Dealing with Garbage: Have you ever wondered how these papers, plastics, organic wastes like fruits and vegetable peels are collected? Every household produces a lot of garbage or wastes daily, which is collected in dustbins or trash bins.  The offices, shops, and schools also create rubbish or garbage every day. What does the garbage (or rubbish) consist of? Garbage or rubbish consists of many useful or non-useful components which can be recycled or reused.

We should not throw or litter waste in our surroundings. We should always maintain a closed dustbin for both dry and wet wastes. The littering of wastes spoils the environment and causes soil, water and air pollution. Decaying of wastes in our surroundings leads to bad odour and causes diseases. Is it possible for all of this garbage to be changed into something useful that can be reused? Can we contribute towards dealing with garbage in any way? Read on to explore the components of garbage and various methods of disposal of garbage, and much more.

What is Garbage?

Waste materials or rubbish is thrown away after use. Household wastes are called garbage.

Fig: Garbage

Dealing with Garbage

Garbage has two types of components, and they are- useful components and useless components.

(a) Useful Components: Those things present in the garbage that can be converted into useful products, recycled or reused, are called useful components.

The useful components of garbage are of two types:

1. Vegetable peels, fruits, stale cooked food and dry leaves that are fallen, etc., can be converted into compost.
2. Some plastics materials, glass, used paper, and metal articles can be recycled or reused.

(b) Non-Useful Components: Those things present in the garbage that can neither be used in any way nor recycled are called useless components.

The initial step is to separate the useful parts of the garbage (which can be converted into compost, recycled or reused) from the non-useful part which cannot be used at all. The segregation of the useful parts of the garbage can be done in our homes ourselves. It is also done at garbage dumps by the people called ragpickers.

Segregation of Wastes

The wastes that are generated from homes or factories contain two types of waste- biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes. Wastes that undergo degradation by the action of decomposers are called biodegradable wastes. Wastes that do not rot by the action of decomposers are called non-biodegradable wastes. Non-biodegradable wastes like plastic, glass, paper, metals, etc., can be reused or recycled.
The wastes that are obtained from kitchens like vegetable peel, stale food, etc., are called wet wastes or organic wastes that can decompose due to microbes present in the soil. The wastes like plastic, papers, etc., are called dry waste.

There are three coloured bins generally used to segregate garbage and they are red, blue and green.

1. Green-coloured Bins: The waste like vegetable peel, stale food, garden wastes, etc., are collected in these bins.
2. Red-coloured Bins: Toxic waste materials like syringes, expired medicines and batteries are collected in the red-coloured bins.
3. Blue-coloured Bins: Recyclable waste like plastic, metal and glass are collected in the blue-coloured bins.

Disposal of Garbage

(a) Composting: The rotted animal and plant waste, including that from the kitchen, are used as manure for growing plants is called compost. And the process of converting animal and plant waste materials into manure by rotting is called composting.

1. The biodegradable organic wastes such as fruits, stale food, vegetable peels and fallen leaves can be thrown away by changing it into compost which is used as fertiliser or manure for plant growth. Compost is a natural fertiliser.
2. Compost consists of nutrients required for the growth of plants. So, when compost blends with the soil in which plants are grown, it provides nutrients to the plants.

Fig: Composting

(b) Vermicomposting: The compost made by the usage of redworms is called vermicompost. The methodology of making compost from organic wastes or kitchen wastes by using redworms is called vermicomposting.

Fig: Vermicomposting

1. Vermicompost is very high-quality manure. We can make ready vermicompost by digging a deep pit in the ground or by using a metal bin or wooden box.
2. Redworms feed on the rotting or decaying garbage of the pit as food. Redworms do not have any teeth. Instead, their body is made of gizzard, which helps in grinding the food which they eat.
3. Powdered eggshells or seashells are usually mixed with the kitchen waste in the pit. The hard particles of eggshells or seashells help the redworms in grinding their food in the gizzard. A redworm can feed on food the same as its own weight in a day.
4. The excretions of redworms remain in the pit. The above excretions of redworms make up vermicompost.
5. The redworms do not have the capability to convert garbage containing plastics, glass into composts. This is because they can not feed on plastics, glass or metal objects.
6. We should not put the kitchen wastes containing oil, vinegar, milk, salt, pickles, and meat preparations as food for the redworms in the compost pit. If we insist on these items into the pit, then disease-causing microorganisms will start growing in the pit.
7. Making vermicompost is quite cheap whereas chemical fertilisers are very expensive and hence a lot of money is spent on buying them.
8. Vermicompost is natural manure that does not harm the soil, but chemical fertilisers are man-made, which may harm the soil in the long run.

(c) Recycling: The household wastes like paper, some plastics, glass and metal objects present in the garbage are recycled. Recycling means that we should separate and collect the used and thrown away items made of glass, paper, metals, plastics, etc., which are sent to the respective industries for making plastic, fresh paper, glass and metal objects.

Fig: Recycling

(d) Reuse: Reuse means that, using the same things again and again.

1. For example, the plastic jars in which we buy different food items such as oils, jams, pickles, and ghee, etc., can be used later on for storing things like sugar, tea leaves, salt, spices, and pulses, etc.
2. The old chart papers can be reused to make greeting cards or files. The paper envelopes can be reversed inside out and used again.
3. We can reuse the old invitation cards to make a diary. The old clothes can be used to make floor mats, and plastic covers can be used to make a basket. The waste items that can be reused are, however, very limited.

