WASTE MUSEUMS
(This idea of setting up Waste Museums is that of Gautam Bharti, Co-Founder of Masti Ki Paathshala. My contribution is simply in translating his ideas that he had documented in Hindi into English and adding my 2 cents here and there.)
Disposal of waste and garbage is a big problem today. While solutions are being devised, the rate of generation of waste and garbage appears to be outpacing the rate at which solutions are being devised.
I have travelled across the country in search of a solution for this problem. Just the way Archimedes had his aha moment in the bathtub, I had my aha moment while visiting historical monuments, palaces and museums. I thought to myself that while the entire world comes to see these historical monuments, palaces and museums, these have nothing but historical facts and artefacts and memories of the past. I thought to myself why we could not create a ‘Waste Museum’ — a place where solutions dealing with rising piles of waste and garbage could be found.
Why Waste Museums?
HOW?
The Waste Museums are a dream that I have to turn to reality. How to do this?
1. In order to realize this dream, we will need a location for the Museums that are frequented by a lot of people.
2. We will have to build a team that is dedicated enough to take up this colossal task.
3. The Waste Museums will provide a common platform to people who have been working on developing innovative solutions on overcoming this menace. It shall be our endeavour to connect with such people.
4. We will need a ‘lab’ where the entire team could plan and experiment with methods of dealing with this problem.
5. Lastly, we will need funding to achieve this task.
WHAT……..?
The rising pile of garbage and waste has become a big problem these days. In fact, the Swacchh Bharat Abhiyan is a testimony to this. REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE is the mantra of the present times. A lot of people now have found innovative ways of making things of utility out of waste (see picture below). Innovative solutions are being developed to overcome this problem of rising pile of waste. I often wonder that we treat film stars, cricket players, politicians as celebrities. Why can’t we also accord celebrity status to these innovators who are working hard on eliminating waste from this planet?
A ‘Waste Museum’ will be a first of its kinds. It will be a place which will have a solution for the treatment of all kinds of waste. These Waste Museums will lead the way to turning our planet into a ‘zero waste’ planet.
These Waste Museums will have 5 sections:
1. INDIA’S BEST INNOVATIONS
The Waste Museum shall serve as a repository of ideas and innovations. It shall be our endeavour to source and document ideas and solutions from across the country on how one could deal with various kinds of waste. Also, the Waste Museum would showcase various innovations that have been devised. Some of these are shown below.
2. JUNK SCULPTURES
Sculptures made out of junk is a unique form of art. The Waste Museums will house all sorts of sculptures made out of junk material.
3. MUSIC INSTRUMENTS MADE OUT OF WASTE
The music maestro RD Burman showed us that music can be created out of any ordinary object. Sound and rhythm need not necessarily be created out of a musical instrument. With this in mind, the Waste Museums will house ‘musical instruments’ made out of waste, junk and garbage. An example of this is shown below.
4. PHOTO GALLERY
The Photo Gallery shall be a collection of pictures showing the appalling situation of increasing waste and garbage in India. These pictures could be of rising piles of waste, increasing pollution, increasing incidence of deforestation, etc. Sample some of these pictures shown below.
5. ECO SHOPPING CENTRE
This part of the Museum will stock eco friendly goods made out of waste material. We will also stock books and videos showing low cost innovative practices (popularly known as Jugaad in India) for dealing with waste.
Professor Muhammad Yunus (the father of microfinance) in his Nobel Speech said that he will ensure that poverty is relegated to poverty museums by 2030. Likewise, let us take a pledge today to relegate waste to waste museums. I hope that generations to come look at these pictures and stare in amazement as to how their ancestors lived in such appalling conditions.
