4 tips you should know before you start living zero-waste lifestyle

I have been associated with the waste management sector since last few months and I have seen that people are getting more and more aware of waste minimization and environmental impact we are causing knowing or unknowingly by generating waste in our daily life. 

There are different kinds of waste we generate ranging from food waste to packaging waste. Since now we know that it is possible to live a zero-waste life, people have started implementing it in their lives. Many of them post regular tips and guides for zero-waste life on their respective social media accounts which have led to inspiring many more to join the initiative.

Of course, we do need such a thing where people themselves know how to value our environment. The governments around the world are working on some similar approaches to tackle down the issues of waste management by means of rules and innovations.  At a personal level as well, people out of guilt of using wrong methods for waste management consider taking the zero-waste life and I have seen that many of them couldn't stay true to it and end up generating waste again due to various reasons. What are these reasons and what you should know before going for a waste-free life? Let's discuss it here!

Before starting a zero-waste life, you would need to know few things about it. Speaking frankly, you cannot be completely waste-free even if you want to. For example, whenever you cook something, every time you won't be able to eat everything and you'd have to throw away the left-over. Zero-waste lifestyle does not really mean you are not generating any waste but it means you are generating the kind of waste which is environment-friendly and it will degrade in a short period of time. It would save energy and money. You are saving the environment as well. 

Second thing, you would need sources where you can find the essential things which are fully bio-degradable over a limited time period. Such things can include but are not limited to a toothbrush, comb, clothes, eco-friendly packaging-free goods, reusable bags, utensils, containers, clothes etc. Most of the people practising zero-waste life have minimized their requirements to generate the least possible waste out of their daily activities.  

Infographic showing some tips for Zero-waste lifestyle

Third thing, before starting, join zero-waste lifestyle groups and communities and get connected with the people who are already doing it. Many of us start a zero-waste lifestyle without any prior knowledge and end up getting failed to maintain it. Study their lives, go through the routing they follow and try to learn how difficult it would be to give up on the things which we use for comfort in normal life.

The last thing, do not try to give up everything in the first go. Start abandoning one thing at a time and practice it for two weeks before moving on to abandon another thing to reduce your waste. For example, if you leave the use of polythene bags, stick with it for the next fifteen days before you move on and abandoning single-use utensils from your life. This fifteen days will teach you how can you leave without that particular thing and what problems you would face without it. Meanwhile, you would try other options and can find the best suitable for yourself according to your need and budget. This is nothing but taking one step at a time. This will ensure you that you can do it.  The journey this way would be more bearable. Only practice can make it perfect. 

Always keep these words in mind!!

I hope you would found these tips useful for your new challenge in life. Even if you are not going for zero-waste life, I would suggest you try and minimize your daily waste. Good luck to all those who are going to try zero-waste lifestyle and the ones who are already practising. If you know more about a zero-waste lifestyle and have some more tips about it, please share them in the comments.

Things you should know after the plastic ban!

Maharashtra government finally enforced the ban after three months of its announcement. A similar approach has been seen in some cities of Gujarat like Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Vadodara to ban single-use plastics including water pouches,  plastic cutlery, plastic bags and cups.

Plastic bottles and bags are being banned

Environmentalists and activists are happy with the decision that this will help a lot to fight plastic pollution as single-use plastic is among the most discarded thing found in landfills. Not only landfills, but it is also responsible for the death of domestic as well as marine animals. 

But, not everyone seems to be happy with the ban. Especially, the plastic manufacturers and plastic associations say it would be responsible for job cuts and the plastic industry would lose millions of money due to it.  Many of them might change their businesses or move over other plastic businesses.

The ban is also affecting the restaurant business as well, especially the ones in food delivery as those plastics are now banned and can not be used for food packaging. This has led some restaurants to change their menus or some are using other options for packaging and have increased delivery charges. 

Plastic cutlery is widely used in events

Among all this, common people are the ones who are going to be affected both in good and bad ways. Use of cheap plastic cutlery and items had made it economical for event organisers to arrange a function or event with less money. Now, as the ban has been imposed, it is mandatory for everyone to look for options and they are not cheap, unlike plastics. 

Such DIY Home made bags can be a great option for plastic bags

To start with the ban, keep these little things on your mind.

1. If you are going out shopping or for grocery, remember to bring your own reusable cloth or jute bags.

2. As the ban has led to banning of water pouches, bring your own water bottle.

3. Food packaging is now costlier. If you are looking for the takeaway, bring your own containers for food. Start cooking more at home.

