416 Solid Waste: Turning a Health Risk Into a Resource
Getting to Zero Waste
Communities around the world are finding ways to reduce their waste to
almost nothing, with the goal of producing zero waste. Zero waste means
reducing waste and recycling the rest back into nature or the marketplace in
ways that protect health and the environment.
To reach the goal of zero waste, industries must take responsibility to
produce less or none of products used only once, such as plastics. Cities and
towns can develop solid waste programs that compost, recycle and reduce
waste. To be successful, planning must include the people most affected by
waste. (To learn more about zero waste, see Resources.)
A town struggles with solid waste and wins
Kovalam, a beautiful beach town in southern India, is a popular place for
tourists. But tourism in Kovalam nearly ended because of too much trash.
During 30 years of tourism, Kovalam never had a safe way to get rid
of waste. No trash bins, no recycling program, little use of compost, and
thousands of visitors year after year left Kovalam buried in garbage. Plastic
bags clogged the town’s water pipes, mosquitoes bred in piles of trash, and the
town grew ugly and unhealthy.
Local government officials decided to start a waste collection program
and to install an incinerator to burn the waste. But many people argued that
burning would only turn the waste into toxic smoke and ash that would fill
the air. After much debate, the incinerator was not built, and the government
asked the groups that opposed it to suggest an alternative.
Led by an organization called Thanal Conservation Group, the community
proposed a zero waste system. People from other communities visited to share
ideas about their zero waste programs. One woman, Murali, showed how she
made and sold bowls, cups, spoons, bags and other useful items from discarded
coconut shells, palm leaves, and scrap paper. By promoting composting and
new ways of reusing discards, Zero Waste Kovalam was born.
Within a few years, Kovalam was clean and beautiful, and more prosperous
than ever. It now has a new tourist attraction: the Zero Waste Center. Many
local restaurants now use coconut shell cups and plates made from leaves. The
women of the Zero Waste Center grow vegetables and bananas in soil enriched
with compost, and the town built a plant that uses human and animal waste to
make electricity.
Kovalam has become an example for all of India and the world by showing
how zero waste can restore and improve a community’s health and natural
beauty and protect the environment for future generations.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012