CHAPTER CARING FOR OUR

BASIC RESOURCES
1

Key concepts
INTRODUCTION
(i) Caring for our soil
Natural resources are materials from the Earth that are used
a) Causes and consequences of soil
to support life and meet people’s needs. Any natural erosion
substance that humans use can be considered a natural
b) Soil conservation strategies
resource. Oil, coal, natural gas, metals, stone and sand are
c) Fuel wood crisis
natural resources. Other natural resources are air, sunlight,
d) Waste generation – its toxicity and
soil and water. Animals, birds, fish and plants are natural its impact on life and land
resources as well. Natural resources also are the raw
e) Treatment of wastes
materials for making products that we use every day from
f) Alternatives to timber
our toothbrush and lunch box to our clothes, cars,
(ii) Caring for our air
televisions, computers and refrigerators.
a) Technical methods to control air
RENEWABLE AND NONRENEWABLE pollution
RESOURCES b) Strategies to reduce air pollution

Renewable resources are those natural resources such as c) Legislation as a means to reduce
air pollution
trees, water, sun and wind that can be replenished at about
d) Remote sensing satellites and their
the same rate at which they are used. Non - renewable
applications
resources are those natural resources that are depleted more
e) International norms on air
quickly than they can regenerate. Fossil fuels like oil and pollution
natural gas were formed over millions of years. Once mined (iii) Caring for our water
and used completely, non-renewable resources are gone
a) Techniques of watershed
forever management
b) Rain water harvesting
c) Small dams vs. large dams
d) Water recycling
e) Alternatives to existing sewage
treatment like dry compost toilets

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 CARING FOR OUR SOIL
oil is a natural resource that may look robust and endless, but is in fact the fragile
product of thousands of years of formation. Topsoil, which lies closest to the
surface of the land, contains essential nutrients for crops. Soil is the central
component of terrestrial ecosystems. It vastly controls the quality of others (i.e., air and
water) and does everything, from supplying food and water to providing shelters for
everyone. It also has a greater influence on the aquatic ecosystems through water,
sediment and nutrient transport, purification of contaminants. In a word, SOIL serves as
the soul of the planet and governs everything in and on it. Unfortunately, many of us
undermine its contribution which has been recognized in recent years. This is a global
problem. Soil is eroding more quickly than it is being formed, causing land to become
unsuitable for agriculture.

Soils are the among the great ecosystem service providers on earth. They store and
provide water for plants. They prevent floods by transferring water slowly to streams and
groundwater. They filter and remediate pollutants. They cycle and recycle nutrients and
wastes — transforming them into biologically available forms, storing them away for
later use, and preventing their leaching to ground and surface waters. Soils provide
habitat for a vast diversity of life. They take up and release important gases, including
oxygen and greenhouse gases, a service called gas regulation. Many of these ecosystem
services are being lost through the degradation and loss of soils. The conservation,
restoration, and optimization of ecosystem services provided by soils is among the great
challenges for humanity in the 21st century.

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 CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF SOIL EROSION

SOIL EROSION
Soil erosion is the displacement of the upper
layer of soil, one form of soil degradation.

This natural process is caused by the dynamic

activity of erosive agents like water,
ice(glaciers), snow, air(wind), plants, animals
and humans.

Causes of soil erosion

Following are the important causes of soil erosion:

Rainfall and Flooding

Higher intensity of rainstorm is the main cause of soil erosion. Four types of soil erosion
are caused by rainfall

Agriculture
The farming practices are the major cause of soil erosion. The agricultural activities
disturb the ground. The trees are cleared and the land is ploughed to sow new seeds. Since
most of the crops are grown during the spring season, the land lies fallow during winters.
Most of the soil is eroded during winters.

Also, the tyres of tractors make grooves on the land, making a natural pathway for water.
Fine soil particles are eroded by wind.

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Grazing
The grazing animals feed on the grasses and remove the vegetation from the land. Their
hooves churn up the soil. They also pull out plants by their roots. This loosens the soil
and makes it more prone to erosion.

Deforestation
A large number of trees are cut down to carry out the logging process. Trees hold the soil
firmly. The canopy of the trees protects the soil from heavy rainfall. The leaf litter that
protects the soil from erosion, is also lost during deforestation.

Mining
Mining activities also disturb the land and leave the soil more prone to erosion.

Construction
The construction of roads and buildings exposes the soil to erosion. The forests and
grasslands are cleared for construction purposes, which exposes the soil making it
vulnerable to erosion.

Rivers and Streams

The flowing rivers and streams carry away the soil particles leading to a V-shaped erosion
activity.

Heavy Winds
During dry weather or in the semi-arid regions, the minute soil particles are carried away
by the wind to faraway lands. This degrades the soil and results in desertification.

Consequences of soil erosion

This is a global problem. Soil is eroding more quickly than it is being formed, causing
land to become unsuitable for agriculture.