4. Remember to collect your waste plastics and give it away to the authorised recycler only.

5. Use plastic vending machines for bottles 

As the ban has been imposed, the alternatives for these plastics will have to come in use. As of now, they are of double price and I just hope the price will drop soon and we will have more reliable options for plastics as well. 

Keep recycling and save the earth.

Plastic Recycling: Challenges and Opportunities!

Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastic and reprocessing the material into useful products, sometimes completely different in form from their original state. For instance, this could mean melting down soft drink bottles and then casting them as plastic chairs and tables.

On one hand, plastic recycling is much more needed in today's world where 70% of plastic is dumped and not getting recycled. The non-biodegradable plastic waste has become a headache to the environment as it got mixed with other waste and prevent or slow down their rate of degradation. This, in turn, makes the whole waste management a very tedious and lengthy process to deal with which leaves the authority the last option to dump all these plastic contaminated waste into the landfills.

Plastic bottle waste. Pic: PEXELS

New technologies are being invented to fight the plastic pollution. Government and the waste management industry is implementing these technologies to fight the plastic waste. But, the problem has its root so deep in our lives that even the world-class state-of-the-art technologies are not able to resolve the issue. It is because the problem is created by us, humans.

To understand the problem of plastic waste, first, we need to understand the origin of these waste. Being cheap, reliable and non-biodegradable, plastic has its application ranging from food containers to bio-medical equipment and aeroplane parts. Out of which, the most common use of plastic is in the packaging industry. From the wrapping of boxes to the single unit fruit packing, plastic is extensively used in food packaging and general packaging. 

Sorting of single colour bottle cap. Pic: PEXELS

Let's talk about the challenges first!

Segregation is the main problem waste management is facing right now. Even it is clearly mentioned in the PWM Rules, 2016 that it is waste generator's responsibility to segregate the waste before disposing of it. It is very unlikely to change the mindset of people to make them do segregation at their home before they throw it in the dustbin.

The waste management here really needs a revamp. The systems of the municipalities are not efficient for the amount of waste being generated daily. Rules are there to help the management by the court but without their actual implementation, they are now merely on the papers. Some places have adapted them and got really good results.

There is lack of technology and money which can solve the problem of land-filling. There is the need for new technologies to recover materials from waste and to ensure that 100% of the waste gets recycled. Efficient recycling and modern ways of waste management can make this happen.

All these problems have to lead to pretty bad waste management in the country but this also means the people who want to work in this sector can have good opportunities. New startups like The Banyan Nation, Waste Venture, SEWA are getting the attention for their unique efforts to make the waste management more efficient and environment-friendly.

Plastic waste recycling has huge opportunities in India, over 70% of PET bottles already getting recycled. This is mainly done by disorganised sector where the people are exploited and are made to work in the piles of waste picking the plastic waste out of it. An organised community with better resources can make this up to 95%.

Clean street Pic: PEXELS

Segregation at the source can be implemented by teaching people the benefits of the same and by giving monetary incentives as well as by motivating them. Segregation at the source can solve so many problems and we can actually achieve the goal of being zero waste country.

Government is also working hard on the #CleanIndiaMission and creating awareness among the youth about the importance of cleanliness. Taking one step further, segregation should also be taught and should be implemented rather than being just on the paper.

Chai in Glass cup instead of plastic cup. Pic: PEXELS

Around the world, single used plastics are getting banned and it is a good step on the way to the plastic-free globe. Although it will be little hard for people to adapt to the single-use plastics which comes very handy it would worth for the sack of environment.

What do you think of this whole plastic recycling and this year's environment day theme #BeatPlasticPollution? Let us know in the comments below!

Reasons behind the bad waste management in India

If you're living in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai or Ahmedabad, you'd be well aware of the fact that these cities are suffering from garbage and waste. The municipalities have tried to find solutions but these solutions have short lives.

The most common way to get rid of the waste is to dump it in landfills. And yes, you read it right! Everyone just wants to get rid of the waste. No one thinks beyond the garbage bin or bag. Throw it away in the municipal truck and forget about the waste!! Is this the right thing to do? Absolutely not! And people don't do this purposefully but these things have been like this for years.

The main issue with the waste treatment is lack of awareness among the waste generators. It includes individuals like me and you, offices, institutes, small shops, big malls, industries and pretty much everything. We, at home, generate food waste, household waste like paper, plastics etc. and then throw it into the dustbin. This is the very basic step where we do one of the biggest mistakes. Waste segregation should be done at this stage but most of us are not aware of waste segregation at all. This makes the waste treatment really hard.

