MANAGEMENT OF NON-BIODEGRADABLE WASTES
• As non-biodegradable wastes such as plastic bags, glass bottles, etc. cannot be broken down by decomposers; their disposal poses a big problem.
• We can manage non-biodegradable wastes by practicing the concept of 3Rs—reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Reduce:
• We need to reduce the amount of waste generated by consuming and throwing away less.
• We often buy more things than we really need.
• Nowadays, disposable items have become popular, for example, ballpoint pens, plastic bags, disposable napkins.
• We are using them frequently without giving a thought to their hazardous effects.
• Here are some tips for reducing wastes:
Use fountain pen in place of ballpoint pen
Use old newspapers for packaging
Use cloth napkins in place of disposable ones
Reuse:
• We can reuse certain things for more than one purpose.
• If we reuse them for other purposes, we can help in reducing the waste.
• Here are some of the tips for reusing things:
Small jars and bottles can be cleaned to keep some other kitchen stuffs.
One should prefer glass bottle to metal can when buying juice or soft drink. The bottles can be refilled.
Old clothes can be made into other usable items such as cushion covers, handkerchieves, etc.
Old mobile phones can be donated to friends or family.
Recycle:
Recycling involves breaking down of the old things to make new things.
Materials such as glass, metal, plastics, and paper are collected, separated, and recycled to make new things.
Recycling of Plastics:
• Use of plastics has become a major concern nowadays because they are non-biodegradable and release harmful gases upon heating or burning.
• They can also contaminate foodstuffs.
• If eaten by animals, plastics can choke and kill them.
• Therefore, one should reduce and reuse plastic items as far as possible.
• When plastic items are to be discarded, they should be recycled to make new things.
• Not all the plastics generated are recycled; hence it is causing much damage to the life on the Earth.
• At many places in India, plastics are totally banned due to its adverse effects on the environment.
Some of the ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics are as follows:
Paper, cotton, and jute bags should be preferred over plastic bags.
Some disposable plastic containers and jars can be used to grow plants.
Empty bottles can be refilled for storage of water or any other liquid stuff.
Zip foils can be reused after cleaning thoroughly each time after storing foodstuffs.
Amazing Fact:
Bangalore produces approximately 8000 tonnes of e-waste in the form of discarded computers, televisions, motors, transformers, etc. annually.
E-Parisaraa, an initiative started by an ex-IITian, is working for safer recycling facility, e-waste is recycled and various useful substances such as gold are extracted from the computers.
Recycling of paper:
• Paper is made from trees and is essential for our survival on the Earth.
• So, even if paper is biodegradable, depletion of trees at fast pace is a big concern.
• Therefore, to save trees we must use paper judiciously.
Some tips for recycling paper are:
We should always write on both sides of paper sheets.
We can also make fresh paper from used or old newspapers. By now we know how harmful garbage accumulation can be. But, by following the 3Rs concept, we can manage the garbage generated in our surroundings so that it is beneficial to the environment.
We can also reuse envelopes and covers by using stickers.
Unused pages from old notebooks can be torn off and made into new notebook for doing rough work and other miscellaneous works.
