Garbage in, Garbage out W

1 16 Garbage in, Garbage outWe throw out so much rubbishor Garbage everyday from ourhomes, schools, shops andoffices. The grains, pulses, biscuits, milkor oil purchased in shops, are packedin plastic bags or tins. All thesewrapping material go out as sometimes buy things that arerarely used and often thrown intothe generate so much Garbage in ourday-to-day activities! We often throwgroundnut shells on public places, inbuses or trains, after eating the throw away the ticket when we getoff a bus. A child might go onsharpening pencils just for fun. If wemake mistakes or spill ink on ournotebook, we tear off the sheet andthrow it away. And we also throw awaymany domestic wastes such as brokentoys, old clothes, shoes and if the Garbage is not removedfrom our homes and surroundings? Howdo you think, this will harm us?

2 Whensafai karamcharis take the Garbage fromthe bins, where does the Garbage go andwhat happens to it? Is it possible for allof this Garbage to be changed intosomething that will not harm us? Canwe contribute towards this in any way?We will look for answers to thesequestions, in this from Paheli and Boojho sschool did a project called Dealing withGarbage . We will learn about some ofthe things they learnt through DEALING WITH GARBAGES afai karamcharis collect the Garbage intrucks and take it to a low lying openarea, called a landfill (Fig. ).There the part of the Garbage thatcan be reused is separated out from theone that cannot be used as such. Thus,Fig. A landfillThe Prime Minister of India launchedthe Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).The aim of this mission is to createan open defecation-free India by2 October Step towards Cleanliness2021 22156 SCIENCEA ctivity 1 Collect the Garbage from your housebefore it is thrown into the it into two groups, so thatthey have:Group 1: Garbage from the kitchen like fruit and vegetable peels, egg shells,waste food, tea leaves.

3 Includenewspapers, dry leaves and paper bagsin this 2: Pieces of cloth, polythenebags, broken glass, aluminium wrappers,nails, old shoes and broken divide the contents of each groupinto two separate heaps. Label themFig. Putting Garbage heaps in pitsas A, B, C and D. Put one heap fromGroup 1 and one heap from Group 2into two separate plastic bags. Tie themouth of these two bags tightly. Put allthe four heaps in separate pits andcover them with soil (Fig. ). Youcan also use four pots to bury thesegarbage the soil after four days andobserve the changes in the Garbage . Ablack colour and no foul smell indicatesthat rotting of Garbage is complete. Putthe heaps again in the pits and coverwith the soil. Observe again after everytwo days and note your observations assuggested. Did the Garbage .(i)rot completely and not smell?

4 (ii)rot only partially?(iii) rot almost completely, but stillsmells bad?(iv)not change at all? Garbage in which heap was seen torot and which did not?Enter options (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) inthe columns of Table based on yourPaheli did wonder as to whatcould be useful Garbage ? Whywas it thrown away in the firstplace? Is there some Garbage thatis not actually Garbage ?the Garbage has both useful and non-useful components. The non-usefulcomponent is separated out. It is thenspread over the landfill and thencovered with a layer of soil. Once thelandfill is completely full, it is usuallyconverted into a park or a play the next 20 years or so, no buildingis constructed on it. To deal withsome of the useful components ofgarbage, compost making areas aredeveloped near the landfill. What iscompost? Let us learn about it, from thefollowing 22157 Garbage IN, Garbage OUTobservations.

5 If you make any otherobservations, do not forget to write allthese down in your notebook. Do notremove and burn the Garbage that didnot the Garbage was found to rotcompletely and did not smell, mix it inthe soil where you sow your favouriteplants. This would provide nutrients tothe must have observed from thisactivity that some things in the garbagerot. They form manure which is usedfor the plants. The rotting andconversion of some materials intomanure is called composting .In some cities and towns,municipalities provide separate dustbinsfor collecting two kinds of one is coloured blue and theother green. The blue bin is for materialsthat can be used again such asplastics, metals and glass. Did younotice that these are the materials thatdo not rot in the Garbage heaps? Thegreen bins are for collecting kitchen andother plant or animal wastes.

