Waste: Reduce-Reuse-Recycle

There is an environmental ‘hungaamaa’ these days. Everyone is ‘so’ into sea, swimming, diving or snorkeling. People are more into cleaning and cleansing. This is only a small part of what we can do about the environment. The question is how many of us have actually given a thought about this serious problem of waste management.

Waste is something that will accumulate, become a trouble and problem in the long run if we don’t pay enough attention to it. The different types of waste we generate in Maldives fall into three main categories.

Solid Waste Disposal: Solid wastes include domestic and industrial wastes of organic and inorganic origin and variable size, ranging from small tins to whole cars. Waste quantities in islands and in the Maldives will generally increase as the population increases, but will also increase on a per capita basis as the standard of living improves. Higher percentages of paper, plastic, glass and metal can be anticipated in future.

Sewage Disposal: Sewage poses a series of potential problems depending on the mode of disposal; discharge of raw, untreated sewage into the marine environment causes nutrient enrichment, algal blooms, and deoxygenating and human health problems depending on the siting of the outfall. Such conditions adversely affect coral growth. Sewage-related problems are of concern around the densely populated islands and some tourist resorts.

Waste Oil Disposal: Waste machine and lubricating oils associated with small-scale machine shops present a problem in some islands; current disposal seems to be simply into the ground around the workshop concerned, resulting in contamination of groundwater supplies.

Any waste can be dealt in simple steps and things each one of use can do individually. This will then, act as a cumulative force to manage waste. The important steps are the 3Rs;
Reduce- Reuse-Recycle