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| Sunday, 31 October 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Garbage - The 2694 tonne reality For now it's a question of mathematics. A sort of multiplication number game that pits the people against the quantity of waste they generate and the available land area. But reality is in the long run. And reality is frightening.
For garbage isn't just a matter of badgering the man of the house to lug the trash bag to the nearest bin, but how the stuff we throw away today is going to come back and haunt both us and the future generations and possibly hold us to ransom, on a future date. "Mankind is slowly poisoning itself by the waste it generates," says an ardent environmentalist. One can be excused for not taking her too seriously because 'mankind' seems such an abstract term and 'slowly poisoning' sounds so, so iffy. Similarly, one can be excused for dismissing the Greenpeace factsheet when it points out that 'approximately one billion tons of solid waste is produced by consumers each year,' because it is not referring to any particular place. It could be alluring to the United States which is quite well known for its conspicuous utilisation of disposable goods. Or maybe it is Africa, which doesn't have much waste to dispose of anyway. Or may be India...But who cares. However when the Ministry of Forestry and Environment points out that on average we generate about 2694 tonnes of garbage per day, right here in this resplendent isle of ours, you are suddenly jolted out of that gauzy feeling of well-being. It's not something abstract. It's not iffy. It's real. And we are the culprits. Reality finally begins to creep in when you sit down to digest the 2694 tonne fact. When you pull out your pocket calculator and start multiplying the tonnage by the very limited land area available as dumping sites. When you multiply that total by the number of days in an year.. the number of years till the next century.... We could get buried alive in a pile of stinking refuse. We could be breathing in toxic fumes and coughing out some rotten, reeking dross.... Is there a term for garbage phobia? The question is irrelevant. For neologism isn't the query here, but why we generate so much of waste, how we get rid of it, why it is considered harmful and perhaps most important of all, what we as caring individuals can do to prevent this great pile up. The answer is of course in waste management. In recycling and in re-using. In sorting out our waste. But before we get into the nitty gritty of waste disposal or management, it would be interesting to find out why we generate so much garbage and what happens to it once it's 'safely' out of our way. "Waste is an unavoidable by-product of life," says the same ardent environmentalist, rather philosophically, and adds, "but it doesn't become waste until we throw it away." The types of waste we produce are as diverse as the activities that create them. It could be either solid or hazardous, varying from paper, packaging, food and garden scraps generated by household and commercial activities to life and environment threatening toxic waste generated by industries as a by-product of manufacturing process. Both types of waste are harmful because of the method of disposal. But what concerns us now, as individuals is solid waste, which is consumer waste. As a global nation, human beings produce around one billion tonnes of it every year. Sri Lanka's contribution is 983,310 tonnes, 54 per cent of which is from the Western Province of which 44 per cent is from the Colombo district. Greenpeace International attributes the mammoth output of home front garbage on the international scene to population growth, the need to preserve food for long distance transpiration and the desire for convenient disposable goods. And Ministry of Forestry and Environment in Sri Lanka attributes the local trash output to the increase in population, technological development and the changes of lifestyles of the people. According to officials of the Ministry of Forestry and Environment, more than 75 per cent of the waste we create are biodegradable or stuff that can be re-used or recycled. Environmentalists point out that around 30 per cent of food items purchased daily goes into the bin along with a larger percentage of packing materials such as cartons, paper, plastic bags, bottles, cans and glass items. Although the quantity of solid waste generated by us is relatively high, the real problem at the moment isn't so much the quantity as how to dispose of it. Most solid waste is disposed of by storing, dumping or burying in back yards and community landfills. And Sri Lanka is fast running out of disposal sites. While dumping is by itself a haphazard process hazardous to the environment data collected (for the first time and need re-validation) by the Ministry reveal that dumping sites are woefully inadequate. The Colombo Municipal Council which generates about 680,000 tonnes of waste per day has only a temporary landfill facility, while Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia MC and Homagama Pradeshiya Sabha, which jointly generate 156,000 tonnes of garbage have some form of private facilities. Elsewhere in the world, garbage experts are looking into the possibility of burning solid waste in incinerators as a quick solution to the disposal problem. But environmentalists say that neither burning nor burying will make the garbage go away. "It will most certainly come back to haunt both us and the future generations," says one, pointing out that most household waste has the potential of being, or is, quite toxic. Burning household waste will only result in the production of more hazardous waste, as incineration transforms waste, particularly plastic, into air polluting and highly toxic ash containing cancer-causing compounds such as dioxins and furans. According to environmentalists, these compounds are harmful even in minute quantities and could cause anything from cancer to birth defects, reproductive disorders and damage to both human and animal immune system. The irony of the whole garbage issue is that the waste we throw away are valuable resources, for which we all pay the price. Many of the raw material that go to make our daily rubbish are finite - that is, they won't last forever. Oil for plastic and bauxite for aluminium are precious resources that should not be squandered on disposable packaging. There is a 95 per cent energy saving in the re-smelting of aluminium. Every tonne of glass recycled saves 30 gallons of oil. Up to 50 per cent energy saving can be made from recycled paper. So the solution to the garbage problem obviously lies in waste reduction, recycling and re-using resources that are currently treated as waste. "By recovery, re-use and recycling, we can reduce the demand for many of our natural resources and also cut down energy consumption," say proponents of recycling, pointing out that by recycling used paper, we could save both much needed energy and the fast disappearing conifer and eucalyptus plantations. - Hana Global warming effects faster than feared-experts by Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent, WASHINGTON Recent storms, droughts and heat waves are probably being caused by global warming, which means the effects of climate change are coming faster than anyone had feared, climate experts said on Thursday. The four hurricanes that bashed Florida and the Caribbean within a five-week period over the summer, intense storms over the western Pacific, heat waves that