Classifying Garbage at Home
Are you worried about how to segregate waste at home and dispose it? Is your way of garbage disposal affecting your family’s overall health standards? Are you aware of the ways to reduce garbage at home or what are the types of waste disposal methods?
From simply cracking the egg shells for making your breakfast to the gum wrapper you used earlier, you can begin to imagine how much waste is produced each day. The classification of garbage disposal is an essential process to contribute to the environment, both for cleanliness and to prevent the spread of diseases.
Keep reading below to see why it is important to do your part and send your junk to the right place the right way.
How To Segregate Waste At Home
In general, the idea of waste segregation means classifying wet and dry waste. There are different types of garbage produced at home beyond the general classification which can be treated scientifically at the source if disposed of correctly.
- Wet/ Kitchen Waste
Wet garbage is largely made up of kitchen waste from the entire day. This includes fruit peels, vegetable skins, uncooked meals, leftovers, and even garden waste like leaves and twigs. Use a different trash can or container to collect such garbage so that it may be turned into rich organic compost at home. If you do not require these organic wastes, just dispose of them in a green bin. When combined with other wastes, it produces methane.
The concept of Daily Dump invented by Poonam Bir Kasturi , India’s first home composter for urban spaces, which she designed in 2006 before Swacchh Bharat has been a very popular way to revolutionize waste management.
If you do not want a lot of garden waste coming out of your homes, check out these easy-to-maintain houseplants that are low maintenance and yet make your space look green.
2. Dry Waste
Dry waste is classified as recyclable or non-recyclable. Non-recyclable waste includes items such as old paper towels, hazardous chemicals, food containers, foam products, and dishware that cannot be reused. Recyclables, on the other hand, contain all waste things that can be turned into goods that can be utilised. Tetra packs, pet bottles, plastic carry bags, newspapers, glass bottles and jars, shoes, metals, plastic cutlery, tyres, cardboard, and so on are solid items.
You may have heard of online kabadiwalas, local scrap merchants, recycling centres, and raddiwale who collect such material to help recycle it further. Even municipal corporations accept dry waste contributions. Since dry waste accounts for about 30–40% of total home waste, make use of a blue-coloured container to gather such materials and throw them once or twice a week.
3. Electronic Waste
How you handle electronic waste today can have a major impact on your future. E-waste is any junk electrical or electronic equipment that is no longer in use. There are three main types of it:
i) Bulky: Refrigerator, microwave, or anything else that is difficult to transport.
ii) Hazardous: Light bulbs, batteries, monitors and screens. Basically, everything with a chemical component.
iii) Non-hazardous: Cables, microwaves, adapters, and devices like laptops and phones.
Just like dry waste, drop your used electronic items at your nearest authorised public E-Garbage collection points, using online collection services or at recycling centres where you may donate or exchange your e-waste.
4. Sanitary waste
You cannot streamline sanitary waste into basic wet or dry waste. Sanitary waste includes adult and baby diapers, synthetic sanitary napkins, hygiene items, condoms, tampons, and dirty napkins. If a family member has been in an accident, is unwell, or is elderly, certain medical wastes such as linens, bedding, anything tainted with blood or bodily fluids, contaminated plaster casts, sharps, and other forms of dressing may be involved. Anyone residing in the house, as well as guests and home healthcare providers, is in danger from this type of waste.
To prevent the spread of any virus, both medical and sanitary waste management must be taken care of by burning or microwaving. Not every city in India has the capacity to handle trash properly. Therefore, the simplest option to dispose of them is to wrap them in newspaper and mark them with a red dot for easy colour coding by the workers.
Think Different
Change is best practised at home. These simple ways of classifying garbage can make huge impacts when you start treating your garbage as waste. Garbage has no value. Waste, on the other hand, is worthy if you sort it carefully. With this in mind, you’ll begin to distinguish the recyclables from the non-recyclables and keep in check that hazardous waste is not mixed up with regular waste. Keep a tab on municipal recycling truck visits, and collection points in stores or public places. If you have the privilege of choice, figure out which ones work best for you. One can also start their sustainability journey by making their homes eco-friendly.
Now that we’ve learnt about classifying waste, let’s start with making small changes around the house. Shall we?
Now that you know how to manage waste at home, here is a guide to deep cleaning your house to make the space even tidier.
References:
https://www.jaagore.com/current-issues/5-simple-ways-to-practise-waste-segregation
https://www.shaktiplasticinds.com/dry-waste-and-wet-waste-management-how-to-segregate-waste/
https://www.dailydump.org/pages/learn-waste-segregation
https://yourstory.com/2020/03/daily-dump-home-composter-waste-management/amp