The impacts of erosion include

1. Loss of Topsoil

Obviously, this is the biggest effect of soil erosion. Because topsoil is so fertile, if it is
removed, this can cause serious harm to farmer’s crops or the ability to effectively work
their land.

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2. Soil Compaction
When the soil under the topsoil becomes compacted and stiff, it reduces the ability for
water to infiltrate these deeper levels, keeping runoff at greater levels, which increases the
risk of more serious erosion.

3. Reduced Organic and Fertile Matter

As mentioned, removing topsoil that is heavy with organic matter will reduce the ability
for the land to regenerate new flora or crops. When new crops or plants can’t be placed
successfully in the area, this perpetuates a cycle of reduced levels of organic nutrients.

4. Poor Drainage
Sometimes too much compaction with sand can lead to an effective crust that seals in the
surface layer, making it even harder for water to pass through to deeper layers. In some
ways, this can help erosion because of the densely packed soil, but if it perpetuates
greater levels of runoff from rainwater or flooding, it can negatively impact the crucial
topsoil.

5. Issues with Plant Reproduction

When soil is eroded in active cropland, wind, in particular, makes lighter soil properties
such as new seeds and seedlings to be buried or destroyed. This, in turn, impacts future
crop production.

6. Soil Acidity Levels

When the structure of the soil becomes compromised, and organic matter is greatly
reduced, there is a higher chance of increased soil acidity, which will significantly impact
the ability for plants and crops to grow.

7. Long Term Erosion

Unfortunately, if an area is prone to erosion or has a history of it, it becomes even harder
to protect it in the future. The process has already reduced the soil structure and organic
matter of the area, meaning that it will be harder to recover in the long run.

8. Water Pollution
A major problem with runoff from soils – particularly those used for agricultural
processes – is that there is a greater likelihood that sediment and contamination like the
use of fertilizer or pesticide. This can have significant damage on fish and water quality.

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9. Climate Change
The fact that erosion degrades land denotes that it can support fewer plants that can help
absorb climate-warming CO2. Soils have the ability to potentially sequester enough GHG
in a year to equal about 5% of all man-made GHG emissions annually.There will be even
higher risk of erosion in the future because of emissions-triggered temperature changes,
with resulting decreases in human health, agricultural production, and land value.

IMPROPER LAND USE

Irregular and unsound urban development is the common problem of all urban settlements
today. The increasing continuation of this problem is inevitable in this order, because the
economic concerns always win than economy-ecology balance.

The density of the urban growth increases with population increase in urban areas in
recent years, which leads to depletion of limited number of natural resources and also
with impairing agricultural lands. It is impossible to make up for the natural resources
which have been used up due to the degraded ecosystem and the impacts are also
increasing day-by-day. The cities and industrial areas continue to develop on natural areas
especially due to the mistakes in city planning.

Urban development occurs with increase in consumption of natural resources with an

assumption that the natural resources are endless. The urban development will be
followed by industrial revolution with intensive construction activities. This stage
involves some excessive energy and land use at this stage. The growth of the city against
agricultural lands is considered as an essential indication of development. The use of land
is determined both by physical factors such as topography, climate, soil types as well as
human factors such as population density, technological capability and culture and
traditions etc.

Consequences of improper land use

 Land use and land cover changes have significant environmental consequences at
local, regional, and global scales.
 These changes have intense implications at the regional and global scales for
global loss of biodiversity, distresses in hydrological cycles, increase in soil
erosion, and sediment loads.

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  At the local level, changes in the use of land and its cover affect watershed runoff,
microclimatic resources, processes of land degradation and landscape-level
biodiversity, soil erosion, and sediment loads.
 All these have direct impacts on livelihoods of local societies.

DEFORESTATION
What is deforestation?
Deforestation refers to the decrease in forest areas across the world that are lost for other
uses such as agricultural croplands, urbanization, or mining activities. Greatly accelerated
by human activities since 1960, deforestation has been negatively affecting natural
ecosystems, biodiversity, and the climate.

The Causes of Deforestation: Why Is Deforestation Happening?

The primary anthropogenic
activities (human
activities) that contribute to
deforestation include:
 Agriculture –
small-scale and
large scale farming
 Logging – cutting
of trees for use as raw material
 Mining and urban expansion – clearing of forest area for the construction of
infrastructure.
According to the secretariat of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change), agriculture is the root
cause of 80% of deforestation. Logging
accounts for another 14% and the
cutting of trees for use as wood fuel
account for 5%.
Slash-and-burn agriculture is one of the
most destructive forms of agriculture
that results in large-scale deforestation.
It involves the burning of a large area of forest land and the subsequent plantation of
crops in the same soil (which is now fertilized by the ashes of the burnt trees). Despite the

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practice being abandoned by several developed countries, it is still followed in some
Southeast Asian countries.

What are the Secondary Factors that Contribute to Deforestation?