You can read more about source segregation here

The non-segregated waste is then taken away by the municipal truck and goes to the primary recycling centre where most recyclable items like metal and plastic bottles etc. are collected out of waste and sent for recycling. Remaining waste is then sent to landfill where it is compressed and dumped to make huge mountains of garbage.

Pirana Dumping site, Ahmedabad

Due to improper segregation, recyclables in the lost their value and becomes the part of the mountain of the garbage. The similar thing happens with food waste when you throw it out along with other waste. Although food waste is degradable, when it gets mixed with plastic and other non-biodegradable waste, it prevents the degradation and it adds more waste to the dump site. If it would have been treated separately,  it could be degraded into manure.

Apart from public awareness, there is lack of infrastructure and funding for the waste management. While in most part of Europe and  America, countries are using waste-to-energy programs, most of the Indian cities are still relying on landfilling. More than half of the annually generated waste ends up in landfills here. The waste recycled is more because of the disorganised sector consist of rag-pickers who collect recyclables from waste and sell it.  They help a lot in segregation. 

Local ragpicker selling his recyclables.

The "Swachh Bharat mission" has started spreading awareness about cleanliness but it still lacks the awareness about waste. The major issue of segregation of waste has been included in the new waste management policy, 2016 but the implementation of the policy is very poor. People are finding difficulties following the rule as many municipalities have not the proper system to collect the segregated waste.  

Government of India's Swachh Bharat Mission

The government and other organisations around us are working on making our waste management system more efficient and eco-friendly. We can help for the same by segregating our waste, reducing the amount of waste generated and by choosing reusable things over use-and-throw stuff.

Waste management: Everything you should know about waste!

In our daily life, we purchase things and after using it, we throw it away in the dustbin and forget about it. Have you ever noticed what happens to the waste you throw away in the dustbin?

In the most conventional way, the waste from the bin is being taken by the municipal body responsible for waste management. The waste is then taken away to the nearest waste processing plant in the truck where the most of the recyclable things are taken out. It gets sorted in basic forms as much as it could with the help of machines.

A truck collecting household waste

Rest of the waste is then again taken to another processing plant when it gets compressed and the compressed waste is then sent to the landfills where it would be dumped for years. If it is the waste which does not contain any plastics or non-biodegradable things, it would degrade and the land can again be used for dumping waste. But if the waste contains plastic and nonbiodegradable, it would prevent other wastes from being degraded and will accumulate the space for years. This is how most of the landfills today are full of waste. 

Landfilling is the most common waste management practice done by most of the states and countries all over the world. But, it is not the only waste management method as we'd discuss some more methods which are being used to manage the waste we generate daily.

A typical landfill

Incineration:

Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. The ash is mostly formed by the inorganic constituents of the waste and may take the form of solid lumps or particulates carried by the flue gas. The flue gases must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before they are dispersed into the atmosphere. In some cases, the heat generated by incineration can be used to generate electric power.

Incineration centre

Incinerators reduce the solid mass of the original waste by 80–85% and the volume (already compressed somewhat in garbage trucks) by 95–96%, depending on composition and degree of recovery of materials such as metals from the ash for recycling. This means that while incineration does not completely replace landfilling, it significantly reduces the necessary volume for disposal.

Recovery and recycling:

Recovery is the process of recovering the material which can be useful from the thrown away waste. Things like the metal waste, battery, alloys and electrical waste can be easily recovered. Paper waste is also one of the most recovered waste.

Recycling is creating the same or different stuff out of the recovered material which can be used afterwards. The rate of metal recycling is the highest in the world as around 95%. Second, comes the paper waste accounting around 70%.  But still, stuff like plastic requires more recycling as they are affecting the environment in very bad manner. Recycling saves billions of dollars every year and helps the environment. 

Plasma Gasification:

Plasma gasification is another form of waste management. Plasma is a primarily an electrically charged or a highly ionized gas. Lighting is one type of plasma which produces temperatures that exceed 12,600 °F. With this method of waste disposal, a vessel uses characteristic plasma torches operating at +10,000 °F which is creating a gasification zone till 3,000 °F for the conversion of solid or liquid wastes into a syngas.

Plasma gasification

During the treatment of solid waste by plasma gasification, the waste’s molecular bonds are broken down as result of the intense heat in the vessels and the elemental components. Thanks to this process, destruction of waste and dangerous materials are found. This form of waste disposal provides renewable energy and an assortment of other fantastic benefits.

Composting:

Composting is a process for converting decomposable organic materials into useful stable products. Therefore, valuable landfill space can be used for other wastes by composting these materials rather than dumping them on landfills.

