Variety

Waste not, want not

I was once asked by my school to participate in a programme called "Green Lane" and to maintain a diary about the environmental activities that I do.

Through this programme, my interest about environmental issues deepened, and I wanted to find out more about this issue and help minimise environmental problems in my own way. My father always educates and guides me enthusiastically to be eco-friendly.

Out of many environmental activities, I would like to share with you what I know about managing home waste.

First, I separate our home waste into two types: biodegradable (rotting rubbish) and non-biodegradable (never rot) waste. It seems to me that two thirds of our home waste usually consists of biodegradable waste.

Rotting rubbish such as vegetable and fruit leftovers, food scraps, coconut husks, fibre and coconut shells, egg shells, dregs, fish and meat waste gets collected mainly in the kitchen while there is also garden waste such as dried, fallen leaves.

The other type consists of things such as polythene, paper, cardboard, food containers, plastic bottles and cups, rigifoam, broken glasses or crockery; these are non-biodegradable. I put these two main types in two plastic carrier bags which are labelled. My father made me a large and attractive compost bin in the corner of my garden to dispose the biodegradable waste.

This way we get rich compost to fertilise my plants in the home garden. It saves the money which we would have used to buy fertilisers, otherwise, and is also a very sensible way to reuse kitchen waste. From the non-biodegradable waste, I again sort the rubbish into six bags: metal, paper, cardboard, plastics and polystyrene, glass, old clothes and fabrics.

I label each bag so I know what it contains. After a month, I give the non-biodegradable items away to a charity so they could recycle the stuff and earn something.

Sorting rubbish and using them in a meaningful way is a leisure time activity to one who is idling. Recycling is a good way to help our planet. It saves material, energy and land that might otherwise be used to dump-garbage. It also reduces pollution. Instead of being burned, our waste could end up helping someone.

Being an artist myself, with the help of my art and craft teacher, I turn out attractive, new things from waste. Some of these activities are making wall hangings and funny puppets, decorating discarded bottles and designing sceneries using scrap material.

Sometimes, I sell them to my friends and neighbours and earn pocket money too ! The other material including dust is collected in another bag and given out weekly to the garbage collectors.

I always make sure to wear rubber gloves when touching litter. This way, if the home waste is controlled and if the garbage tractor comes in time to collect the waste, everyone could contribute towards controlling their waste.

I personally feel that Colombo's garbage problems, spreading of diseases, flooding of roads due to blocks in drains and little problems of the neighbourhood could get solved gradually and the cities will be kept clean and green if everyone starts practising these habits.

I humbly appeal to all Sri Lankans to have compost bins at their houses so that kitchen and garden waste can be made into compost which can be reused for plants. Start waste control today! Tomorrow will be too late!

Sent by Lumini Amanda Dias,
Grade 5 - Manel,
Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya,
Colombo 7.

World Post Day on October 9

Some expected the global postal service to die a natural death with the advent of the internet and email. However, this hasn't happened so far. Technology has actually improved postal services and the global mail volumes continue to increase by 2.5 per cent annually.

In Sri Lanka, this is no different. Here, the Postal Department is the only public enterprise providing equal services to everyone in every part of the island. Over 24,000 people, more than 7,000 of them postmen attached to 4,000 post and sub-post offices, work hard daily to deliver mail and parcels to the public. The Department has undergone much modernisation and automation and provides a better service.

This much needed but under-valued and under-appreciated service is commemorated and honoured on World Post Day, which is organised by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) on October 9. The Day was declared to commemorate the anniversary of UPU's establishment in the Swiss capital of Berne in 1874.

Representatives of 22 countries signed the Treaty of Berne, which led to the setting up of the Union. The World Post Day was declared at the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969. Postal services in many countries take part in the event with some using the day to introduce and promote new postal products and services.

Most countries organise philatelic (stamp) exhibitions, special stamps and date cancellation marks while exhibitions, display of posters and museum events are also held. The UPU in association with UNESCO has been organising an International Letter Writing Competition for Young People for the past 35 years as part of the celebrations.

Among the UPU's objectives are promoting and developing communication among people, aiming to ensure accessible, affordable and reliable postal services to every citizen of the world, promoting the free flow of international mail, improving the quality of postal services for customers and promoting technical assistance, when needed, to member countries.

The Union now has 189 members overseeing the co-ordination of global postal services, the world's largest physical distribution network and a primary means of communication for people, organisations and businesses.