Illegal logging, which accounts for approximately 80% of all logging activities, involves
the harvesting and sale of timber in violation of the law. Corrupt government officials
may accept bribes from illegal loggers and offer access to protected forest areas in return.
Therefore, corruption can be viewed as an indirect cause of deforestation.
Overpopulation and population growth increase the requirement for several resources
such as food and infrastructure. These requirements can, directly or indirectly, result in
deforestation. For example, a huge explosion in the population of a city can result in the
deforestation of the surrounding area for:
 The construction of homes and other buildings.
 Agriculture (to meet the increased demand for food).
 The construction of roads, dams, and other infrastructure.
Military conflicts among humans can also result in deforestation. For example, the U.S.
military made extensive use of Agent Orange (a defoliant that causes the leaves of trees to
wither and fall off) during the Vietnam War (1955 – 1975).

Can Deforestation Occur due to Natural Causes?

In some relatively rare cases, the deforestation of forest areas can be traced to natural
causes. For example, volcanic eruptions can burn away the forest lands surrounding the
volcano. Other examples of natural deforestation include:
 Destruction of forests due to hurricanes, floods, and other natural calamities.
 Invasion of the forest ecosystem by parasites that destroy trees.
 Forest fires that are sparked by lightning and other natural phenomena.
It is important to note that natural factors have a very small stake in the overall
deforestation of the Earth’s land surface (anthropogenic factors account for almost all of
it).

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OVERGRAZING
Overgrazing represents an
environmental hazard whereby
wildlife or livestock excessively
feeds on pasture. Otherwise stated,
overgrazing takes place when
vegetation or pasture is repeatedly
removed from the land, and it is not
given enough time to continue
growing. Intensive grazing thus
causes the plant residual matter to
decline and further contributes to numerous negative consequences to both the animals
and the land. Consequently, overgrazing signifies a serious environmental challenge in
maintaining the natural balance of livestock on grazing lands, which reduces the
productivity, usefulness, and biodiversity of the land.

Causes of Overgrazing
1. Lack of Proper Animal/Wildlife Management
The lack of proper animal and wildlife feeding management on the available pasture is
the leading cause of overgrazing. From the definition, overgrazing arises as a result of
having too many animals grazing on a piece of land without proper control of the grazing
activity of the animals. The failure to rotate animals in harmony with pasture growth is
what constitutes overgrazing. For instance, without proper management of the animal’s
feeding habits, they tend to feed on young plants and seeds, thereby reducing their growth
and survival capacities.

2. Socio-economic Conditions of the Farmer

Now that we have looked into the problem caused by improper management of livestock,
we must also inspect another linked issue. The farmers handling the livestock generally
belong to a weaker socio-economic background. This means that they are unable to
support their livestock with the proper amount of fodder and thus, but turning them onto
pastures, leave them to fend for themselves.

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3. Drought or Decline in Precipitation
Drought and the decline in precipitation in any area automatically mean that the growth
and survival of plants and vegetation are heavily impacted. The direct outcome of this is
stunted growth and drying out of plants/vegetation.
Accordingly, the risk of overgrazing is heightened in such areas subject to the
insufficiency of forage. Examples include areas adjacent to deserts such as northern
China, Pakistan, India, Patagonia, the drier regions of southern and northern Africa, and
the prairies of Northern America.

4. Improper Land Use

Land use significantly determines the productive condition of the land and soil fertility.
Hence, improper land use such as logging activities, slash and burn farming
techniques, mining, excessive and unplanned urban sprawl, and land pollution lessens the
overall land available for pasture.
All these activities greatly impact the availability of plants and forage by destroying their
underlying growth support mechanisms. In most cases, these activities are characterized
by an increase in unpalatable plants or weeds and a decrease in plant humus that increases
the potential of the overgrazing problem.

5. Overstocking
Overstocking implies a situation where a piece of land is intensively stocked with more
animals that the site can support for a grazing season. In the majority of the cases, animals
are more than the average land available for grazing, which leads to repeated removal of
plant/vegetation material without a sufficient amount of time given for the leaf/pasture
mass to regrow.
Put differently, farmers who overstock do not let the average land replenish itself after a
previous grazing season. Eventually, overgrazing is experienced.

Effects of overgrazing
Soil erosion: The continued trampling of numerous animals in an average forage land
will act to accelerate the death of plants and vegetation cover. This is because the animals
will graze even on the slightest shoots of new growth.
Without the plants or vegetation cover, the soil is left bare and exposed to harsh weather
such as heavy downpour and high temperatures, which disintegrates the rocks and carries
the topsoil away.

