Make a small beginning

A frightening 3000 metric tonnes of waste is generated in Chennai alone. How can this situation be tackled? SHEELA RANI CHUNKATH outlines ways and measures.

Twenty-three years ago, I joined as a sub-collector in Chidambaram. I remember how the despatch clerk at the office would meticulously cut open the thick brown envelopes, pull out the tapals and stack the covers in a corner. The office assistant would stuff letters typed on dung-coloured paper into these used envelopes. The address was typed on a separate sheet and stuck over the envelope like a flap. I would watch with awe and amusement at the zealous way in which government tapals were dispatched. Every time I received similar tapals, I would wonder when the government would get modern enough to use white stationery and professional looking envelopes. Many government departments, intent on improving their image, have now started using bleached white stationery.

When, at marriage receptions, water was served in dirty stainless steel glasses, I would wish for more hygienic containers.When textile shops "Nalli" and Kumaran" switched from yellow cloth bags to fancy plastic bags with fancier handles, one insisted on being given a bag for each item of clothing. At children's parties, the switch to disposable plates and tumblers proved convenient for harassed mothers.

Today, I find our streets littered with plastic and our waterways clogged with waste. Suddenly we have a new culture where things are thrown away with frightening nonchalance. Food is taken away from restaurants in plastic or styrofoam containers which end up in the trash can. At marriage receptions, visit the inner portals of the kalyana mandapams and you will see mountains of plastic - sheets, glasses and cups, bottles and, of course, the ultimate thamboolam in a plastic bag. The "throw away" culture is upon us with a vengenace. Mountains of mineral water bottles, water sachets, plastic bags, cups and tumblers are seen everywhere. Waste generated in Chennai city alone is a frightening 3000 metric tonnes per day. Safe disposal requires enormous resources both in terms of money and land.

The time to question our wasteful ways is upon us. We have allowed the "use and throw" culture to invade a society which prided itself on generating as little waste as possible. Earlier, clothes which one outgrew were handed down to younger relatives and finally to the stainless steel vendors or cut to be used as rags in the kitchen. Old papers and plastic milk sachets were meticulously saved and sold to the itinerant trader in old newspapers. I now marvel and admire the almost parsimonious ways of the staff at the sub-collector's office.

How are we to deal with the huge amounts of waste we are generating as we move rapidly into a throw-away lifestyle? Do we bury our waste or burn them? What of the mantra "recycle" mantra?

Burning plastic and other chlorinated wastes releases dioxins and furans into the air. These cause male infertility, miscarriages and birth defects and also affect the endocrine system. The other option of recycling, while valuable and relevant in certain contexts, cannot be an alternative to reducing consumption, particularly consumption of products like plastic and styrofoam.

Environmental protection, like charity, must begin at home. You may wonder, can an individual's consumption pattern and attitude to waste make a difference to our environment? The answer is a resounding yes. It lies in our reducing consumption of goods and waste generated and in segregating these wastes.

In an age where rampant consumption is promoted aggressively by every company and the media, a call to reduce consumption may seem both anachronistic and unrealistic, but it can save our earth. Reduction of wasteful and ostentatious consumption is an essential step in the long-term. Immediately, we can reduce wastes generated, by intelligent reuse and recycling wastes, by making some changes in our individual lifestyles. What we need to do to make our environment cleaner are not heroic efforts but more down to earth actions much like our friends at the sub- collector's office.

If you would like to make a beginning, here is an essential first step: segregation of wastes at source. For most wastes generated at home, three containers are enough. Waste from our homes can be divided wet and non-wet wastes for practical purposes. The wet wastes are mostly organic like kitchen wastes, leaves and trimmings of trees and plants. These can be made into compost by dumping them in a large pit and covering the pit periodically with sand. The non wet wastes are mostly plastic, paper, metal and glass. These can be collected in one container and sold or given away to be recycled. The third container would be for hazardous stuff such as used batteries, sanitary pads, paints, used medicines, bandages and old tubelight. These alone need to be given away to the municipal authorities for disposal in a sanitary landfill. By segregating wastes at source, by composting organic waste and recycling the other wastes, the rubbish that has to be collected by the local bodies can come down by 80-90 per cent. This would mean a huge saving of resources. On this World Environment day, June 5, let us make a small beginning to save our environment.

The writer is the Chairperson, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Chennai.

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