Skip to main content

WE MEAN TO CLEAN's Recommendations to Achieve a Swachh Bharat - II



In this blog series we attempt to cover all these aspects with our suggestions and recommendations towards achieiving a clean India or a Swachh Bharat. In our first part of this series we looked at an overview of the situation. Here we will try to look at waste management at a deeper level.

Separate Collection of the Waste


Waste is not waste until it is wasted.

If we separate waste at sources, we will earn, learn and save. This "Not In My Backyard (NIMBY)" syndrome amongst the uber users will receive a hard-hit from separation of biodegradable wastes at source which offers the opportunity of selling home-made compost. 
  • When we eat, mow the lawn or prune trees, we produce waste. But this waste is a special type of waste. It can easily be transformed into a useful product that can enhance the quality of our soils, especially the soils that an intensive agricultural system is making less fertile. This product is compost.
  • A successful separation of ‘clean’ waste from feed-stock for landfill sites, collected via separate collection is more likely to meet for suitable standards for recycled products for sale or use and bringing associated environmental benefits.
  • Additionally, separating waste will raise the awareness of householders regarding waste generation and help develop a sense of responsibility for their waste. 
  • This management route for biodegradable wastes has major advantages of environmental impacts of waste transport and handling as they are reduced.
  • Many European countries have made it mandatory to collect segregated waste from source.

Composting: Usage and Benefits


Compost is an odourless, stable and humus-like material rich in organic matter as well as proteins and carbohydrates, which originates from organic wastes. 

  • The transforming a putrescible, pungent and wet waste into an organic material smelling of soil and freshly turned earth is performed by nature. Bacteria, fungi and worms are all involved
  • Composting methods target the biodegradable waste fractions of household waste which can include kitchen waste, such as vegetable and fruit peelings, and garden waste, such as grass and plant clippings
  • We can actually feel blessed by either recycling cardboards, newspapers, copies or be a part of integrated waste recycle strategy by selling it to the Kabadiwalas or Raddiwalas



Public acceptability for composting schemes is also high in comparison with other technologies such as incineration or landfilling of wastes. Furthermore, it can also significantly contribute to meeting local recycling targets. In many countries, decentralized composting has been incentivized by the government and in turn has developed into a niche market.


Waste-collection Arrangements


There is a dire need for straightening the collection mechanism of the waste. A provision of a well-designed collection system, convenient for the householder, and suitable for use, will act as a crucial success factor.
  • Separate collection of waste is crucial for the efficient collection and environment safety. Segregation into wet and dry waste will make it easier for every authority to work
  • Householders, individuals and societies can act as nodes and points for the public private partnership schemes
  • Our government can act through decentralization of policies and incentivize schemes for collection and composting
  • Householders can buy containers or bags for the collection of compostable waste free of charge
  • A network of professionals and volunteers can supervise in tandem with the government


-

Follow us on Instagram Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Door-to-Door Awareness on Waste Segregation, Sarita Vihar

AND IT CONTINUES... Remember our ongoing waste segregation awareness campaign at Sarita Vihar? Our volunteers continued the efforts last weekend as well. This time we covered 150+ houses and that too, within just three hours. It was exciting to receive immense positive response from residents. Some of them are even segregating their waste effectively! Along with a few more residents, we also sensitized the waste pickers to bring two collection bags - one for dry waste and one for wet waste. The locals have started taking actions. But we can’t do it alone. Need your support as well. Join us in our efforts and help us providing solution to Delhi’s garbage crisis. Visit http://wmtc.org.in
Read more

Native Tree Plantation at Ajmal Khan Park, Karol Bagh

PLANT A TREE, PLANT A LIFE! Total Volunteers = 16 Saplings Planted = 23 (amaltas, pilkhan) Bottle Caps Collected = 287 Continuing our weekly efforts in the monsoon season of 2019, we returned to the Ajmal Khan park on 10th of August. With a clear objective of planting native trees none needed any briefing on what to do. We had our own volunteers as well as some of the local residents. It was a pleasant morning that helped everyone’s high spirits. The soil was quite hard on the patch we targeted for our plantation. Thanks to the absence of rains and also the minor amounts of construction and demolition waste buried beneath. And we had to dig pits here! Well, it allowed some of the team members to display their muscular prowess. The seemingly difficult task of digging pits looked smooth with spades in the hands of a daedal bunch of people. Once we had a few pits dug, we started planting our beloved saplings. Oh! The joy of removing them from ...
Read more

Janak Cinema Complex, Janakpuri

We Mean To Clean shares experience of their Janak Cinema Complex Spotfix on January 28, 2017 Anticipating a chilly January morning, the team assembled slightly late - around 11 AM - on Saturday, the 28th at the Janak Cinema Complex, in Janakpuri - a posh, residential locality of Delhi. Although it has - like any other residential colony of Delhi - a list of problems, the most visible of them was an absence of a public hygiene consciousness.  That became instantly clear when we noticed that the community shopping complex around the cinema hall - which was essentially the target for the day - had no dustbins installed anywhere. What it did have was filth: garbage in multiple heaps beside each of the temporary vendors that set up shop at such locations, pillars riddled with posters advertising everything under the sun. Rains the previous night had worsened the situation with the main approach road to the complex having become waterlogged. Amidst the aforementioned circumst...
Read more