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Land Degradation: The acts of compaction
and erosion as a result of overgrazing can
cause tremendous land degradation. In drier
areas, the experience is even worse as a large
percentage of pasture and land cover is
destroyed, contributing to the relentless
progression of desertification. In some areas
overgrazing has led to complete desertification. Overgrazing combined with overstocking
has the most damaging outcomes to the world’s natural environment.
Loss of Valuable Species: The natural composition of the plant population and their
regeneration capacity is significantly affected by overgrazing. The original pasture crops
are composed of high-quality pastures and herbs with great nutritional value. When
animals intensively graze on such pastures, even the rootstocks which contain the reserve
food or regeneration capacity get ruined.
Food Shortage/Famine: As earlier stated, overgrazing is a primary contributor to
desertification because it converts arable or pasture land into unproductive piece land.
The resultant soil is thus not suited for growing food since it loses its essential nutrients.
The loss of land productivity directly results in the loss of food available for
consumption. This heightens food supply reduction, and if population growth is still
registered, it causes starvation and economic challenges.
Death of People and Livestock: The long term effects of overgrazing are food shortage,
which can make people and cattle die of starvation. Without sufficient pasture for
livestock grazing, cattle lack the necessary nutrients for survival. The nutrient
deficiencies make the animals unable to gain weight appropriate to their productive stage
and life, which lowers their chances of survival.
Global Warming: With deforestation comes another threat called global warming. With
the foliage gone, a percentage of carbon dioxide absorption is also gone. Thus, as a result,
carbon dioxide levels increase on the earth’s surface, which, in turn, traps the heat of the
short rays of the sun. This leads to an increase in the mean temperature of the earth’s
surface, making the earth a hotter place to live in!

Steps to control overgrazing

1. Avoiding the act of grazing too early, you can have the stockpiled in the rainy
season (spring) so that there is enough grass in the dry periods (summer).

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 2. The use of a grazing chart can assist in planning out how to implement rotational
grazing.
3. Monitoring rainfall patterns and the growth of pasture.
4. Maintaining and managing proper pasture residuals in the grazing area.
5. Making sustainable pasture management decisions in dry weather conditions, this
can be achieved by learning more and more about sustainable pasture practices.
6. Proper land use management practices.
7. Trying to feed livestock with stored fodder.
8. Controlling the amount of time that livestock spends on the pastures.

IMPACT OF SOIL EROSION ON FOOD PRODUCTION

The loss of soil from land surfaces by erosion is widespread and reduces the
productivity of all natural ecosystems as well as agricultural, forest, and pasture
ecosystems. Concurrently with the growing human population, soil erosion, water
availability, climate change due to fossil fuel consumption, eutrophication of inland and
coastal marine bodies of water, and loss of biodiversity rank as the prime environmental
problems throughout the world. The impacts of erosion on cropping lands include:

 Reduced ability of the soil to store

water and nutrients.
 Exposure of subsoil, which often
has poor physical and chemical
properties.
 Higher rates of runoff, shedding
water and nutrients otherwise used
for crop growth.
 Loss of newly planted crops.
 Deposits of silt in low-lying areas.
 Soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental and public health problems
facing human society

GENERATION OF WASTELANDS
Wastelands are ecologically unstable lands which are low in productivity and
severely affected by soil erosion, stress conditions, and hostile environmental conditions.

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These areas can be abandoned mine lands, mine tailing disposal site, deforested areas,
overgrazing land, and barren lands.

Causes of generation of wastelands

a. Indiscriminate and over utilisation of forest produces
b. Over-grazing
c. Side effects of development projects
d. Misuse and unscientific land management.

Consequences of wastelands
 Soil erosion and land degradation
 Depletion of natural resources
 Lower productivity
 Ground water depletion
 Shortage of drinking water
 Reduction in species diversity
 Increase in the extent of wastelands

SILTING OF WATERWAYS AND DAMS

Silt, is solid sediment that is similar to dust. It can be transported and deposited by water,
ice and wind. Silt is made up of
particles of rock and mineral particles
that are larger than clay but smaller
than sand.
The soil erosion also affects the
waterways. It leads to deposition of silt
in the water courses and in the paths
through which water flows. The eroded
soil might contain fertilizers, pesticides and other harmful chemicals which will degrade
the quality of the water in these rivers and streams.

Problems with dam sedimentation

Sedimentation occurs when eroded material that is being transported by water, settles out
of the water column onto the surface, as the water flow slows.

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The sediments that form a waterway's bed, banks and floodplain have been transported
from higher in the catchment and
deposited there by the flow of water.
Excess sediment can be damaging to
the ecological health of waterways and
reduce their environmental, social and
cultural values. Mobilised coarse
sandy sediment tends to accumulate in
areas of slow-flow and may smother
bottom-dwelling organisms and their habitats. Deep permanent river pools, that are
valuable habitats for aquatic fauna and refuges for wildlife during summer and drought,
may become filled by course sediments.

Natural causes of erratic mud

Mudslides caused by earthquakes and volcanoes can also have a dramatic and
unpredictable effect on reservoir
and sedimentation. A part of
reservoir is known as ‘dead
storage’ which lies beneath the
elevation of the dam’s lowest
outlet. Sediments do not build
up evenly along a horizontal plane; so that some live storage is usually lost long before
the dead storage is filled.

