1,60,000 metric tonnes—that is the amount of garbage India generates every day! Most of this is wet waste, which can be used to produce fertilizer and generate electricity. Instead, huge mounds of it lie piled up in our cities and villages, posing a serious threat to public health and the environment. Disease and toxins fly in the air and leach into the water and the ground, triggering ailments ranging from cholera and asthma to more serious problems affecting the brain and other organs.
In this episode we bring you solutions. Some are simple ways to treat waste in our homes, so that we may reuse, recycle and revive the earth. While we must reduce our waste footprint, we must also put pressure on local authorities, especially at the municipal level, to ensure responsible waste management. We must demand that they set up effective mechanisms for the collection, segregation and treatment of solid waste.
With rapid urbanization and incessant population growth, the amount of garbage India produces is only going to grow. Let us stop pinching our noses and shutting our eyes to the garbage around us. We are the ones producing it so it's up to us to ensure that it gets the right treatment, so we are able to get the good out of it, just like any other productive resource.