.org for more details. Many more competitive products
are also available in the market where you may have an option to choose one suitable for
your needs. Some such products have also been discussed by my friend on her blog:
www.greenokplease.org
Lastly, it is my sincere appeal to all our respected builders to provide one product of
this kind and make it mandatory to use it before issuing the no objection certificate.
Already there is a supreme court order that every society has to be provided with
composting pits. This is only a practical variation as the composting is done in an
individual capacity. In many societies the pits are left unused attracting reptiles, field rats
and other pests. In some societies no pits are provided. However many societies find it
impractical for want of co-operation from the members.So if we practice the above
mentioned system the load on the civic bodies like corporation etc will be reduced to a
large extend.From a humanitarian angle,we may be able to reduce the work load of those
unfortunate ones who are doing this filthy jobs with bare hands and exposing themselves
to various infections. It is surely not a pleasant sight happening around you.
Next step may be to take care of the dry waste.This requires more organized approach
of segregation as there are very many harmful and hazardous materials thrown out
indiscreetly.We may have do this more systematically. Today it may look and sound as an
impossible job. But if we share these important responsibilities, we can have a very
useful and fantastic system in place of which we will all be proud of. I quote
“You could be the change that you like to see in the world”
Mahatma Gandhi