Silting of waterways
On-site:

 Soil quality, structure, stability and texture can be affected by the loss of soil.
 The breakdown of aggregates and the removal of smaller particles or entire layers
of soil or organic matter can weaken the structure and even change the texture.
 Textural changes can in turn affect the water-holding capacity of the soil, making
it more susceptible to extreme conditions such as drought.
Off-site:
 The off-site impacts of soil erosion by water are not always as apparent as the on-
site effects.

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  Water erosion’s main off-site effect is the movement of sediment and agricultural
pollutants into water courses. This can lead to the silting-up of dams, disruption of
the ecosystems of lakes and contamination of drinking water.
 Heavier soil particles are the first to be deposited, while finer colloidal clay
particles may remain in suspension. Soil removed by gully erosion (especially
finer colloidal clay) may be transported directly to creeks or rivers.
 A more minor off-site effect can occur in situations where eroded soil has a
decreased capacity to absorb water. Increased runoff may lead to downstream
flooding and local damage to property
 Eroded soil, deposited down slope inhibits or delays the emergence of seeds,
buries small seedlings and necessitates replanting in the affected areas.

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 SOIL CONSERVATION STRATEGIES

oil conservation is defined as the control of soil erosion in order to maintain

agricultural productivity. Soil erosion is often the effect of many natural causes,
such as water and wind. There are also human factors which increase the rate of
soil erosion such as construction, cultivation and other activities. Some may argue that
since it is a natural process, soil erosion is not harmful. The truth is that with the removal
of the top layer of soil, the organic matter and nutrients are also removed.

CONTOUR BUNDING
Contour bunding is the construction of small bund across the slope of the land on a
contour so that the long slope is cut into a
series of small ones and each contour bund
acts as a barrier to the flow of water, thus
making the water to walk rather than run, at
the same time impounding water against it for
increasing soil moisture. Contour bunds
divide the length of the slope; reduce the
volume of runoff water, and thus preventing
or minimizing the soil erosion. Flowing water is intercepted before it attains the erosive
velocity by keeping suitable spacing between bunds. Spacing between two contour bunds
depends on the slope of the area as the permeability of the soil. Lesser the permeability of
soil, the close should be spacing of bunds. Contour bunding is suitable on lands with
moderate slopes without involving terracing.

TREE BREAKS
Forest lands also must be protected from
erosion. In some cases, foresters leave
unusable branches and other parts of trees
on the forest floor to add organic matter to
the soil. They also develop large, health
groups of trees whose roots protect the soil
by holding it in place against wind and
water erosion.

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CHECK DAMS
A check dam is a small dam constructed across
a drainage ditch, swale, or channel to lower the
velocity of flow. A check dam may be built
from stone, sandbags filled with pea gravel, or
logs.
Advantages
 Inexpensive and easy to install.
 Reduce velocity and may provide aeration of the water.
 Check dams prevent gully erosion from occurring before vegetation is established,
and also cause a high proportion of the sediment load in runoff to settle out.
 In some cases, if carefully located and designed, these check dams can remain as
permanent installations with very minor regarding, etc.
 They may be left as either spillway, in which case accumulated sediment would be
graded and seeded, or as check dams to capture sediment coming off that site.
Disadvantages/Problems
 Because of their temporary nature, many of these measures are unsightly, and they
should be removed or converted to permanent check dams before dwelling units
are rented or sold.
 Removal may be a significant cost depending on the type of check dam installed.
 Check dams are only suitable for a limited drainage area.
 May kill grass linings in channels if the water level remains high after rainstorms
or if there is significant sedimentation.
 Reduce the hydraulic capacity of the channel.
 May create turbulence which erodes the channel banks.
 Clogging by leaves in the fall may be a problem.

AUROVILLE’S WORK
Auroville, also known as City of Dawn, is an experimental
township located in Tamil Nadu, near Pondicherry, South
India. It was founded by Mirra Alfassa, “the Mother” on
28 February 1968. She was an equal collaborator of Sri
Aurobindo, who believed that “man is a transitional
being”. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity.

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It wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in
peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities, Mirra
Alfassa had said.
Auroville work on soil and water management
 The most important task for the first settlers in Auroville was to discover and
implement methods of regenerating the eroded land. Over the past two decades of
effort, Auroville have evolved and developed sustainable and effective techniques.
 The key is an integrated water and soil conservation program.
 The first step in halting that trend was planting trees to stabilize the soil, retain
moisture, provide shade, and replenish soil nutrients. Over two million forest
trees, nut and fruit trees, hedges, and shrubs have been planted on the acreage
available for development.
 A second important technique for halting erosion was contour bunding. In
bunding, interlocking grids of earth mounds enclose areas of land, preventing
runoff and allowing rainwater to percolate down to replenish the water table.
Extensive bunding has been carried out over each of the watersheds in Auroville.
 At some of the largest gullies, check dams have been built, creating reservoirs and
preventing further runoff.
 Auroville has adopted pesticide-free organic gardening to complement the
protection of scarce soil and water resources.
 Auroville land and village land are intermingled; this development has aroused the
interest of local farmers in adopting new practices of land use and restoration as
well as organic farming techniques.

