The title is a nonchalant dismissal commonly made by members of the political class while brushing away ‘allegations’ of the poor condition of Bangalore’s roads, infrastructure, garbage disposal and the like. It is equally forthcoming from a large section of the public, albeit in a different context; the reaction is more of disdain: “well, its just rubbish”. And thus proceed to litter every nook and corner with paper, plastic, spit, waste products of metabolism and what not! Which brings us to the point: the matter of garbage and its disposal is quite a grave one, and cannot just be rubbished away.
As human civilization expands, cities are bursting at their seams, and their infrastructure and support systems are coming under intense pressure. There is a real danger that waste management could crumble, turning megacities into megadumps. As a result, health hazards will increase several fold, and epidemics will run riot. Combined together with lawlessness, this would be a nightmarish scenario. Hence it is imperative that we get our act together to prevent such situations.
People often wash their hands off collective responsibility with the argument that their individual actions alone will not bring about any impact (more popularly known as: “If others don’t, why should I do so?”). The reason why most think so is they feel that to contribute one needs to make grandiose plans. However, the majority of us find it difficult to manage time for daily activities, and inevitably the plans are dropped. Every great idea started small, and thus starting at home is the simplest way. All waste can be segregated into wet and dry for easy recycling. Used batteries can be collected and handed over to recycling plants or to NGOs. Waste resulting from cooking (such as vegetable peels, leftover oil, and stale food) could be gathered to form excellent compost for plants, if one has a garden. The ideas are limitless; however some require more time and effort to implement than others and hence can be incorporated gradually. Soon, we will find that these activities would have become part of our daily routine, and will rub off on others as well. The extension of this line of thought will then be ensuring that our neighbourhood is clean and tidy; then the city, and so on. It does sound utopian and good on paper, but can be turned into a reality by our sense of resolve and responsibility. It is frustrating to see people not following simple civic rules when the same set do so when they go to countries where rules are followed strictly. Why the double standards? Our laidback attitude coupled with the government’s apathy has resulted in a sorry state of affairs.
One particularly disturbing habit is throwing anything and everything onto the streets and into the drains. Clogged drains have many a time been caused thanks to people having dumped tractor tires, sinks and even bathroom closets! Items such as candy wrappers, tissues and paper can be kept with oneself till finding a bin to throw them in. It sounds difficult and silly, but not impossible. A case in point is the attitude of the Japanese, who are incredibly finicky about their surroundings. An incident substantiating this and to which a friend was witness, is as follows: He was chewing gum while travelling by public transport, and wanted to spit it out. Being the ‘foreign country rules’ abiding Indian, he was apprehensive about spitting it out the window. So he tried to gesture to a local as to what he must do. Without hesitating for an instant, the man cupped his hands and asked him to spit into it! My friend was taken aback and naturally hesitant to do so, but the Japanese was insistent. Emulating such actions back home may be extreme, but if we can learn to be a tad more responsible, it will go a long way in ensuring that our cities are spick-and-span.
Another major cause for concern is E-waste (electronic waste), which is a fallout of the computer revolution. They are highly toxic and their disposal is difficult as they contain substances such as lead that are not biodegradable. E-waste has also been controversial. It is alleged that developed countries dump tonnes of e-waste every year into developing countries, thereby bypassing stringent dumping laws in their respective countries. Workers handling these wastes are thus exposed to the dangers of contamination.
Nuclear wastes, by products of nuclear plants, are also very toxic and it is argued that the investment made in construction of these plants is disproportionate to the hazards posed by their inefficient disposal, which has to be done by putting the wastes into lead containers and burying them deep underground.
Perhaps an unconventional source of waste is outer space. The numerous satellites put into orbit which have reached their lifetime are nothing but floating trash that gradually lose altitude (after several years) and finally crash into the earth or escape the earth’s gravity and remain suspended indefinitely.
Today the major emphasis on technology is to produce solutions that produce the least amount of pollution and waste. Given the burgeoning human population, it is certain that the quantity of waste generated is only going to increase. It is therefore vital that we keep it under control, and preserving the ecology of our planet is completely upon our bearing.