Food waste being compost

On many farms, the basic composting ingredients are animal manure generated on the farm and bedding. Straw and sawdust are common bedding materials. Non-traditional bedding materials are also used, including newspaper and chopped cardboard. The amount of manure composted on a livestock farm is often determined by cleaning schedules, land availability, and weather conditions. Each type of manure has its own physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. Cattle and horse manures, when mixed with bedding, possess good qualities for composting.

Waste to energy:

Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes produce electricity and/or heat directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.  

Waste to energy

Avoidance/Waste Minimization:

Waste minimisation is a process of elimination that involves reducing the amount of waste produced in society and helps to eliminate the generation of harmful and persistent wastes, supporting the efforts to promote a more sustainable society. Waste minimisation involves redesigning products and/or changing societal patterns, concerning consumption and production, of waste generation, to prevent the creation of waste.

Waste minimization

The most environmentally resourceful, economically efficient, and cost-effective way to manage waste is to not have to address the problem in the first place. Waste minimisation should be seen as a primary focus for most waste management strategies. Proper waste management can require a significant amount of time and resources; therefore, it is important to understand the benefits of waste minimisation and how it can be implemented in all sectors of the economy, in an effective, safe and sustainable manner.

Downgauging:

Reducing the amount of packaging used per item will reduce waste volumes. Economics dictate that most manufacturers will already use close to the minimum required material necessary for a given application.

This principle is, however, offset against aesthetics, convenience and marketing benefits that can lead to over-use of packaging, as well as the effect of existing investment in tooling and production process, which can also result in the excessive packaging of some products.

Keep recycling and save the earth from being the garbage plantet!

Marine life and plastic pollution

Two months ago, people in Versova, Mumbai were celebrating because their efforts for about two years have now born some fruits. Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings spotted after cleanup of Versova beach by Afroz Shah and volunteers. It was a very proud moment for the group as well as the other people living there.

Olive ridley turtle on Versova beach, Mumbai

No one witnessed these turtles over past few years on the beach as it was very dirty and polluted. But, their showing up on the beach definitely mean the positive action of the beach cleanup that is happening on the beach from past 2 years every weekend. But, why would we need the beach clean up in the first place?

Afroz shah cleaning up the litter on his weekly clean up

Marine litter is the result why the beach looked awful and dirty back two years ago. But thanks to Afroz Shah and his volunteers. But sadly, other beaches in Mumbai and other cities on the shores don't get beach cleanups. In fact, they are so overly polluted and littered that people have stopped visiting them. India has some of the most polluted waterways and beaches in the world due to rapid, unplanned urbanisation, overpopulation and neglectful attitudes, including to public littering.

What is marine litter?

Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has deliberately or accidentally been released in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or tidewrack.

Marine debris floating in oceans

Types of debris

• Fishing nets left or lost in the ocean by fishermen – ghost nets – can entangle fish, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, dugongs, crocodiles, seabirds, crabs and other creatures. These nets restrict movement, causing starvation, laceration and infection, and, in animals that breathe air, suffocation. 
• 8.8 million metric tons of plastic waste is dumped in the world's oceans each year. Asia was the leading source of mismanaged plastic waste, with China alone accounting for 2.4 million metric tons. Eighty percent of marine debris is plastic. Plastics accumulate because they typically do not biodegrade as many other substances do.
• Nurdles, also known as "mermaids' tears", are plastic pellets, typically under five millimetres in diameter, that are a major component of marine debris.
• Litter, made from diverse materials that are denser than surface water (such as glasses, metals and some plastics), have been found to spread over the floor of seas and open oceans, where it can become entangled in corals and interfere with other sea-floor life, or even become buried under sediment, making clean-up extremely difficult, especially due to the wide area of its dispersal compared to shipwrecks. 

A turtle caught in the abandoned fishing net

Plastic debris from inland states come from two main sources: ordinary litter and materials from open dumps and landfills that blow or wash away to inland waterways and wastewater outflows. The refuse finds its way from inland waterways, rivers, streams and lakes to the ocean. Though ocean and coastal area cleanups are important, it is crucial to address plastic waste that originates from inland and landlocked states.

How marine life is affected by this?

Many animals that live on or in the sea consume flotsam by mistake, as it often looks similar to their natural prey. Bulky plastic debris may become permanently lodged in the digestive tracts of these animals, blocking the passage of food and causing death through starvation or infection. Tiny floating plastic particles also resemble zooplankton, which can lead filter feeders to consume them and cause them to enter the ocean food chain. 

