Waste?

I went to the shop today to purchase a top-up card. Rs. 50, in fact. Almost every person would be familiar with the process of scratching the card, entering the “pin number” and use it to recharge your mobile phone account. But what happens to the card after you use it? I found that it effortlessly slipped out of my hand and dropped to the ground below, one more entity added to the increasing pile of plastic and paper waste that was already there. It was at this moment that I felt a sense of guilt; that I wasn't supposed to do this. Having read all about keeping our environment clean, the hazards of pollution, recycling and waste management; it amazes me to think of the fact that we are so accustomed to throwing things away – that we dispose of things without a second thought.

Well, with regard to the top-up card – it is printed on paper only about 5 cm x 5 cm (just a small card, do I hear u say?). People in metros probably use easy recharge more often, but in a majority of places like the city (New Delhi) I live in, these cards have a widespread use.  And almost always, these cards end up adding to the pile of garbage. In fact, these don’t even go to a dustbin but only contribute to the litter on the ground. This is not limited to just recharge cards, but is the same case with bus or train tickets, office papers, used paper cups, plastic bags and stuff. And most of these never go for recycling anyway. We just go on, running to complete our daily errands, mindless of the waste that we keep dumping every day.

I don’t know if my thoughts are feasible or practical, but everyone has a freedom to express their views, so I want to share my ideas as well. The problem of accumulating waste could be effectively managed by proper organization.  The cards and tickets could easily be collected from the consumers, and recycled.  Every industry that generates a large amount of paper waste could have its own small recycling set up that could “mange its own waste”.  We need to take a major responsibility for cleaning up all the waste that we have generated. That might be difficult, but for some common little things, it can be achieved with the help of a little organized measures....

                                                   - Piyush Pranav