—Shivika Ahluwalia
Contact: Chintan, 238 Sidhartha Enclave. Ph: 24314478

The plastic and metal waste is separated and ragpickers are given this. They sell this and get money, which supports the life of many people.

Paper marbling, paper recycling, photoframe making were some of the activities going on in the paper making industry of the ashram. Marbling is done by putting enamel paint mixed with turpentine on water. Make designs with a stick on the water, and put a sheet of paper over it and press gently. voila. You have marble paint paper ready. For making recycled paper, they use a machine to cut cloth and paper itno small pieces. these bits are then put into the 'Bito machine'. colour can also be used. the machine makes a pulp which is then put into a special machine to make into a sheets. These sheets are dried int he sun witht he support of cloth. Then with the help of a paper cutting machine, the paer is cut into a size of 33 by 20 cm. all these items are handmade. In these complex processes, some materials like animal glue, indigo, resin, cotton rags, waste paper, garden grass, banana fibre, rice straw, jute rags etc are used. Some chemicals like titanium dioxide, bleaching powder, chalk powder, starch, washing soda and alumina shulphate are also used. Sabda, the stationary shop in the ashram sells these products at a reasonable price.

Many other schools and institutions also have good systems of waste management. Why don't we too can bring about a change?

Plastics are being used so extensively that it seems people have forgotten about the old eco-friendly materials, which are good alternatives to plastic. Paper is one such product. "Paper is 100 per cent recyclable and unlike plastic, its quality does not degrade with continuous recycling", says Mr Sanjay who works in an NGO called Toxics Link. According to him there are various reasons as to why plastics are harmful to the environment. "The biggest problem with plastics," says Sanjay, "is that they are non-biodegradable. Additives added in plastics are another major problem. These additives are very reactive and can easily seep from the plastic bags into the soil when they are thrown away. When a number of polythene bags are thrown in one place they form a layer of plastic over the soil. This layer prevents air and water from entering the soil and kills the plants growing in it. Plastics are also carcinogenic and on incineration the fumes produced are also harmful."

Sanjay told us how plastic bloats in the intestines of cows which out of starvation consume polythene bags along with the garbage thrown in dumps. The plastic gradually accumulates inside the cow’s intestine and blocks them. The cows die a slow and painful death.

He also mentioned the problems which plastics pose after they can no longer be recycled. "India doesn’t have engineered landfills which are lined to prevent leaching. Besides, plastics also cause social problems such as choked drains," He said. Plastics are also catalysts of calamities like floods and landslides. In Mumbai for example, in the year 1998, sewage network got clogged with polythene bags which resulted in an artificial flood. In 1996 in the Delhi PVC market, a fire broke out and burnt loads of plastic which resulted in toxic fumes.

Plastic is made from the conventional source of energy, petroleum, which is fast depleting resource. Coloured plastics are very dangerous, black being the worst. These chemicals can cause liver cancer. The transparent ones have the least amount of chemicals.

Plastics when in contact with skin for too long cause rashes and infections.

If not plastics, then what? We can always use alternatives. Glass for plastic bottles, clay or ceramic for plastic cups, Jute and paper for bags made out of plastic.

A lot of people have also lost their jobs because of the coming of plastics. Many small scale traditional cottage industries have closed down as the demand for their goods went down. According to the figures given to the GT by Toxics Link, if the plastic industries close down then a number of new industries will come up. These industries will provide employment for over fifty lakh people. He emphasized the importance of the rag pickers and said that they play a major role they play in delhis’s waste management. "Without them the city would face massive problems related to garbage". said Sanjay.

Some things that we can do are: Waste segregation. Reduce the use of plastics as far as possible, reuse, and recycle.