Being an avid and prompt reader of variety of areas of research and above all being a scientist, I am always fascinated by nature. Scientists are currently focusing on mimicking nature in one way or another. Whether its jelly fish or its corals inside the deep sea, scientists are trying to synthetically mimic what nature shows us. On one side nature is giving us abundance of wealth and on the other side we humans are taking less care of it. In this regard, I am thankful to various NGOs and organizations in various countries working round the clock to preserve our nature in one way or another. Whether it's People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) or Eco friends, the cause is very strong and is to save our environment. Thus, propelling my thoughts in the direction of this cause, I came across the issue of recycling in India . The basic questions that we need to understand include whether we citizens understand the term "recycle"? If we do, then are we taking proper measures to ensure that any kind of waste is recycled properly? Does our government seriously operate recycling centers in India ?
Technically speaking, recycling means a waste treatment process that results in a reusable and reproducible product. This is one of the major technological advancements of the developed nations and the indication of the wisdom of the respective citizens. The term recycle is quite a complicated one and demands attention of various groups in our society which not only includes government bodies but our citizens too. While surfing the internet, I came across a website of a US company named "Earth 911". This company takes care of recycling waste which includes a very very long list ranging from auto parts to cooking oil.
It is quite amazing and normal for me to imagine for a minute that I am sitting under my house porch in Awadhpuri, Kanpur and when I move my head on right or left, I see few things on the road and to name a few: garbage, polythene bags, waste food items, surprisingly human excreta/faeces. As soon as I break this imagination, hundred of questions come to my mind and first one which any citizen will feel is why I am living in such a condition? And second, why we pay taxes in country where we are not even able to breathe clean air and live in clean environments? And third, what we can do to rectify this problem? I feel the last question of mine is the one for which we all can find practical solutions. According to me the two most important solutions are "mass awareness" and "recycling the waste". The point of mass awareness is very well associated with every pollution related issue on this earth. For addressing the recycling issue it is very important for our citizens and communities to be careful about what to waste and what not to. I have observed near my house some members of the community have a habit of throwing unused and expired food items and cooking waste on roads and even right outside their houses. I do not know what to say about this and how to interpret this attitude because its been more than 15 years for us to be living in that community and have never been able to answer this aspect. But this shows that our communities desperately lack the meaning of an economical and optimal life style because, by underutilizing edible items and throwing it on roads, they are not only polluting the environment but also forgetting that they are unnecessarily increasing their own household budgets. This also shows that our communities have less or no sense of planning. I believe that in Kanpur alone such waste will cross the weight mark of few tonnes per day. Think about such a huge load of waste not being properly disposed or recycled for a week. The whole city can be a center for the severe and hazardous epidemic and pollution source. Already the earth is facing a severe climate change and ecological dearrangements (such as earthquakes and hurricanes) and above all this mass "unawareness"! I always tend to stress on the point that I believe strongly, India is not ready for any such human or artificial disaster even though all of us live in a modern era of computer age. The outcome of any small disaster in the country can lead to utter chaos, riots, panic, food shortage, and massive loss of life. We can preserve our societies, culture, and environment with joined hands and can act analogously to "the minutemen" who work voluntarily at US borders for saving infiltration of illegal immigrants. The solution is simpler than anyone can think. Why we don't recycle every waste item in the house and dispose it to proper waste disposal container which will be, for surely, located few yards outside our houses. If our citizens think about doing this then they may also think about not producing so much waste in their homes. This awareness will not only result in a quality life but also economically and ecologically friendly life.
If this responsibility is owned by our citizens then we can authoritatively demand the government authorities to proceed with the next step. Yes, I agree that this step will be a crucial and slightly tougher than the last one. I will not stop myself from repeating again the point that our government system seriously lacks the sense of work culture and which is majorly responsible for many problems. I will also add an important observation of mine and which brings out the corruption at first level of hierarchy in our government. This level relates to the Janitor him/herself. I have observed these "government officials or safai karamchari" always ask for money from the residents around for doing any kind of cleaning on roads. I simply ask one question to the higher level authorities: Are these "safai karamcharis" not being paid for their jobs by the government? If not, then I don't mind paying them for it but if yes then I mind giving "bribe" to them. This is just an example of real life corruption at the root level of our system and is majorly responsible for its failure in some sense.
If a minister in a cabinet represents the citizens of the country when addressing a cabinet meeting then the "safai karamchari" represents the government authority at lower level when performing his/her duty in front of the eyes of citizens. Why we all citizens will not comment that "Bahut corruption hai bhaiya, yahan" because even though we hardly interface with higher level government officials but we see something irritating at root level. It is a normal human nature to extrapolate behaviors and attitudes and so we extend that corrupt behavior to every level.
Assuming the government will be performing its duties with regard to the waste recycle, our communities can end up in increased living standards. In addition, I will also urge government to encourage people to use trash baskets and bags at home so that they have a proper disposable corner in the house itself. Making these efforts will not take anything more than common sense. This common sense is something that makes us,"the human species", much intelligent and different than animals in the evolution ladder.
Proper disposal of the recycled waste to recycling centers will result in many advantages: improvement in living environment, proper household planning, and economical and raised living style. Another important outcome will be increase in the jobs because recycling industry is a huge industry and India has a huge potential in this regard if proper measures are taken. In other words I can say that this will revolutionize the concept of a "KABARI" who buys dry waste from house to house. I even imagine that a modern day "kabari" can be a billionaire if takes an opportunity to understand the management and importance of waste disposal. At last, I will add that science and mankind will go along together if we are able to respect and preserve a "fascinating" nature.
Nitin Chopra, Ph.D
About biomedical waste
About the electricity problem
