Turn Trash to Treasure

The Problem

On a worldwide scale, we produce 2.6 trillion pounds of trash per year, which for scale, is about 200 times as heavy as The Great Pyramid of Giza and about 3,500 times as heavy as The Empire State Building. The majority of this waste ends up polluting our oceans until all the aquatic life there are dead (creating what are called 'dead zones'), destroying our land as landfills become mountain-sized (the Ghazipur landfill recently toppled onto a street and killed many people) and making our air toxic and unbreathable.

The Solution

If we segregate, compost, recycle and safely dispose of our waste, we can avoid this horrible situation altogether, reclaiming our waste and turning it into something entirely new. The best part of waste segregation is that it's SUPER easy to do - so let's do it!

The Method

• Check if your neighbourhood or government mandates waste segregation already. If they do, they've probably specified some guidelines on how to separate your waste items
• If waste segregation isn't already mandatory where you live, try using separate dustbins for different purposes. The divisions can be: dry & wet waste (sending wet waste out of your home daily and dry waste once a week), paper, fabrics, metal and plastic (separately given to recyclers), separate bins for e-waste (batteries, old computers and devices, plugs and wires), hazardous and medical waste (especially if you use a lot of disposable medical items), and sanitary waste in a paper bag with a red 'X' on it.
• If your waste-collectors don't collect waste separately, you can try (a) explaining waste segregation to them and asking if they'd consider collecting waste separately or (b) send your waste out to different collectors (for example, paper can go to an exclusive paper recycler, wet waste can be composted at home, fabrics can be given to fashion companies that often collect old fabric in exchange for discounts, e-waste can be given to electronics companies that collect them etc).
• Start composting at home. It's easier than you think! The company Daily Dump is famous for popularising composting at home and sells many products to make it easier for you.
• Start upcycling at home (you can check out our 'Upcycling Exhibit' Campaign on The EcoClub United's Campaign page to learn more and try it yourself to unleash your creative side.

Resources

• The Bangalore Government's Guide to Waste Segregation (well-explained and easy to follow)
• Daily Dump: Composting, Waste Segregation & More (we really love this company)
• GetWaste.info (for material and product-specific guides)

Good luck! Let's save the world together.