Fig: Reuse

(e) Landfill: The non-useful part of garbage that cannot be turned into compost, recycled or reused is disposed of in a landfill. A landfill is a low-lying area of ground where the garbage collected from a city is dumped.

1. The part of garbage that cannot be disposed of by other methods is loaded in trucks and dumped in the low-lying open area (called landfill) inside or outside the city. This garbage is scattered over the landfill and closed with a layer of soil to level the unequal ground.
2. A big landfill site can be used to dump the garbage materials for a considerable time.

Fig: Landfill

Recycling of Paper

Papers are made with the help of a few trees and their leaves. To reduce deforestation, we should recycle paper and make use of it. Recycling paper is easy on a small scale. Making a paper paste and drying it under the sun gives you new paper, but before wasting too much paper, we can follow a few ways to recycle paper.

1. Write on both sides of the paper.
2. Use the newspapers to cover your textbooks and notebooks.
3. Collect the useless paper products and sell them to scrap dealers for recycling.

Plastics- Boon or Curse

We use a numerous number of things made of plastics in our daily life. Some of the things made of plastics that are used by us in our daily life are water tanks, water pipes, pens, combs, polythene bags, water bottles, buckets, mugs, toothbrushes, toys, shoes, tea strainers, cups, etc.

Fig: Plastic Items

1. Plastics do not decompose in the soil on their own. So, the polythene bags are thrown away carelessly in public places like roads, parks, etc., get into drains and sewers are underground dirty water pipes. These plastic bags block the drains resulting in the dirty drain water spilling on the roads. During heavy rains, the drains and sewers get blocked and are not able to carry away all the rainwater quickly and hence a flood-like situation is created in the city areas.
2. Many kitchen wastes are filled in plastic bags and thrown away on the roads. When stray cattle or dogs are looking for food in the thrown garbage, they also end up consuming plastic bags along with the garbage food such as vegetable peels, left-over cooked food, fruit, etc. The eating of plastic bags harms the cattle and leads to death since it is not easily digestible.
3. Sometimes the plastic bags that have been used initially for supplying toxic substances and then thrown in garbage dumps are picked up by ragpickers, washed and then sold to shopkeepers in the market.
4. The use of plastic bags that are used and thrown away is poisonous for packing and storing food materials and can harm our health. For carrying and storing food products, we should use only new plastic bags or containers which are approved for such use.
5. The burning of plastic waste materials gives out extremely toxic gases that cause air pollution. The gases given out during the burning of plastics can even cause cancer disease in humans. We should, therefore, never dispose of plastic waste materials by burning them.

What can we do to Reduce the Generation of Garbage?

1. We should always throw away our kitchen wastes like vegetable peel off, stale food, etc., by vermicomposting to gain high-quality manure for plants.
2. Do not use polythene bags or plastic covers to throw away the kitchen garbage.
3. Reuse the plastic bags wherever required instead of throwing them here and thereafter every use. Do not burn plastic bags or other plastic items since they produce toxic gases that can pollute the air.
4. Cutting down trees for the production of paper will be reduced if we write on both sides in the notebook. We should use a slate to do rough or practice work and hence save on paper.
5. Used magazines, newspapers, and notebooks, etc., should be sent for recycling.
6. We should not throw away old clothes and books, instead provide them to others who can use them.
7. We should use cloth materials like handkerchiefs, cotton towels, etc., instead of tissues to save paper and reduce the generation of garbage.
8. We should choose and buy products with the least packaging.
9. We should not use plastic bags for shopping; instead, use jute bags, cloth bags, and paper bags for shopping that helps in reducing the generation of plastic garbage.

Summary

We should keep our surroundings clean and neat. Garbage disposal is not only the responsibility of the government or ragpickers. It is also the responsibility of each and every person present in society. Every citizen should take steps to reduce the generation of garbage as much as possible. We should not throw garbage or trash here and there in the surroundings. The garbage should be disposed of into dustbins or garbage bins properly. We can reduce the percentage of garbage disposal by utilising the kitchen wastes for making compost or vermicompost. We should also reduce the usage of plastic bags since it is not degradable in the soil. The dependency on cloth, jute, or paper bags can decrease the usage of plastic and plastic materials.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Dealing with Garbage

Q.1: What is the best way to deal with garbage?
Ans: The best way to deal with garbage is to recycle the waste products like bottles that can be made to bottle art to design the house, newspaper to reusable paper bags, etc. Avoid using plastic and plastic bottles to reduce waste.

Q.2: What are the 3 R’s of waste management?
Ans: The 3 R’s of waste management reduces the waste, reuse and recycle the resources and waste products.

Q.3: What is a dump yard?
Ans: The place or the area where the garbage is dumped is called a dump yard.

Q.4: What is domestic garbage?
Ans: A waste that is generated on the day-to-day use of domestic premises such as paper, wood, cardboard, etc.

Q.5: How do you handle garbage problems at home?
Ans: Avoid usage of plastic bags and plastic covers, compost the waste of the kitchen, buy food that consists of minimal packing, etc., are the various ways to handle garbage problems at home.

Learn About Soil Pollution Here

We hope this article on Dealing with Garbage helps you in your preparation. Do drop in your queries in the comments section if you get stuck and we will get back to you at the earliest.