Don8217;t just dump it away

Every year, most households throw away a huge amount of rubbish. Most of it ends up being dumped on dumping grounds or buried in pits. Eithe...

Every year, most households throw away a huge amount of rubbish. Most of it ends up being dumped on dumping grounds or buried in pits. Either way, the enormous amount of rubbish and the nasty mixture of things that go into it are leading to pollution.

Luckily you can do a lot to help solve this problem. Most of our rubbish can be reused or recycled. This means that fewer new things have to be made, which saves energy and, more importantly, reduces pollution.

Fortunately in our country all rubbish is not dumped but is sorted out at different levels by different people who earn their livelihood by selling the recyclable waste to the industries. Infact, people like the raddiwala, bhangarwala and daba-batliwala, along with the ragpickers, are substitutes to the can banks, bottlebanks and plastic banks in western countries. So, to ensure that your rubbish is properly recycled, try sorting your garbage into the groups mentioned below which also tell you what you can do with it:Metals Food cans, soft drink cans, jars and bottle tops : Steel cans can be disposed of, as they are magnetically separated from the rubbish at waste centres and sent for recycling. Recycling 20 aluminium cans reduces the need for mining more bauxite, thereby reducing damage to the earth.

And less cans means less garbage. Sell aluminium and iron objects to the bhangarwala who will send it for recycling.

Glass Perfume bottles, jam jars etc: If bottles are returnable, return them to where you bought them from so that they can be reused. All other glass bottles and jars can be sold to the batliwala for recycling. Remove all bottle tops.

Paper Used envelops, writing paper, old magazines, newspapers, old note notebooks, cardboards, packaging material etc: Paper is made from trees. Making new paper uses up millions of trees each year. So, recycling paper means saving trees. Recycling one tonne of newspaper means saving 20 trees. You can help save trees by stocking all your waste paper and taking it to the raddiwala for recycling. You can also reuse paper at home, by writing on both sides.

Organic waste all the kitchen and garden waste such as rotten vegetables and fruits, vegetable trimmings, egg shells, dead leaves, dry flowers etc: One third of our rubbish is made up of organic materials that are biodegradable and rot down naturally. If you have a garden, persuade your parents to keep a compost heap. All the organic waste can go into it. In the bargain it will rot down and you will get fertile soil.

Story continues below this ad

Jumble old clothes, old toys in good condition, old baby clothes, old books, leftover fabric and yarn: If none of these things is broken or worn out, but you no longer have any use for them, pass them on to other people who may need them. this can be done by taking the items to charity shops, local hospitals or children8217;s homes.

Plastic bottles, bags, wrappings, plastic packaging etc.: Plastics are non-biodegradable. Burning it causes release of harmful gases. Only plastics which have similar chemical make up can be recycled together. There is very little you can do to recycle them but ragpickers sort out plastics which are recyclable. The best way to avoid having to throw them away, is to avoid buying them in the first place. This is the problem area. Very few people have the courage to say no to the beautiful plastic bags that most shopkeepers give out articles into.

But try saying no to both polythene bags and plastic covers. Take your own bags with you when you go shopping. Reuse plastic containers as storage containers or as pots to grow seedlings.

Always remember to practise the four R Mantras8217; of waste management: First Refuse, if you can not refuse, then Reduce, if you can not reduce, then Reuse, and if you can not reuse, then Recycle.