Making Development More Sustainable
I was privileged to receive the MIND (Munasinghe Institute for Development) Scholarship for my academic excellence during the 3rd year of my Bachelor’s degree. This scholarship was awarded by Professor Mohan Munasinghe, Founder and Chairman of MIND.
Munasinghe Institute for Development ‘Making development more sustainable’.
At the end of the scholarship period, I was asked to identify a current environmental problem in Sri Lanka and discuss how the civil society could contribute to address it.
So here’s my essay on ‘Sri Lanka’s Mounting Garbage Issue’.
Sri Lanka’s Mounting Garbage Issue
Among the most significant revolutions from 19th century to present are large scale industrialization and urbanization, which symbolize human development and achievement. Nevertheless, this has resulted in a severe environmental pollution especially in the urban areas of the world.
Mankind is just one out of millions of species that exist on the earth, yet the most intelligent form of life. But this does not entitle humans to interfere Mother Nature’s ecological balance. Unfortunately, people have been doing it at their will, not even thinking about the repercussions that they themselves are already facing at present. Hence, this catastrophic situation verifies the well-known saying of Alan M. Eddison, ‘Modern technology owes ecology an apology’.
Environmental pollution is the contamination caused by waste of air, water and land, which causes numerous disturbances to the ecosystem. This can be of many types. What I am trying to highlight in this article is land pollution, the garbage pollution to be more specific. Garbage pollution is now so widespread that it has become one of the most critical issues of the world.
In Sri Lanka, the problem is no different, if not worse. People of the country and most of the industries are clustered around the cities and the poorly managed garbage problem is becoming even harder to solve. The seriousness of waste problems is on the rise due to a surge in the amount of waste generated, attributed mainly to the present development activities in Sri Lanka.
People throw out so much waste every day that garbage and waste disposal is turning into a major ecological nightmare. The poisons that seep from underground mines and the garbage we tip into landfills by the truckload make garbage pollution a much bigger and subtle problem than it might appear. In most cases, collected waste is often brought to open dumps, but they are not treated, which I think is the major cause for garbage pollution. This becomes severe, when these dumps are located in environmentally sensitive locations or close to residential areas.
Poor waste management has badly influenced the aesthetics of the landscape by degrading the biodiversity and has also caused severe health problems. This has also created a negative impact on Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.
Very recently, around 40 people reportedly died, many people were injured and over hundred houses were destroyed or damaged due to the collapse of a section of the Meethotamulla garbage dumping site where the entire Colombo district garbage was dumped before the incident. Reporters have claimed that around 23 million tonnes of garbage had been dumped at this site. People of the area have protested ever since the beginning of this garbage dump, but the authorities had not taken necessary actions.
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According to recent surveys, poor sanitation continues to be a contemporary problem, especially due to the collection and disposal of garbage. This can cause the spread of many infections as well as intestinal diseases that reduce absorption of calories and nutrients and contribute to malnutrition. Moreover, waste and excreta are fertile materials for flies to breed on, and unsafe water to drink or wash with are among the major causes of human parasitic diseases. These diseases can not only kill little kids, but also stunt the physical and cognitive development of surviving children as well. Many domestic animals have also been reported dead because of eating toxic waste food.
Waste can either be biodegradable or non-biodegradable. The latter do not decompose easily, plastic for instance, but can be reused or recycled. We can provide a better categorization of waste materials. First category would include dry waste, which should be disposed separately. Second category would include toxic wastes such as medicines, batteries, dried paint and old bulbs which needs special care. The third category would consist of wet or organic waste, which consists of leftover foodstuff, vegetable peels etc. This type of waste can be disposed to a compost pit to be used as manure in the garden. The last category of waste would include artificial waste such as cans, aluminum foils, plastics, metal, glass, and paper which should be recycled.
Advancement of technology can facilitate recycling of a large portion of the garbage we dispose. Let’s see how that happens in other industrialized countries. For example, Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal that Australia’s population of approximately 24 millions generates around 45 million tonnes of solid waste each year which are recycled the same year at their recycling plants. In fact, Australia considers the recycling sector as one of the most important aspects of the economy of country. They believe that a strong and sustainable recycling sector is essential to utilize resources more efficiently and maximize the value of materials. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, consists of approximately equal population of 21 millions and generates only 2.3 million tonnes of solid waste annually. Sri Lankan Ministry of Environment states that we dispose 6400 tonnes of solid waste per day. Garbage continues to accumulate daily and pile up in garbage mountains. Compared to Australia, Sri Lanka produces a small amount of waste, but is still unable to manage it. If the garbage issue is not addressed in Sri Lanka immediately, many more garbage mountains will arise, resulting in severe damage to biodiversity, eventually contributing to global warming and climate change. Hence, strengthening the social capacity to support waste management systems is a crucial requirement in Sri Lanka.
