August 20, 2024
Author – Anusha Bilimagga
Read Time – 5 mins
Imagine waking up each day, surrounded by the comforts of your home. Every object you touch, from the toothbrush in your hand to the food on your plate, plays a role in your daily routine. But have you ever paused to consider where these materials go once, they’ve served their purpose? The reality is the waste we generate—both degradable and non-degradable—affects more than just our immediate surroundings; it impacts the world we share with countless other beings.
According to the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules (2016), solid waste includes everything from domestic trash to commercial and institutional waste, street sweepings, and even construction debris. What we often forget is that waste is not just a problem to be dealt with by municipal authorities—it’s a responsibility we all share.
We live in a world of convenience, where the impulse to buy and consume is ever-present. But what if we took just a moment to think before making that purchase? Imagine how much waste we could prevent if we asked ourselves, “Do I really need this?” every time we reached for something new.
The Impact of Our Choices
Consider your home, a place of comfort and peace. Now, picture it filled with litter, plastics, and hazardous materials. It would no longer feel like home, would it? The same goes for our environment. The places we discard our waste—landfills, oceans, and even our farms—are homes to countless organisms. In nature’s system, there is no such thing as waste; everything has a purpose.
At Hosachiguru, we take pride in offering a farm life experience through cottage stays, clubhouses, petting centers, and more. However, with these amenities come visitors, and with visitors comes waste. Our mission is to lead a sustainable lifestyle, not to pollute the very farms we cherish. After all, we consider these farms our own home. And just as we wouldn’t litter our homes, we shouldn’t litter our farms.
Our Pledge for a Cleaner Tomorrow
This Independence Day, we pledge to uphold responsible waste management by systematically recycling all waste from our farms. We commit to educating and involving our community in this process. This pledge represents our dedication to a sustainable future, ensuring that every action we take positively impacts the environment and supports our community.
To further our commitment, we have partnered with Hasiru Dala Innovations, a leading, industry-recognized for-purpose company dedicated to creating a world with no waste and no waste pickers through innovative, inclusive, and circular economy business models.
Through this collaboration, Hasiru Dala Innovations will help us integrate responsible waste management practices across all our farmlands as well as raise awareness among our staff at the farms and our Co-Farmer on how best they can reduce, reuse, and recycle for sustainability.
They’ll start with a comprehensive audit of current practices, identifying and characterizing the waste generated. Based on these insights, Hasiru Dala Innovations will recommend and assist in implementing effective waste management solutions, including in-situ composting and necessary infrastructure, in a cost-effective manner.
This collaboration ensures that even as our farms continue to develop, we maintain sustainable waste management practices, minimize environmental impact and promote a healthier ecosystem.
We encourage every visitor to carry all non-biodegradable materials back to the city, where they can be properly disposed of by municipal mechanisms. It’s our collective duty to keep our farms—and our planet—clean.
The 3R Approach: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
REDUCE
The first step in managing waste is to reduce what we produce and consume. The logic is simple: if there is less waste, there is less to recycle or reuse. Begin by examining what you use and how it’s used. By making conscious choices, we can significantly cut down on the waste we generate. At Hosachiguru, we’ve already taken steps to minimize waste:
All our groceries come in paper bags, avoiding small purchases that would result in excess bulk packaging materials.
We actively educate our visitors and co-farmers to avoid bringing non-degradable materials to the farm, encouraging eco-friendly alternatives instead.
REUSE
The next step is to reuse. Learning to repurpose items for different uses or donating them to others extends the life of these materials and keeps them out of landfills. This practice not only reduces waste but also fosters a sense of community and resourcefulness. At Hosachiguru, we practice reuse in the following ways:
We collect used milk packets from our corporate office and send them to our farms, where they are repurposed in our nurseries.
Instead of disposable cutlery, we use reusable ones, reducing the need for single-use plastics.
RECYCLE
Finally, when an item can no longer be reduced or reused, it should be recycled. Recycling transforms waste into raw materials that can be used to create new products. By recycling, we give new life to materials and reduce the strain on our planet’s resources.
The 3R Approach aims to optimize municipal solid waste management by involving all stakeholders—waste generators, service providers, regulators, and the community. By minimizing the waste handled by urban local bodies, we reduce public health risks and environmental impacts.
Other Sustainable Initiatives
In addition to our efforts with the 3Rs, Hosachiguru is committed to other sustainable practices:
Renewable Energy : We are transitioning away from non-renewable energy sources, using solar-powered dim lights, CCTV cameras, and even borewells on some of our farms.
Organic Toiletries : Our cottages are stocked with only organic toiletries, helping to avoid chemicals leaching into the soil and water.
A Shared Responsibility
We must recognize that responsible waste disposal begins with the self. Every piece of waste we manage properly is a step toward a cleaner, healthier planet. At Hosachiguru, we believe that the entire earth is our home. It’s our duty to keep it clean, to reduce, reuse, and recycle, and to create a sustainable world for future generations.
Let us all pledge to be responsible stewards of our environment, ensuring that every action we take today contributes to a better tomorrow. Together, we can make a difference—one piece of waste at a time.