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TARUN BHARAT SANGH’S WORK
Rajendra Singh, the “waterman of India” who divined water in the arid regions of Eastern
Rajasthan by building water-harvesting structures is the winner of Ramon Magsaysay
Award for community Leadership. The NGO Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) which was
founded in 1975 lead by Rajendra Singh as its general secretary, played a catalysing role
in the building of 8600 johads in 1058 villages spread over 6500 sq km in nine districts of
Rajasthan. It has briught water back to over 1000 villages and revived five rivers in
Rajasthan, Arvari, Ruparel, Sarsa, Bhagani and Jahajwali.

To remove the water scarcity in the area, Tarun Bharat Sangh with the help of villagers
cleaned and deepened the tanks and ponds. Besides this, they also vowed to construct
ponds on the sloppy parts of the hilly region. A village was chosen for this work in 1985-
86. The results were very encouraging. Seeing this other villagers started competing in
getting and making ponds constructed in their areas ‘Save water’ and ‘Johar Andolan’
were started in 1996. 3500 ponds have so far been constructed in this area.
 TBS starts its work by mobilizing communities around the issue of water and
supporting them in reviving and revitalizing the traditional systems of water
management through the constructions of ‘Johads’ for rain water harvesting.
 The community contributes to their labour
 TBS arrange some funding and provide support to the villagers in studying the
topography and soil type, assessing the water needs of the village, preparing a
labour-sharing plan based on the benefits growing to individual households.
 Over 10,000 Rain-water Harvesting structures have been restored.
 Due to high fodder availability, villagers have also benefitted from selling milk
products through an informal cooperative arrangement.
 The organization plays a facilitating role in helping communities to articulate their
priorities for natural resource development, and to find solutions.

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Changes due to Johads
 The price of the arable land was increased after the year 2000. Prior no vegetables
could be grown. Now, a lot of varieties are grown.
 Newly available land is given to contractors for farming. Irrigation is not required
for farming.
 Price of fodder has increased five times.
 Employment generation has taken place due to the increased farming and related
activities.
 The dam has given a new direction to the village life.
 The water has enhanced the value not only of land, but of the cattle and the human
beings as well.
 The effects are visible in terms of recharging of wells and aquifers, renewed flow
of rivulets which had been dry for many years, increased bio-mass productivity,
and significant increase in agriculture production.
 Villagers in the desert state of Rajasthan have built as many as 4500 dams by
themselves turning 90 villages drought proof.
 Five rivers have been made perennial by these dams. The dams prevent rain water
from being washed away, carrying rich soil and also increase water level of the
wells.
 Due to high fodder availability, villagers have also benefitted from selling milk
products through an informal cooperative arrangement.

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 FUEL WOOD CRISIS

USAGE OF FIREWOOD AS FUEL

ood is considered humankind’s very first source of energy. Wood fuel is a

fuel, such as firewood, charcoal, chips, sheets, pellets, and sawdust. The
particular form used depends upon factors such as source, quantity, quality
and application. Today, burning of wood is the largest use of energy derived from a solid
fuel biomass.

They can be used for electricity production or directly for combustion in residential and
commercial heating. Wood fuels arise from multiple sources including forests, other
wooded land and trees outside forests, co-products from wood processing, postconsumer
recovered wood and processed wood-based fuels.

Fuel wood has remained the principal component of rural domestic energy, and also the
source of commercial energy such as brick kilns, hotels and restaurants in semi-urban
areas. The percentage of population using fuel wood is higher in rural areas (67.3%) and
14% in urban and semi-urban areas.

The fuel wood has been collected from forests, trees grown on farm lands, homesteads
and common land outside forest. The annual fuel wood consumption by 854 million
people in India is 216.4 million tonnes per year.

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Advantages of Wood Fuel
 Availability. Wood fuel is easily available either in the form of firewood or wood
wastes.
 Low cost. Wood fuel is inexpensive, especially in comparison to fossil fuels. And
unlike other alternatives to fossil fuels, it does not require high initial investment.
 Environmentally friendly. As mentioned earlier, wood fuel is not harming the
environment if it is sourced in sustainably managed forests and if the right
technology is used, for example efficient wood burning stoves. In fact, the same
trees that are harvested for firewood provide a habitat to wildlife and reduce
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere while growing. Wood burning does emit carbon
dioxide but since the amounts of carbon emitted equal to the amounts of carbon
absorbed while the tree was growing, the total carbon emissions equal zero.
 Sustainability. Wood fuel is a sustainable source of energy because each tree that
is cut down can be replaced.

Disadvantages of Wood Fuel

 Inconvenience. In comparison to other forms of heating, wood fuel is often less
convenient because most stoves and furnaces require refilling every few hours.
Automatised systems are available as well but they are quite expensive.
 Environmental concerns. Deforestation and in the first place, illegal logging is a
serious environmental concern. In the developed countries, the rate of illegal
logging is relatively low but it remains high in the developing nations.
Unsustainable wood harvesting does not only contribute to the rising levels of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere but it also threatens the local ecosystems and
biodiversity.
 Low benefits in terms of lowering carbon emissions. Trees absorb huge
amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases while growing but all
absorbed gases are released back in the atmosphere during wood burning.

