Prutha Goa

Goa has received much well deserved criticism on account of the abounding garbage that spills over from every neighbourhood. There are remedies and schemes that have been thought out for the appropriate disposal of rubbish that comes under wet waste, that is biodegradable matter, and most dry waste that can be recycled or upcycled. There remains, however, the problem of waste that is delineated as toxic and detrimental to the environment. This includes biomedical waste and e-waste (electrical and electronic waste). In the case of e-waste, the Government of India has issued, through the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Government of India, the E-waste Management Rules, 2016, which became effective from the 1 st of October 2016. To understand the magnitude of the e-waste problem, we refer to the ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India)-Frost and Sullivan study (2016) that estimates that India’s e-waste production will be 30 lakh metric tonnes

Speaking at the event Shape Connect Goa (held at the Kokum Design Centre, Porvorim) on how we need to be conscious consumers to deal with the escalating garbage problem, Clinton Vaz, proprietor of Vrecycle in South Goa, says, ‘The average Indian produces 200 grams of waste per day… that is in rural India. We do not live in rural India. The average Goan would generate about 800 grams. The average Western person in America or Europe will produce 3 kilos to a kilo and a half depending on where he lives and what he produces.’ Most of the waste that is generated is the result of our conscious choices. Although the Western garbage scene may seem far more daunting to take on, we Indians are catching up quickly to the same amount of waste creation. A glance within a shop reveals myriad products with fancy packaging and we, the consumers, have been psychologically conditioned to believe that it is safer and more hygienic to buy these attractively packaged products. Clinton says definitively,