On my morning walks in the university campus where I am a scholar-in-residence, I initially saw piles of waste everywhere. It is oldest living city in the world represented by the tallest leaders of our times; so the piles were disheartening. Media has worked overtime to convince us that the city has been cleaned, heightening my disappointment.
However, within next few days, I saw sanitary workers filling their trucks with the garbage piled up on the roadside. The trucks would fill in no time, leaving leftover garbage on the streets. Constant observation made me realise that there is a limit to the amount of garbage that can be picked and processed.
One morning, I stood by the garbage being collected to see what is contributing to it. My travels around India told me that water bottles and chips packets were the biggest contributors. So, I looked for them. They were present only in a small percentage. The biggest culprits were disposable cutlery, especially the plastic trays used to deliver food along with the delivery packaging. Piles of them—probably from hostels and hosted events—get added every day.
What was most disappointing was that these plastic trays were 60-70 percent full. Yes, the food ordered is of standard quantity, in a standard plate, mindlessly cooked and packed. The appetite of the consumer has no role to play in the era of standard pricing. In a country where our scriptures tell us about anna or food being Brahman or the ultimate deity, it is sad to see so much cooked food in the garbage pile. As children we were taught to respect food and everyone along the chain that puts food on our plates; but we seem to have lost that in the battlefield of foodies and delivery apps.
Then there are the disposable glasses at every roadside tea stall, food stall and even gatherings at home. The convenience and the low cost of these flimsy plastic tumblers make them ubiquitous. Food vendors now use only disposable utensils. Every time I ask for a refill, they offer a new one. Asked to re-use, they laugh and say, “Use a new one—it is at my cost, not yours.” I have tried convincing my friends and neighbours. The answer is: “Yes, I understand, but this is too convenient.”
The misconception that plastic cups and so-called recyclable plates have no plastic plays its role. I see some green influencers trying to create awareness, but the small-scale industry that manufactures these is far ahead of all these campaigns. They have a massive reach and, of course, massive demand.
Across the rural landscape, this menace comes in the form of gutka and khaini pouches.
The environmental and hygiene cost of our convenience is piling up. In my opinion, waste management or recycling is not the only solution we need. We need to work actively on reducing the waste we generate. Yes, waste segregation can help to an extent; but honestly, it is hardly being implemented as even one person mixing the garbage in a group can derail these efforts.
We, as citizens, need to bring down our consumption in a way that the total waste generated per head goes down. Must we order every small thing at the last minute just because someone is willing to deliver in 10 minutes? Must we order big quantities of food when the average consumption is often 50 percent from a standard tray? Can restaurants design smaller portions, with a facility to provide more for those with big appetite? Can we think about the whole food chain that brings the food to us and respect the food?
I know there are many NGOs that re-distribute leftover food from restaurants. Even they cannot do anything with half-eaten leftovers in food trays. Stray animals tend to eat them, but they end up consuming plastic as well while spreading the garbage across the street.
On my travels, I often see the taxi drivers spitting out of their window, much to the discomfort of the passengers. They never think twice before throwing out a wrapper. The subtle message to a visiting tourist is that, in this place, it is alright to throw garbage anywhere. If they disposed responsibly, many visitors too would. This is the reason we Indians behave ourselves in places like Singapore and Dubai. Behaviour, good or bad, easily rubs off. The seed of this comes from the locals.
The sea of delivery boys we see on roads are not just adding to the traffic woes, but are carrying all that would be garbage in less than 24 hours. Think of life without them for at least a day in the week—it would bring down traffic and garbage woes by at least 10-15 percent.
Food waste reduction is as much a cultural issue as an environmental one. We need to bring back the reverence we had for food, which ensured that not a grain was wasted. Eating out, ordering in, and standard quantities for standard price increase wastage. Home food is mostly made as required; even when wasted, the quantities are very small.
Should the food and delivery industry take responsibility for waste disposal? Absolutely. They need to innovate on food portions and minimise wastage. If we do not address the food wastage problem locally and individually, we will soon be surrounded by piles of stinking garbage.
Anuradha Goyal
Author and founder of IndiTales
Follow her on X @anuradhagoyal