killed tens of thousands of Europeans last year and a continued drought across the U.S. Southwest are only the beginning, the experts said. Ice is melting faster than anyone predicted in the Antarctic and Greenland, ocean currents are changing and the seas are warming, the experts said. "This year, the unusually intense period of destructive activity, with four hurricanes hitting in a five-week period, could be a harbinger of things to come," said Dr. Paul Epstein, associate director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School. Epstein and colleagues called a telephone news conference to raise their concerns, which they have also laid out before Congress in recent weeks. "The weather patterns are changing. The character of the system is changing," Epstein said. "It is becoming a signal of how the system is behaving and it is not stable." Experts have long said that people are affecting the world's climate, and this is no longer in any real dispute. Fossil fuels such as oil, in particular, release carbon dioxide that forms a blanket that holds in heat from the sun's rays. But several experts have disputed the idea that this year's hurricane season was unique. "Recent history tells us that hurricanes are not becoming more frequent," James O'Brien, a professor of meteorology and oceanography at Florida State University and colleague said in a recent statement. "According to meteorological measurements, extreme weather is not increasing." Sooner than feared James McCarthy, a professor of biological oceanography at Harvard University and former co-chair of the impacts group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change agreed that it is impossible to say any one storm or drought is caused by climate change. But, he added, "We know that the Earth's temperature pattern is changing ... On every continent it is now evident that there are impacts from these changes in temperature and precipitation." Not even the most anxious scientists had predicted that some of the changes that have occurred would come so soon, he said. For example, several high-profile reports have described the unexpected rapid loss of ice in the Antarctic and Greenland. "They are really important components of the interactive climate system," McCarthy said. "They really should serve as a wake-up call." Kevin Trenberth, head of the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, said carbon dioxide levels are more than 30 percent higher than they were in the pre-industrial era. "Global sea level has risen about an inch and a quarter (3 cm) in the past 10 years," he added. Eco personality On a crusade to save the environment by Lakmal Welabada
Noel Thilakaratne is a 25-year-old environmentalist who has made saving the environment his personal crusade. Conversation with Noel, the vice-president of the Environmental Action Committee in the Young Zoologists' Association of Sri Lanka, is peppered with his concern for the wildlife. Born at Opatha in Galle, Noel had his early education at Opatha Maha Vidyalaya and St. Mathews, Deniyaya and nurtured a dream to do medicine. He joined Mahinda College, Galle and did Bio-science for his A/Ls. However, he had to give up his dream when he failed to qualify for Medical College. Noel then came to Colombo and got himself a job as a lab assistant in a plastic company. While schooling Noel had heard about the Young Zoologists' Association (YZA), but did not get the opportunity to join it. Soon after he came to Colombo he became an active member of the YZA, and it was the beginning of a new passion for saving the environment. "The YZA conducts certificate courses in wildlife in five categories such as mammals, aquatic life, reptiles, birds and flora. I completed the first three courses, and expanded my knowledge in the other two by being involved in numerous field work with the senior ecologists. I also got the opportunity to learn wildlife photography which enhanced my interest in protecting nature," says the full time volunteer.
Since his arrival in Colombo in 1999, the Dehiwala zoo has been part of his life. The pets' corner at the zoo where the YZA members get the chance to carry and pet leopards, rabbits, bears and eagles has been his home away from home. "Many academics do their research work to enhance their knowledge. But the mission of the YZA is education through conservation. What we believe is that there's no point of collecting certificates if you are not active enough practically. The purpose of the research work is to protect wildlife and the environment," he says. Noel became the Vice President of the Environmental Action Committee of the YZA in 1999. And it was the time that many controversial environmental issues were being highlighted. "We had to work hard. The main thing we did was to stop the opening of private zoos. We were also against the Tropical Rain Forest Act which was to be imposed in Sri Lanka. The danger of this Act was that it permitted other countries to obtain our bio diversity resources. Even now we have lost many chances to get patents for many endemic bio resources that are unique to Sri Lanka. The tragedy is that most of the patent holders for 'our things' are foreign countries. We also opposed the Bio Diversity Authority (BDA) to be appointed in Sri Lanka. The Ministry of Forests and Wildlife comes under the government. But an independent authority which is operated only by a director board like BDA could have sold our bio resources to foreigners. Hence we, being the ecologists have to be vigilant of such adverse impacts," says Noel explaining a few of the environmental issues he has been handling for the past few years. Educating school children on the importance of protecting the environment is also part of the work Noel has been involved in through the YZA. "Working with school children is interesting as well as important because love for mother nature should be inculcated in one's mind from the root level. Hence school going age is the best age to train a child to love nature," he suggests. Initially the YZA was only for eco-lovers from 13 years to 35 years. But today it has expanded to junior membership which opens to youngsters from 6 years to 12 years. "Today we have a strength of 750-1000 annual membership," says Noel. The YZA also conducts a monthly seminar at the Mahaweli Centre, Colombo where senior ecologists share their knowledge on crucial topics in environment. "It is open to all environment lovers in Sri Lanka. The date of the seminar is generally given in the newspaper. Anybody who is interested to participate in it or those who like to join the YZA should call us, the YZA main office at the Dehiwala zoo or phone us on 4204566," he says. Noel has given up his job and is today a full-time volunteer at the zoo. "My parents support me a lot. Without them I won't be able to do all these. At first they were a little worried about me. But now they have realised my vision," he says adding that the experience he got from his working place had helped him immensely in the managerial tasks he has had to deal in his present work. Along with two other members of the YZA Noel pioneered to carry out the special commentary session for the 'elephant dance', one of the famous items at the Dehiwala zoo. "There we give information about the elephants of Sri Lanka, and the importance of protecting them for the future. And I believe we should have such thing for every animal as it provokes people into thinking about the importance of protecting wildlife," he says. |
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