Let’s investigate suitable strategies to get rid from this burning environmental issue. As a nation, we should all realize the fact that we all are responsible for achieving a waste free environment. Sri Lanka could seek local and international support for setting up recycling plants distributed across the country, but especially in urban areas like Colombo. This a high priority requirement. If there is political will, Sri Lanka will definitely be able to find better solutions for the garbage issue, because waste management is not any more rocket science to the rest of the world.
The Reduce-Reuse-Recycle (R3) strategy, which is also known as waste hierarchy ensures environmentally responsible consumer behavior. The first R, Reduce is to limit the number of purchases in the first place. For example, you might limit bringing polythene bags from shops. The second R, Reuse is to reuse items as much as possible before replacing them. For example, you can practise to use an eco-friendly reusable bag during shopping. The idea behind the third R, Recycle, is to ensure that items are put to some new purpose as much as possible. For example, you can recycle food leftovers to prepare manure for gardening. Sometimes a fourth R is introduced in addition to these three basic R’s, generally stands for ‘Rethink’. This means that we should think about the impact of our activities on the environment. According to my point of view, applying R3 strategy in our day today lives will solve a major part of the rising garbage problem.
On the other hand we, as smart citizens of Sri Lanka, can make a difference and dispose waste responsibly. A proper waste management system should be initiated from our home itself. We should segregate garbage into two bins as biodegradable and non-biodegradable. That way it will be much easier to hand over waste to garbage collectors too. Not only that, if we take a trip in our neighbourhood and see where all our waste end up, we will be surprised to find sides of the street, open garbage dumps and channels piled with waste materials.
We can do pretty interesting things to dispose biodegradable waste that gets collected in our houses. For example, we can set a commercial or home made composter on the ground in an easily accessible place. I would suggest a simple and inexpensive method is to create an open bin. First, you have to make a circle of about 3 or 4 feet in diameter out of welded wire or plastic garden fencing. Then place a nearly 4 inch layer of stemmy plants, sticks, or other coarse material in the bottom of the bin. Then add kitchen leftovers, dead plants and chopped leaves to the bin. Finally add water as often as needed to keep the material moist but not soggy. The compost will be ready to use when you can no longer recognize the original ingredients. I bet that this work like magic for plantations in your garden.
Very recently, UOM (University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka) initiated an interesting waste management program, with the target of making UOM a green university in 2020. They highlight that solid waste management is a must to be a green university. UOM carried out a survey revealing that it generates nearly 10000 kg of food waste, 950 kg of polythene and plastic, 1800 kg of paper, glass and metal and 3250 kg of other waste materials per month. When we do not manage this waste, this leads to unsanitary landfills, severe air pollution, water pollution as well as visual pollution. Therefore UOM initiated a waste management program to tackle this issue. They explain that waste is not a waste anymore, yet it is a form of energy. UOM has devised a pilot plant to convert food waste to bio energy. This renewable energy can then be effectively utilized in university canteens.
Moreover, students at UOM have arranged separate bins for waste disposal, orange colored bin for food, blue colored bin for paper, glass and metals and green colored bin for polythene and plastic. One other good practise that is encouraged at UOM is to separate the waste before disposal, for example university students are practised to dispose the lunch sheets, waste food and papers to appropriate bins after having meals.
It is noteworthy to mention that most of the Sri Lankan supermarkets have now got rid from polythene usage. More recently, they have initiated several environmental friendly processes in advance, to reduce polythene use. For example, some supermarkets now offer discounts for customers who bring eco-friendly reusable bags to shop. This way, people are encouraged more and more towards using eco-friendly materials in their day today shopping. Moreover, several shops have now come up with alternatives to products made of polystyrene (rigifoam) including lunch boxes, other utensils and polythene lunch sheets (HDPE). In essential instances, they have suggested to use low density polyethylene (LDPE) instead of high density polyethylene (HDPE). These are some wise strategies that have been adopted recently in supermarkets, which would definitely minimize the accumulation of waste in urban areas of Sri Lanka.
In conclusion, maintaining a proper waste disposal system along with a waste recycling system will facilitate a waste free healthy environment. In this way, related sustainable development goals defined by the United Nations will also be achieved no sooner. Finally, we as individuals should never underestimate our own responsibility to take care of the environment for the betterment of those who are living here now and those who will take over in the future.
