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GaramChai.com
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Going
Green
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This
page features an aspect of 'going green' : the life
of an Indian Ragpicker. At the bottom of the totem pole
of Indian Recycling is the lowly Ragpicker, generally
children under eighteen, leading an arduous existence,
eking out a few pennies - literally - by picking up
recyclables, plastic, paper, glass, bottles and cans
out of garbage.
Few
of us sit back to think of the 'service' these street
urchins provide or even about their lives. This page
of GaramChai.com features a few aspects of the lowly
rag picker as going green, recycling and Live Earth
concert for 'Climate In Crisis' makes recycling fashionable
in the west.
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- The
Ragpicker's Daily Routine: Arising at dawn, the
rag picker children (in India) start their rounds. With
feet bare and backs aching, they carry the heavy gunny bags
that contain the day's pickings. Sometimes on foot they
travel over 20 kilometers each day for the best pickings.
All recyclable garbage is collected and sorted: paper, plastic,
bottles, bones, metals and rotting discarded food thrown
out by households and railway passengers. A
rag picker is not a beggar. He works hard and considers
rag picking a profession of choice. It enables him to earn
money, daily, and offers him ample amounts of free time.
They are very loyal and protective of each other, sharing
food and money. The rag picker is proud and feels that he
is master of his own life.
- In
search of the lost world
: Bhalinder Singh Dhaliwal, Patiala-based collector values
and preserves discarded old stuff. He recalls one such incident
when he rescued two Kangra paintings and a few old utensils
from being sold to a kabadiwala at his ancestral house near
Malerkotla.
- Management
of plastic waste : Over the years a countrywide
network for collection of plastic waste through rag-pickers,
waste collectors, waste dealers and recycling enterprises,
consisting of over 20,000 units, has sprung up. Recycling
of plastic waste is a major activity in India through which
thousands of families earn a livelihood. A typical kabadiwala
displays the following rates: Newspapers
in English: Rs. 4-5/kg; Newspapers in Hindi: Rs. 3-4/kg;
Magazines: Rs. 3-3.50/kg; Iron scrap: Rs. 5.50/kg; Plastic
waste: Rs.12-15/kg; Beer bottle (per bottle): Rs. 2.
- Plastic
waste commands the highest rate in the recycled market.
The disposables which generate waste and cause environmental
problems when their useful life ends, include mainly the
following: plastic packaging / carrybags / bottles / containers
/ trash bags; Plastics from health and medicare; Plastics
from hotels and catering industry; Plastics from air, rail
and road travel
- Waste
Collection - Waste Collection Online Shop allows
you to navigate to all products on the website.
Interesting
articles on going green
- Going,
Going, Green :
While "doing something for the environment" once
meant tossing a newspaper in a recycling bin or buying organic
lettuce, now nearly every aspect of daily life -- from the
toilets we flush to the flowers that decorate our dinner
tables -- is being radically rethought. Entrepreneurs, scientists
and thinkers are working to transform industry so that it
functions more like nature, lessening pollution and inefficiency
while propelling the economy forward - Washingtonpost.com
- Going
green: not so easy
: Doug McLennan, 30, owns Cartridge World stores in Chicago
and Skokie. The franchise recycles used ink and toner cartridges,
so it's no surprise that he and his wife, Kari, 32, looked
for environmentally sensitive attributes when they began
home shopping last spring. - Chicagobusiness.com
- Buying
an Eco-Friendly Car:
Eco-friendly cars like this Honda Civic Hybrid are becoming
more popular and varied, offering consumers choices they
may not have even known they had. The recent craze over
hybrid automobiles shows that we are at the nexus of environmentalism
and market forces. Having a car that gets 50 miles to the
gallon is good for the pocketbook and good for the guilty
conscience. Hybrids work by capturing energy that is created
when the car brakes. That energy is stored in batteries
and used, whenever possible, instead of fuel. - Abcnews.go.com
- Inside
an eco-friendly million-dollar mansion
: Each LivingHomes mansion features a roof deck that has
awnings made of solar panels, which provide shade and more
than 75% of the home's energy. A rainwater collection and
filtration system holds up to 3,500 gallons for further
use and trellises designed to deflect sunlight and keep
the house cool during the day.
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