IMPACT OF FUELWOOD ON NATURE

Fuelwood is the primary source of household energy for the developing countries. More
than 2000 million people use wood or charcoal to cook and preserve their food. But in the
face of population pressure and widespread deforestation, fuelwood supplies are being
depleted rapidly.

22 | P a g e
Wood and charcoal are still the major source of energy for most people in developing
countries. Cutting trees for fuel visibly has impacts on forests, particularly near urban
areas. Woodcutting for fuel has affected and continues to affect forest cover, particularly
near urban areas. Woodcutting for fuel has
affected and continues to affect forest
cover, particularly in areas supplying fuel
to urban areas.
The “wood energy crisis” is more a crisis
of the ability of poor people – especially
women – to get access to reliable and
affordable supplies of fuel than an
ecological crisis threatening global forest cover. Wood and charcoal are vital sources of
energy for large numbers of people in developing countries. It is estimated that some 80%
of the population depend on wood fuel for cooking, heating and lighting.
Urban use of wood fuel places the heaviest pressure on forest resources, especially as
cities in developing countries grow rapidly and attract migrants from rural areas.

PRESSURE ON SURVIVING FOREST

Much of the international concern over tropical forest has centred on the loss of large
tracts of natural forest areas. the causes of this deforestation are associated mainly with
the drive to open up and exploit
what is seen as one of the last great
land frontiers.
Commercial logging, clearance for
large-scale ranching, in-migration as
a result of road construction or
through government-sponsored
transmigration schemes, flooding
from giant hydroelectric power schemes and other development pressures are all widely
cited as contributing to large-scale deforestation.
The exploitation of forests for fuelwood use contributes little to this process. This is
especially true for fuelwood gathered to serve the needs of local rural communities,
because where there are large tracts of forest, there are usually few people.

IMPACT ON HEALTH OF WOMEN FROM INHALING SMOKE

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  Wood smoke contains fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde,
sulphur dioxide and various irritant gases such as nitrogen oxides that can scar the
lungs.
 Wood smoke also contains chemicals known as suspected to be carcinogens, such
as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and dioxin
 Wood smoke interferes with normal lung development in infants and children. It
also increases children’s risk of respiratory infections like bronchitis and
pneumonia.
 Wood smoke exposure can depress the immune system and damage the layer of
cells in the lungs that protect and cleanse the air pathway

General health effects of wood smoke

Breathing wood smoke can have

short- and long-term effects.
Some of the short-term effects
may be:

 Irritated eyes, throat,

sinuses, and lungs;
 Headaches;
 Reduced lung function,
especially in children;
 Lung inflammation or swelling;
 Increased risk of lower respiratory diseases;
 More severe or frequent symptoms from existing lung diseases (such as asthma,
emphysema, pneumonia, and bronchitis);
 Risk of heart attack and stroke

Some long-term effects can be

 Chronic lung disease including bronchitis and emphysema;
 Chemical and structural changes in lungs;
 Cancer

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 WASTE GENERATION

waste is anything which you decide to or are required to, throw away. Wastes
are produced from different activities such as household activities, agricultural
activities, industrial activities,
hospitals, educational institutions, mining
operations, and so on. These sources
general different types of wastes, many of
which are hazardous in nature. Some of the
types of wastes include municipal wastes
(household waste, commercial waste, and
demolition waste), hazardous wastes
(industrial waste), Biomedical wastes (clinical waste), special hazardous wastes
(radioactive waste,) and electronic waste. (e-waste) etc.

Waste generation includes all materials discarded, whether or not they are later recycled
or disposed in a landfill. Waste generation
rates for residential and commercial
activities can be used to estimate the
impact of new developments on the local
waste stream. The growing world
population is causing negative impacts on

25 | P a g e
the planet. The current model of production and consumption generates a lot of waste
that, in many cases, does not get reused or recycled. Sixty percent of the volume of waste
generated comes from packaging and product containers, often designed for just a single
use.

Effects of solid waste on life

 Chemical poisoning through chemical inhalation

 Uncollected waste can obstruct the storm water run-off resulting in flood
 Low birth weight
 Cancer
 Congenital malformations
 Neurological diseases
 Nausea and vomiting
 Increase in hospitalization of diabetic residents living near hazard waste sites
 Mercury toxicity from eating fish with high levels of mercury
 Increase in mercury level in fish due to disposal of mercury in the rivers
 Plastic found in oceans ingested by birds
 Resulted in high algal population in rivers and sea
 Degrades water and soil quality

Impacts of waste on environment

 Water that isn’t safe to drink

 Polluted soil, which leads to a loss of fertile land for agriculture
 Climate change, which causes an onslaught of disastrous problems, including
flash floods and irregular rainfalls
 The endangerment and extinction of species in wildlife
 Habitat shifting, where some animals are forced to flee where they live in order to
survive
 An increase in wildfires, due to polluted areas often becoming very dry

Politics of wate dumping

we all deal with trash on a daily basis, which can make it feel more immediate and
straightforward than other issues. In reality, our waste problem is structural, and each

26 | P a g e
country, city, and community bring its own set of local challenges and opportunities to
the table.

