Almighty International Society

PROJECT SWACHHTA SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

"Source Reduction Is, On The Face It, Perhaps The Most Appealing Of All The Possible Approaches To Solid-Waste Management"

- William Rathje and Cullen Mur

What is Solid Waste?

As defined under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, any

• solid
• semi-solid
• liquid
• contained gaseous materials

discarded from industrial, commercial, mining, or agricultural operations, and from community activities is SOLID WASTE. It includes-

• Garbage
• Construction debris
• Commercial refuse
• Sludge from water supply or waste treatment plants or air pollution control facilities
• Other discarded materials.

Solid Waste consists of all the waste in the solid or semi solid form and is either biodegradable, non biodegradable, or recyclable. Biodegradable or compostable waste comprises of organic waste which can be reduced or biodegraded into useful or less polluting products by action of micro organisms & animals like earthworms & final product is used as organic manure
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal of waste materials, usually ones produced by human activity, in an effort to reduce their effect on human health or local aesthetics or amenity. A subfocus in recent decades has been to reduce waste materials' effect on the natural world and the environment and to recover resources from them. Waste management can involve solid, liquid, gaseous or plasmic, with different methods and fields of expertise for each.

Waste management practices differ for developed and developing nations, for urban and rural areas, and for residential, industrial, and commercial producers. Waste management for non-hazardous residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the responsibility of local government authorities, while management for non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator.

Waste management practices differ for developed and developing nations, for urban and rural areas, and for residential, industrial, and commercial producers. Waste management for non-hazardous residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the responsibility of local government authorities, while management for non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator.

Modern lifestyle, luxuries and conveniences have made our lives easy and comfortable. Everything is available to us with a blink of an eye today. We get well-prepared food that can be bought on one order, fast cars and powerful vehicles that drive us miles in just a few hours, fresh water in packed bottles, compact entertainment in the form of discs and everything that a man can imagine on this planet. However, very few of us have ever thought that with all the facilities that this modern and luxurious life brings us, it also produces a large amount of waste, which is a serious issue of concern and needs to be taken care of and addressed expeditiously.

"Man created the plastic bag, the tin, the aluminum can, the cellophane wrapper and the paper plate. This was good because Man could then take his automobile and buy all his food in one place and he could save that which was good to eat in the refrigerator and throw away that which had no further use. Soon the earth was covered with plastic bags, aluminum cans, paper plates and disposable bottles. There was nowhere to sit down or walk, and Man shook his head and cried: “Look at this God, awful mess"

- Art Buchald

There are a number of types of solid waste which need to be dealt with. The first is recyclable waste, objects which are useful, but no longer wanted. Solid waste management includes the construction of facilities to recycle these goods, which include scrap metal, glass, cans, paper, plastics, wood, and similar materials. Another category is toxic waste; waste which could potentially contaminate the environment, meaning that it needs to be handled with care. This category includes electronic waste, a growing problem in many industrialized nations. Next is green waste such as compost and yard clippings. People with land can compost their own green waste, and many cities collect it separately from true garbage, the final category, so that the green waste can be composted and returned to the earth.

"When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted"

- Jesus in John 6:12 NIV Bible

In order to sensitize the society and raise the awareness level of the common man about this neglected, least understood yet very important issue ALMIGHTY launched an innovative project and named it PROJECT SWACHHATA. Under the project, ALMIGHTY has been actively involved with RWAs, schools and individuals in raising the awareness about solid waste management by adopting various techniques of reducing and recycling waste.
ALMIGHTY has been working constantly to make people aware about solid waste management. Volunteers are imparting training to people on waste segregation and the ways to reduce waste production. Also, demonstrations and presentations are being shown at various schools to make the children aware of the simple way of managing the solid waste generated at home, so that burden can be reduced on the landfills.

The success lies in the fact that People and children have started adopting these practices in a big way at a number of places at the behest of ALMIGHTY. This is indeed a positive step in environment conservation.

"There’s no better way to understand how disconnected we are from our environment than to ask the big metaphysical question, the question that has challenged the great minds of our generation and the generations before us, the question that if we had a clear answer for it, would unlock the deepest mysteries of life on this planet: Where does our trash go?"

- Rob Bell

ALMIGHTY has also conceptualized, constructed and commissioned a Vermi composting project at Sat Krishna Charitable Hospital at Narsingpur, Gurgaon with the support and cooperation of JLLM and Youthreach besides many others done across the region.

ALMIGHTY launched and successfully implemented a community based waste management programme at Kurseong, Darjeeling with the help of local citizens. The response of the locals was overwhelming and the programme was a resounding success. The area was rid of heaps of garbage and the residents very keenly learnt and imbibed the ways of solid waste segregation at households. They have adopted practices of recycling various products and have reduced their waste generation by over 25%. Our heartiest congratulations to the most inspired people of Kurseong, Darjeeling.

Our volunteers have been regularly conducting training workshops in various schools regarding paper recycling. The students are being taught the technique for making recycled paper from waste. The enthusiasm of the student community is worth complimenting.

The Philosophy of R’s

ALMIGHTY is propagating the philosophy of R’s to the people. We firmly believe that if the people follow this philosophy to what ever extent they can, the generation of solid waste will take a quantum leap and we would be able to save precious resources.