Garbage or trash or rubbish is unwanted or useless material. Things, we buy from markets, come in various types of packings. Wheat flour, rice, pulses and milk are packed in plastic bags. Oils, mineral water, soft drinks, are sold in plastic bottles.

Carry bags are also made up of synthetic materials. What do we do with empty plastic bags and bottles? Are these of any use? All these wrapping and packing materials go out as GARBAGE.

Students usually dispose of torn paper sheets, pencil lead, pencil shavings and food wrappers.
You might have seen public places filled with plastic bags, wrappers, gutka packets. Some people don�t even bother to find garbage bins and just through waste items anywhere they feel like.
Do you know that every person can dispose of about 50 tons of garbage during his life?

We also throw away many domestic wastes such as eggshells, torn newspapers, tea leaves, lemon rind, peels of fruits and vegetables, ground nutshells, broken crockery items, old slippers, empty aluminum cans, polythene bags, and plastic bottles.

Safai karamcharis take the garbage from the bins. What if garbage is not removed from our homes and surroundings, certainly it will make our life hellish. Litters can harm the environment. Litters can end up in rivers and canals, polluting the water supply.

Where does the garbage go and what happens to it? Can we change the garbage into something useful? Can we contribute to this anyway? It is our responsibility to keep surrounding clean and protect the earth for ourselves and next sensation as well.

Where does the garbage go and what happens to it?

Garbage is collected from the garbage dumps by waste collection vehicles and taken to a low-lying area called a landfill. Garbage has both useful and nonuseful items. Non useful components are separated out from the garbage and spread over the landfill. A layer of soil is then put on these components to cover them. Once the landfill is completely full. It is normally, converted into a playground or a park.

Degradable materials separated from the garbage are used to make compost. Pits are prepared near the landfill for making compost. Rotting and conversion of some waste materials into manure is called composting.

In some cities and towns, separate dustbins of blue and green colors are provided for collecting two kinds of garbage. The blue bins are used for collecting recyclables materials that can be used again such as plastic, metal scraps, and glass. The green bins are used for collecting garden, kitchen, and animal wastes.

Recycling of paper

Paper recycling is the process of recovering waste paper and making it into a new paper product. Material required: old newspapers, used envelopes, waste papers, a blender/ mixer or mortar and pestle, a trough at least 3inches deep, a piece of window mesh, fenugreek seeds.

Process:

1. Tear the waste papers and newspapers into small pieces and soak them for a day. Put the soaked papers along with the soaked methi seeds into the blender. Switched on the blender for a few seconds, till the paper is turned into a paste. Instead of a blender, one can use mortar and pestle for making a paste of the papers.
2. Pour the paper pulp into a cup. Fill the trough up to 1 inch with plane water.
3. Put the wire mesh into the trough and spread paper pulp evenly on it with your finger. Pat, it gently to make the thickness of the layer of the paste uniform. Lift the mesh and let the water drain. Spread a sheet of newspaper on the layer of paste to soak the extra water. A sponge can also be used to collect extra water.

Now carefully remove the layer of paste from the wire mesh frame and spread it on sheet of newspaper in the sun. Dried leaves and petals of flowers can also be stuck on the wet surface of the paper. You can add natural coloring agents like turmeric powder during blending.

Read More- Vermicomposting Process: Definition - Garbage In Garbage Out