Students in a school listened to the news read in the morning assembly that the mountain of garbage in Delhi, suddenly exploded and various vehicles got buried under it. Several people were also injured and there was traffic jam all around. In the brain storming session the teacher also discussed this issue and asked the students to find out a solution to the problem of garbage. Finally they arrived at two main points– one is self management of the garbage we produce and the second is to generate less garbage at individual level.

(a) Suggest two measures to manage the garbage we produce.

(b) As an individual, what can we do to generate the least garbage? Give two points.

(c) List two values the teacher instilled in his students in this episode.

a. Two ways in which we can manage the garbage we produce is by:
(i) Separating the waste produced. Waste can be separated into dry waste and wet waste or into biodegradable and non biodegradable wastes.

(ii) properly disposing the garbage at places specified by the municipality. Waste produced can further be dealt with in different ways depending on the type of waste produced. For example, if the waste is natural, it can be composted, if waste generated is biodegradable it can be subjected to vermicomposting.

b. (i) To generate less waste, we can follow the three Rs, refuse, reuse and recycle. We can practise recycling.

(ii) We can reuse items instead of throwing them away after single use. We can refuse to buy or use items that generate a lot of waste.

c. The teacher instilled the following two values in his students:

(i) He created awareness about the environmental effects of waste and taught them about individual responsibility regarding waste generation.

(ii) He also taught them about being responsible citizens by telling them to generate less waste.