Let’s talk about trash. The best way to handle them is to separate recyclables from refuse Just imagine how we can make the world a better place if everyone does this. That would bring so much joy to Mother Earth, wouldn’t it?
But, that’s not how recycling works in India
Most of India's recycling happens like this. Even if you sort your trash at home, municipal garbage collectors — if they even service your neighborhood — often toss it into the truck all together. It gets sorted again at a landfill — not by the municipality but by the poorest of the poor.
What may seem an arid plateau on the outskirts of Delhi is not a mountain: it’s not made of earth, but of trash.
The poorest of the poor immersed themselves into this ‘big, smelly, dangerous” mountain of trash just to make a living.
One of them is Sheikh Rahim, 36 years old, who never went to school. He is married to a local woman and together they have four children. He and his family live in a slum sandwiched between the landfill and a modern new metro station.
Rahim prefers climbing in the “trash mountain” at noon since there’s less competition. He is sometimes accompanied by his 8-year-old daughter, Chandini.
Sadly, it was reported that when baked in 100-degree summertime heat, the trash mountain emits fumes and leaks toxins into the groundwater.
Local doctor Kumud Gupta sees about 70 people a day (including infants) suffering from respiratory and stomach ailments due to the pollution from the landfill.
Thousands of people in India are still suffering from this pollution; and the “trash mountain” gets taller every day. Soon, it can even be taller than the Taj Mahal.
Image: Furkan Latif Khan/ NPR