How to recycle the Nirmalya?

As a daily routine in a large number of households, pooja is performed and while worshipping, fresh flowers and floral garlands are offered to the gods and/or goddesses which turn into Nirmalya the next day as mentioned in the last week’s article. During special festivals these rituals are performed on a larger scale resulting in generation of tons of floral waste.

Eventually, huge piles of floral waste ultimately end up mostly in the waterways and waterbodies thereby polluting those natural ecosystems. Then, prior to festive seasons, it is customary to undertake extensive cleaning of the house. As we begin the cleaning process, we retrieve many different articles, items from the storage lofts, attics etc. etc. Looking at this collection at the end of the day, we keep on asking ourselves ‘when did I get this thing.. why did I get that thing..now what am I going to do with this thing..it is now outdated..lying in the attic for at least a couple of years or may be even more..it has lost its usefulness and or its value so what next? Its obvious destination is the dustbin. And that is how, we generate the trash.

Friends, so far we have learned how we are responsible for the generation of garbage or trash through our own activities. Let us look at how this garbage is managed at the individual level, society level and the community level after it is generated. In a housing complex, as a general practice, dustbin filled with garbage is kept outside the apartment.

Then a common sweeper appointed by the society collects the dustbins from every apartment to be emptied into a large bin which is then kept outside the society premises for the urban local body people to take it away to a dumping ground. However, this practice does not exist everywhere. In many areas, it is observed that a cluster of residential societies dump all their garbage openly along the roadside. It is left at the mercy of the garbage collectors. At a certain prescribed period during the day or even night, again the garbage collectors appointed by the urban local body come there, collect that open heap of garbage manually, dump it into a truck and take it away. As they try to dump this heap of garbage, some of it is left at the place and some trash spills down. Garbage collectors do not bother much to collect these bits and pieces, and some trash always remains there.

Next day, again almost the same amount of trash accumulates there. So, friends it is people like you and me generating the trash or garbage in our houses on day-to- day basis and simply throwing it out. We have that ‘OSOM’ (Out of Sight-Out of Mind) mentality. I feel happy that my house is clean, free of any dirt and that my health and hygiene is well maintained. But what about my locality? What about the beauty and aesthetics in my neighborhood? What about the roads and by-lanes I walk along? Think and Think about it! May the God of Wisdom, our most revered and beloved Ganapati Bappa bring us prosperity, happiness and plenty of fresh air, fresh water and greenery around us!

(The writer is an environment specialist. Views personal)