Once Upon a Time

OUT ON A LITTER HUNT!

It was Sunday, early in the morning and Sidh was all set for a day out with his Dad on his weekend mission. This time it was a Litter Hunt!

Suddenly, bell rang at the door. Mom opened the door. It was ragpicker to collect garbage from their house.

Sidh’s mind had already started working on the mission. He wondered what these ragpickers do with this junk that is useless for them.

Sidh: Mom, where do they take our litter and what do they do with it?

Mom: It is taken to a special place for disposing and recycling.

Sidh: Disposing & Recycling???

Before he could ask those numbers of questions that had over flown his mind, Sidh’s father came out of his room.

Dad: So, my little master is ready for today’s mission.

Sidh: Yes Dad!

Dad: Let’s go!

On the way to their mission,

Sidh: Dad, what is recycling?

Dad: Good question! But before I give you its answer, I would like to ask if you understand the meaning of Waste.

Sidh: Ummm, I think the things that we no longer need.

Dad: Good! Now let us start collecting some litter on the way that is actually a waste for those who have thrown it.

After sometime…

Dad: Sidh what did you manage to collect in your litter box.

Sidh: I have some candy wrappers, ice cream sticks, old newspaper, coke cans and disposable spoons in my box.

Dad: Well, I have an old shoe, a cereal box, a soda bottle, some leaves and a plastic bag.

Sidh: What next, Dad?

Dad: Now, we need to segregate this waste.

Sidh: Segregate?

Dad: Yes, segregate. Wastes are of two categories – Biodegradable wastes that can be degraded e.g., paper, wood, fruits, etc. and Non-biodegradable wastes that cannot be degraded e.g., plastic, cans, bottles, old machines, etc.

Putting biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste in two separate containers is called Segregation.

Sidh: But Dad, why segregate?

Dad: Everyday, people produce mountains of litter that has to be disposed of.  If we carelessly dispose our wastes, it would lead to pollution in the environment which can damage our wildlife and gives us an unhealthy environment to live in.

So, it has to be disposed in a clean way.

Sidh: Oh!

Dad: Let me explain it to you more. Like your mom told you in the morning, big trucks carry our litter that is collected by ragpickers, to a special place called an incinerator plant where it is burnt in a clean way. Litters that cannot be burnt are dumped in a site called landfill which is actually a large hole in the ground. But this takes up a lot of space and can result in a build-up of underground poisons and gases.

The best way is to sort it into different types of materials and reuse or recycle it.

Sidh: So, WHAT IS RECYCLE?

Dad: Most of the things that we use come from nature, such as wood, metals and oil. Recycling helps in saving these natural resources from getting over. For example, we cut number of trees to meet our need for paper products. This can result in depletion of trees.

By recycling paper, we can make new paper products or sometimes we can simply reuse them so that we don’t have to go back to nature.

Composting is another way of recycling. It not only reduces the amount of household litter generated, but it is also beneficial in your garden as a fertilizer.

Sidh: Are you talking about the thing in our backyard?

Dad: Yes, what you see in our backyard is nothing else but a composter. You have seen your mom putting kitchen scraps, dry leaves and trimmed grass into a pile in the backyard. We need to stir it around from time to time to circulate air through it. Eventually, what we get is great fertilizer for our garden.

Sidh: What all can we recycle?

Dad: Besides paper products, tins, cans and glass bottles can be recycled by melting them down and making them into new tins, cans and bottles. Some plastic products can also be recycled. Plastic bottles can be cleaned and refilled or melted down and moulded into other plastic products.

It is important to recycle or else landfill sites would run out of space and natural resources would be depleted.

Segregation is important at the household level. It does not take any time for an individual to put biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste in two separate containers. This can help in carrying biodegradable waste to the composting area and most of the non-biodegradable waste for recycling. It can save a lot of effort and time at the end of the chain.

Let me tell you some facts about certain things that are normally thrown by people on the streets as trash. Let us see how long they stay trash before decaying.

Sidh: Dad, now I understand what needs to be done.

Dad: Okay, go ahead and tell me.

Sidh: We should try to reduce, reuse and prevent waste.

Dad: Bravo! Now, give me some examples.

Sidh: Reduce use of paper by making information available electronically; reuse materials, such as timber, paper and cardboard; Switch to reusable containers; use durable towels, tablecloths, napkins, dishes, cups, and glasses; donate/exchange old books, clothes machinery, etc.; use biodegradable materials; avoid plastic bags; make our own compost with food scraps, lawn clippings, leaves and twigs, shredded newspapers and pizza boxes and use it to fertilise our gardens.

Dad: Excellent! But over and above, encourage others to do so.

Sidh: Right Dad, like we keep our home clean so that we have clean, healthy and pleasant environment to enjoy, we should keep the world around us clean.

Activity log:
If you have understood the mission well, then try to segregate the litter collected by Sidh and his Dad into biodegradable and non-biodegradable.

By Grania Jain; Class V-B