Solid waste management has become a global issue that impacts everyone. Population growth and rapid urbanisation have accelerated waste generation at an alarming rate — approximately 2 billion tonnes of…
The legacy landfill in Kodaikanal, a hill town in the Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu, caught fire about four months ago. Attempts were made to douse it but even months…
Methane or CH4, is a powerful greenhouse gas. It forms only 0.00017% of the atmosphere, but it is crucial in keeping the earth warm and habitable. Excess methane, however, is…
A new study has confirmed the presence of microplastic contaminants in Jhelum river, locally known as Vyeth, in Jammu and Kashmir. The study suggests that improper municipal solid waste (MSW)…
The Dhapa landfill, a major unsegregated solid waste dumping ground in Kolkata, has been growing for over three decades, since 1987. It is set to be cleared by June 2024,…
Ambikapur, located in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, is a small city that houses about 200,000 people. In the recent years, the city has become synonymous with 'cleanliness', as the decentralised waste…
Rajiv Mahanta reminisces about his childhood memories of fishing in the Sumdiri river, about 200-300 metres from his home in the North Lakhimpur district of Assam. He had not been able…
Jayasudha, 38, counts it as a blessing that she was not home on the night of December 11, 2020. It was then that a bear with two cubs entered her…
Twelve days on, smoke is still billowing. On March 2, 25-ft-high ‘hills’ of garbage, extending over 40 acres at the Brahmapuram waste plant in Kochi caught fire, blanketing Kerala’s commercial…
Recent focus on green building infrastructure could provide an impetus to green or sustainable data centers in India, say experts. Some of the sustainable actions would include reduction in energy…
India’s water requirement is expected to be 1.5 trillion cubic metres by 2030. The country only treats 16.8% of the total estimated sewage generated. There is a huge gap between…
Public outreach campaigns educate consumers with compelling data and storytelling about carbon footprints, natural resource scarcity, and climate change. Data appeals to our intellect and stories appeal to our emotions.…
On June 13, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Haryana government regarding inaction over hazardous waste contaminating the groundwater near the Bandhwari landfill. The waste…
The landfill, often called Bandhwari, located in the ecologically sensitive Aravallis, is named after the village, whose land it came up on. This growing mountain of trash gets 2,000 tonnes…
A study published last month in The Journal for Nature Conservation reported the presence of plastic and other human-made materials in elephant dung in the forests of Uttarakhand. The study…
The capital city Delhi’s giant garbage mountains often come into the limelight, reflecting India’s poor waste management situation. But a similar scene, not too far away from the capital, in Chandigarh,…
Almost like in an advertisement for a sanitary napkin company, Chandramani Devi of Bihar’s Sitamarhi district said she felt ‘liberated’ after using cloth pads during her menstrual cycle. “It’s a…
Plastics, which are infinitely useful materials, are ever present in our lives today. A quick look around one’s house, whether in a city or in a village, will confirm this…
Where do solar modules go when they are no longer in use? What happens when a wind turbine finishes its lifecycle? Or an electric car battery stops working? The first…
Most of us forget about our waste once it is discarded into dustbins or municipal garbage trucks. Municipalities and waste management companies are only at the tip of an iceberg…