Turtle died because of starvation as it couldn't move out of the net

Plastic waste has reached all the world's oceans. This plastic pollution harms an estimated 100,000 sea turtles and marine mammals and 1,000,000 sea creatures each year. Larger plastics such as plastic shopping bags can clog the digestive tracts of these larger animals when consumed by them and can cause starvation through restricting the movement of food, or by filling the stomach and tricking the animal into thinking it is full.

Birds mistook the plastic waste as their food

How can you help?

One of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to help reduce the amount of plastic entering our oceans is to not participate in using single-use plastics, avoid plastic bottled drinks such as water bottles, use reusable shopping bags, and to buy products with reusable packaging.

A poster trying to raise awareness about balloons

Other ways to help are as follows:

• Reduce usage of single-use plastics such as plastic bags, straws, water bottles, utensils and coffee cups by replacing them with reusable products such as reusable bags, metal straws, reusable water bottles, bamboo toothbrushes and reusable coffee cups
• Avoid microbeads, which are found in face scrubs, toothpaste and body washes
• Participate in a river or lake beach clean up
• Support municipality bans and other legislation regulating single-use plastics and plastic waste
• Continue to recycle, recycle, recycle

 
 

Biodegrable plastics and Bioplastics: Things you should know!

All of us know that nowadays, Plastic materials are being the headache for the everyone including the waste management companies and agencies. It would be wrong to say that we should ban the complete use of plastics as plastics have versatile nature. They can be elastic, they can be made strong and can be moulded into almost any shape. Since we do not have the suitable alternative to the plastics, all we can do is to reduce the use of plastics in our life as well as try not to buy any more plastic unless and until it is the must.

Scientists and researchers have been working on finding the alternative for the plastic materials and few have gained fruitful results as well. We'll discuss more this in the next section.

1. Biodegradable plastics:

Biodegradable plastics are plastics that are decomposed by the action of living organisms, usually bacteria. Two basic classes of biodegradable plastics exist. Bioplastics, whose components are derived from renewable raw materials, and plastics made from petrochemicals containing biodegradable additives which enhance biodegradation. However, biodegradable plastics also have the potential to complicate waste management when introduced without appropriate technical attributes, handling systems and consumer education. In addition, it is clear that there could be significant issues in sourcing sufficient biomass to replace a large proportion of the current consumption of polymers.

Some modes of degradation require that the plastic is exposed at the surface (aerobic), whereas other modes will only be effective if certain conditions exist in the landfill or composting systems (anaerobic).

Some companies produce biodegradable additives, to enhance biodegradation. Plastic can have starch powder added as a filler to allow it to degrade more easily, but this still does not lead to the complete breaking down of the plastic.

Some researchers have genetically engineered bacteria to synthesize completely biodegradable plastics, such as Biopol; however, these are expensive at present.

Biodegradable plastics can be a great option for the regular plastic but still, they are very expensive and their cost should be lower down for their extensive use in the daily life.

Do not confuse the biodegradable with compostables. Biodegradable plastics means these can be degradable completely with the help of microbes or bacteria. Other ways include direct sunlight or high-frequency radiations which breaks down these plastics into carbon dioxide and water. But there are varieties of biodegradable plastics are available in the market and each of them takes different time period to degrade. When used in plastic bags, this can be very useful to fight landfilling and littered plastics. Although, they are much costlier at this stage. Hopefully, innovations will not stop here and the cost will reduce further.

Bioplastics, on the other hand, are made from renewable raw materials and biomass resources like vegetable fats and oils, corn starch etc. They can also be made from agro by-products and can be from recycled plastics. Keep in mind that they can or can not be biodegradable. These can be used for many products like cups, pots, bowls, etc. The performance and the cost are the two main things that are preventing bioplastics from replacing vast applications of plastics.

Bioplastics are used for disposable items, such as packaging, crockery, cutlery, pots, bowls, and straws. In principle they could replace many applications for petroleum-derived plastics, however, cost and performance remain problematic.

The environmental impact of bioplastics is often debated, as there are many different metrics for "greenness" and tradeoffs often exist. The debate is also complicated by the fact that many different types of bioplastics exist, each with different environmental strengths and weaknesses, so not all bioplastics can be treated as equal.

Use of biodegradable plastics and Bioplastics can help reduce the pollution caused by the plastic. It can be easily degraded and can solve the issue of landfills. Also, the energy used to make these biodegradable plastics is less than the energy used to make new plastics based on fossil fuel. This will save energy on the larger scale. It is desirable that compostable and degradable plastics are appropriately labelled and used in ways that complement, rather than compromise waste-management schemes.