Trash in India

Hello from Kolkata! This city is unlike any of the three we have visited and I will certainly write a good description and post photos when I get a better internet connection (I am currently writing from an internet cafe, it feels like 1997 again). For now I'd just like to write a short post about something interesting I learned yesterday.

One of the many things we commented on during the field seminar was the abundance of trash piled up high along roads and in alleys. I was told yesterday that this is not for lack of respect for the environment and public space, but rather the result of an unbroken habit that had formed long before the introduction of plastic and other non-biodegradable materials.

A friend and I stopped at a street stand for tea yesterday, where we were served chai in tiny clay pots. After finishing the chai, we did as everyone else had and threw the clay cups onto the ground, smashing them into pieces. The idea is that the broken clay pieces will just be washed away, no need for a trash can. The same is true for small woven leaf plates upon which street vendors serve their dishes. The leaf plates are intended for single-use and can be easily disposed of (tossed on the ground, like the clay pots).

I was told that at one point, India was quite ahead of the rest of the world in terms of being earth-friendly and green, since most materials were natural and could easily break down. The infrastructure and waste management programs to properly deal with the trash were never developed in the way that they had in other countries. When plastic was introduced, therefore, consumers treated it in the same way as they always had, out of habit and out of lack of other options for disposal.

Hopefully the country will manage to either catch up with the trash problem or revert to its traditional ways of using biodegradable products in restaurants and on the street.