Why Should You Care
Dear Folks,
It has been long established that our biosphere is a heavily inter-connected, interdependent mesh of entities both living and non-living. This mesh of interactions is so complex that through the tiniest of our actions, we do really trigger avalanches. This concept is elegantly encapsulated in the metaphor of the flap of a butterfly causing a typhoon halfway around the globe, known as the "Butterfly Effect"[1]. Benjamin Franklin, offered his own poetic perspective on this :
For want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For want of a horse the rider was lost,
For want of a rider the battle was lost,
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Since our actions can have huge implications, it becomes our moral imperative to carefully reflect on them. Because, indeed these avalanches cost lives as in the case of the landslide in the 33 year old Ghazipur landfill which resulted in the death of two people[2].
The apathy, mismanagement, corruption and lack of on ground implementation of Waste Management Services captures everything that is wrong about the Indian condition. It is a perfect model of the things not done right and striving to cleanse this system will have huge takeaways for other basic services in the country too. That many of us live around and go past 50m tall methane spewing mountains of garbage everyday without any considerable affect on our conscience is remarkable. We will see children collecting litter from the road side and continue our conversations like we witnessed nothing out of the ordinary. Those open dumps around the corner are a breeding ground for diseases. We all know this, yet are we powerless to change even that? When new landfills are sanctioned, another village will disappear and it's inhabitants will not have a say in it and will lose their source of sustenance all so that we can dump more garbage there. If for nothing else, we should care because this waste is going to come back to haunt us through the global warming that will make your summers unbearable or through the leachate that will contaminate water resources and find its way into your bodies and cause genetic mutations.
Our apathy and inaction is not for the want of viable solutions. Segregated waste if properly managed can go not to landfills, instead to composting and recycling facilities. We can demand proper waste collection and disposal from our local representatives and even volunteer with organisations like Chintan, who are running on ground projects to uncover new models for efficient waste management and who advocate for proper regulation. If we look closely, we are not really powerless to control a situation we have a very high stake in.
Next time you see an open dump or a child ragpicking, ponder a bit longer on what you can do about it because take it from me this is not the normal way of things. And remember we have a voice and we can trigger avalanches.
Yours Truly
Carbon Footprint
[1]https://www.fs.blog/2017/08/the-butterfly-effect/
[2]https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/as-ghazipur-landfill-shuts-rani-khera-new-dumping-site/story-J21l29AnJGIm7oTT7kgqhM.html
It has been long established that our biosphere is a heavily inter-connected, interdependent mesh of entities both living and non-living. This mesh of interactions is so complex that through the tiniest of our actions, we do really trigger avalanches. This concept is elegantly encapsulated in the metaphor of the flap of a butterfly causing a typhoon halfway around the globe, known as the "Butterfly Effect"[1]. Benjamin Franklin, offered his own poetic perspective on this :
For want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For want of a horse the rider was lost,
For want of a rider the battle was lost,
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Since our actions can have huge implications, it becomes our moral imperative to carefully reflect on them. Because, indeed these avalanches cost lives as in the case of the landslide in the 33 year old Ghazipur landfill which resulted in the death of two people[2].
The apathy, mismanagement, corruption and lack of on ground implementation of Waste Management Services captures everything that is wrong about the Indian condition. It is a perfect model of the things not done right and striving to cleanse this system will have huge takeaways for other basic services in the country too. That many of us live around and go past 50m tall methane spewing mountains of garbage everyday without any considerable affect on our conscience is remarkable. We will see children collecting litter from the road side and continue our conversations like we witnessed nothing out of the ordinary. Those open dumps around the corner are a breeding ground for diseases. We all know this, yet are we powerless to change even that? When new landfills are sanctioned, another village will disappear and it's inhabitants will not have a say in it and will lose their source of sustenance all so that we can dump more garbage there. If for nothing else, we should care because this waste is going to come back to haunt us through the global warming that will make your summers unbearable or through the leachate that will contaminate water resources and find its way into your bodies and cause genetic mutations.
Our apathy and inaction is not for the want of viable solutions. Segregated waste if properly managed can go not to landfills, instead to composting and recycling facilities. We can demand proper waste collection and disposal from our local representatives and even volunteer with organisations like Chintan, who are running on ground projects to uncover new models for efficient waste management and who advocate for proper regulation. If we look closely, we are not really powerless to control a situation we have a very high stake in.
Next time you see an open dump or a child ragpicking, ponder a bit longer on what you can do about it because take it from me this is not the normal way of things. And remember we have a voice and we can trigger avalanches.
Yours Truly
Carbon Footprint
[1]https://www.fs.blog/2017/08/the-butterfly-effect/
[2]https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/as-ghazipur-landfill-shuts-rani-khera-new-dumping-site/story-J21l29AnJGIm7oTT7kgqhM.html
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