Learn to better manage your waste

The GHMC’s been rolling out its plan to equip every home in Hyderabad with a two-bin waste segregation system this year, and waste segregation advocates in the city couldn’t be happier about it.

And if you haven’t started doing the basics yet — separating dry from wet waste. “It’s my responsibility as a citizen to manage the things we generate out of our house,” says segregation advocate Srujana Srivastav, adding, “In the future, there won’t be a way to manage it in such a large scale. If you can’t handle half kilo of waste at home, how can you expect the government to manage all the waste from the city?”

The coming year will be essential for managing waste as well, with the focus also on collection. Sandeep Sonta, whose organisation Waste2Organics sells composting and segregation equipment, says that they will be implementing their own SWACH movement — Solid Waste Awareness training and Composting at Home.

“We’re trying to talk to municipalities and panchayats in Pragathi nagar to change things using a top-down model. We are also getting community composting assignments and setting up things,” he says.

Srujana adds that forming cooperatives with citizens, government and collectors will help reduce the burden on all stakeholders in the waste management system — “At one point, the person who comes to collect your waste should be able to tell you that they’re not going to collect waste that’s mixed. That also helps the scavenger with his duties of segregating waste at the next level, and getting him more income for recyclables.”