Question

Attitudes Towards and Awareness of Waste Management: A Survey

The problem of household garbage (domestic waste) is common in most Indian cities. The concern for a clean environment is increasing, but we do not know to what extent citizens know how to dispose of the garbage that collects in their household. Along with some of your classmates, conduct a survey in your own colony to find out what people do about household garbage. Each student may visit two houses in their colony, and ask the heads of the household the following questions. Their answers must be written down.

1. What do you do with old newspapers, magazines, tins, and bottles?
2. What do you do with plastic packets, and other plastic objects (for example, toys, containers etc.)?
3. How do you dispose of kitchen waste (e.g., vegetable and fruit peels, used tea leaves or tea-bags, left-over food that cannot be eaten etc.)?
4. How do you dispose of other used objects that contain chemical substances (e.g. torch cells, used or damaged CDs, cassettes, insecticide and pesticide containers etc.)?
5. Do you put all the garbage collected in your house everyday in the same place, or do you put different kinds of garbage in separate dustbins/waste-baskets?
6. What happens to the garbage that is collected from your house and neighbourhood and where is it taken?
7. What is the meaning of ‘recycling’?
8. What can you do (personally) to make your colony/neighbourhood more clean?

Compare the responses collected by all the students, and see what kind of attitudes and awareness people show about waste management at the household level.

Answer 1

Compiled Responses (Sample Data Findings)

Question Asked	Common Responses Observed
Disposal of old papers, tins, & bottles	Most households store them and sell them to the local scrap dealer (Kabadiwala) once a month.
Disposal of plastic packets & objects	Single-use plastic bags are often reused for domestic trash. Hard plastics (containers, broken toys) are thrown directly into the daily municipal garbage bin.
Disposal of kitchen waste	Disposed of daily in the municipal collection vehicle. Very few households practice home composting.
Disposal of chemical objects (cells, CDs, pesticide tins)	Almost universally mixed directly with normal household garbage. Awareness regarding e-waste and hazardous chemical disposal is critically low.
Waste Segregation (Same or separate bins?)	Most residents state they collect everything in a single main bin. A small percentage separate dry and wet waste due to recent municipal mandates.
Where the garbage goes	Citizens know it is collected by municipal workers, but have little to no awareness about which landfills or processing plants it goes to.
Meaning of 'recycling'	Most define it simply as "reusing items" or "selling to the Kabadiwala." The industrial process of converting waste into new materials is poorly understood.
Personal contribution to cleanliness	Residents suggest keeping their immediate front yards clean, using public dustbins, and avoiding littering on the main colony roads.

Attitude vs. Awareness

When comparing responses across multiple households, a distinct gap emerges between citizen attitudes and citizen awareness:

• Positive Attitude, Low Practical Awareness: The overall attitude toward cleanliness is highly positive. Residents want a clean neighbourhood and express a strong desire for a hygienic environment. However, their practical awareness of waste segregation at the source is very weak.
• The “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” Mindset: There is a high reliance on municipal workers. Once the trash leaves the front door, residents display an attitude of detached responsibility not knowing or caring how unsegregated plastic, toxic e-waste, and organic waste ruin the environment downstream.
• Economic Drive for Recycling: The only functional recycling loop operating at the household level is driven by economic incentive (selling newspapers/metal to the Kabadiwala), rather than an environmental consciousness.

Suggestions for Personal Contribution

To improve the colony’s environment, individuals can transition from passive compliance to active participation by:

• Implementing a strict two-bin system (Green for wet/organic waste, Blue for dry/recyclable waste) inside their own homes.
• Disposing of hazardous electronic waste and batteries at designated electronic drop-off kiosks rather than mixing them with kitchen scraps.
• Organizing local awareness drives with classmates to teach younger children and domestic staff about the importance of source segregation.