6 You mayhave noticed that this type of wastes rotcompletely when buried in the soil. Doyou see why it is necessary forus to separate waste into twogroups as we did in Activity 1,before we throw it?Have you noticed garbageheaps of dried leaves on theroadside? Most of the timethese are burnt (Fig. ).Farmers too often burn thehusk, dried leaves and part ofcrop plants in their fields afterharvesting. Burning of these, producessmoke and gases that are harmful toour health. We should try to stop suchpractices. These wastes could beconverted into useful Burning of leaves produce harmfulgases Boojho noted in his notebook: Donot burn leaves! You will not beable to tolerate the fumes!Here are some of the observationsand thoughts, noted by Paheli andBoojho, from their project Dealingwith Garbage .Table What has happened tothe Garbage heaps?

7 EgabraGpaeh4retfAsyad6retfAsyadretfA2ske ew4retfAskeewABCD2021 22158 SCIENCENot theft really . She must havemeant illegal . She wanted that thegovernment should make a law againstthe burning of leaves and other plantwastes anywhere in VERMICOMPOSTINGWe can be friends of plants by supplyingthem with compost. We will also be verygood friends to ourselves by of friends, do you know thatearthworms are called farmer s friend?Let us find out how a type of earthwormcalled redworm is used for method of preparing compostwith the help of redworms is calledvermicomposting. We can try to makemanure by vermicomposting at 2 Let us dig a pit (about 30 cm deep) orkeep a wooden box at a place, which isneither too hot nor too cold. What abouta place which does not get directsunlight? Let us now make acomfortable home for our redworms inthe pit or the a net or chicken mesh at thebottom of the pit or the box.

8 You canalso spread 1 or 2 cm thick layer of sandas an alternative. Now, spread somevegetable wastes including peels of fruitsover this layer of can also use green leaves, piecesof dried stalks of plants, husk or piecesof newspaper or carboard to spread overthe layer of sand. However, shiny orplastic coated paper should not be usedfor this purpose. Dried animal dungcould also be used as a spread over sandor wire some water to make thislayer wet. Take care not to use excess ofwater. Do not press the layer of this layer loose so that it hassufficient air and , your pit is ready to welcome theredworms. Buy some redworms and putthem in your pit (Fig. ). Cover themloosely with a gunny bag or an old sheetof cloth or a layer of RedwormsPaheli made a note in hernotebook: Why has thegovernment not madeburning of leaves a theft?

9 Your redworms need food. You can givethem vegetable and fruit wastes, coffeeand tea remains and weeds from thefields or garden (Fig. ). It might bea good idea to bury this food about2-3 cm inside the pit. Do not use wastes2021 22159 Garbage IN, Garbage OUTthat may contain salt, pickles, oil,vinegar, meat and milk preparations asfood for your redworms. If you put thesethings in the pit, disease-causing smallorganisms start growing in the pit. Oncein a few days, gently mix and move thetop layers of your do not have teeth. Theyhave a structure called gizzard , whichhelps them in grinding their egg shells or sea shells couldbe mixed with the wastes. This wouldhelp redworms in grinding their food. Aredworm can eat food equal to its ownweight, in a do not survive in very hotor very cold surroundings. They alsoneed moisture around you takegood care of your worms, in a month stime their number will the contents of the pitcarefully after 3-4 weeks.

10 Do you nowsee loose, soil-like material in the pit?Your vermicompost is ready (Fig. ).Put some wastes as food in one cornerof the pit. Most of the worms will shifttowards this part of the pit, vacating theother part. Remove the compost fromthe vacated part and dry it in the sunfor a few hours. Your vermicompost isready for use!The part left in the pit has most ofthe worms in it. You can use these forpreparing more compost or share themwith another this excellent vermicompost inyour pots, gardens or fields. Is this notlike getting the best out of waste ? Thoseof you who have agricultural fields cantry vermicomposting in large pits. Youcan save a lot of money that is spent onbuying expensive chemical fertilizersand manure from the THINK AND THROWHow much of Garbage do you think, isthrown out by each house everyday? Youcan make an estimate by using a bucketas a measure.