There are two key reasons why we cannot ignore this. First, consumption patterns are
vastly different around the world. Because our economics are linear, the formula is
simple: the wealthier you are, the more you buy, and the more you waste. According to
the World Bank, even though they only account for 16% of the world’s population, high-
income countries like those in Europe currently produce more than one-third of the
world’s waste. This is disproportionate and troubling; especially when you consider that
those who produce the least are also living where climate change is hitting the hardest.

As countries develop, their waste management capabilities evolve. Wealthier countries

tend to have more efficient — or at least less visible — ways of processing or outsourcing
their waste downstream. In other countries, governments struggle to manage and account
for waste, often resorting to informal practices like open dumping and burning.

The result is that

most of the waste
produced by
overconsumption is
not visible in the
places where
consumption is at its
peak. So, we are
facing this storm in
very different boats.
This is a good start to
understanding the
complexity of our
waste problem, and indeed, of our climate crisis as a whole. As things stand today, no
single country is able to manage their own waste efficiently. Many wealthy countries
export their waste to the poorest regions of the world. For developing countries taking in
the rubbish, it’s a valuable source of income. But the global waste trade is not
documented well, and a lot of toxic waste ends up leaking into the environment. Much of

27 | P a g e
this export is also illegal and the poorest — who consume the least — suffer the most
from the waste produced by the richest.

The global waste trade mostly consists of dry, solid waste. Plastic is a key challenge, with
production and use growing much more rapidly than the recycling industry can match.
Because of this poor waste management, an estimated 24 million to 34 million tonnes of
plastic waste will enter the world’s lakes, rivers and oceans this year.

Electronic waste is also becoming a huge and hazardous problem, because products are
difficult to disassemble, and are often laced with lead, mercury or other toxic substances.
E-waste is also the fastest-growing trash stream in the world — with numbers more
than doubling in the last nine years alone.

Unmanageable solid wastes that we generate

As cities are growing in size with a rise in the population, the amount of waste generated
is increasing becoming unmanageable. In rural areas, examples of unmanageable waste
include wastes from kitchens, gardens, cattle sheds, agriculture, and materials such as
metal, paper, plastic, cloth, and so on. They are organic and inorganic materials with no
remaining economic value to the owner produced by homes, commercial and industrial
establishments. And with over 90% of waste openly dumped or burned in low-income
countries, it is the poor and most vulnerable who are disproportionately affected.

In recent years, landslides

of waste dumps have buried
homes and people under
piles of waste. And it is the
poorest who often live near
waste dumps and power
their city’s recycling system
through waste picking,
leaving them susceptible to serious health repercussions.

28 | P a g e
Poorly managed waste is contaminating the world’s oceans, clogging drains and causing
flooding, transmitting diseases, increasing respiratory problems from burning, harming
animals that consume waste unknowingly, and affecting economic development, such as
through tourism. Unmanaged solid waste causes deterioration in the quality of urban life,
ruining the landscape, filling oceans and harming the poorest of poor in the shape of
vector diseases, malaria, asthma issues, and ultimately affecting the environment and
damaging marine life. The local corporations have adapted different methods for the
disposal of waste – open dumps, landfills, sanitary landfills, and incineration plants. One
of the important methods of waste treatment is composting.

Leaching of toxins from landfills into water bodies and land

Landfills have been identified as one of the major threats to groundwater resources not
only in India but throughout the world. More than 90% of the Municipal Solid Waste
(MSW) generated in India is directly dumped on land in an unsatisfactory manner. The
solid waste placed in landfills or open dumps are subjected to either groundwater
underflow or infiltration from precipitation or any other possibility of infiltration of
water. During rainfall, the dumped solid wastes receive water and the by-products of its
decomposition move into the water through the waste deposition.

Leachate is any liquid that, in

passing through matter, extracts
solutes, suspended solids or any
other component of the material
through which it has passed.
Leachate from a solid waste
disposal site generally contain
major elements like calcium,
magnesium, potassium, nitrogen and ammonia, trace metals like iron, copper, manganese,
chromium, nickel, lead and organic compounds like phenols, polyaromatic hydrocarbons,
acetone, benzene, toluene, chloroform etc. The concentration of these in the leachate and
water depends on the composition of wastes. Some of the pollutants may be adsorbed on
to the soil during their diffusion in the soil.

Health impacts

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In evaluating the human health impact of leachate contamination of groundwater, the
pathway considered has been direct ingestion of contaminated water.

Faecal contamination has been detected in

leachate samples. Bacterial contamination
is generally easy to deal with, by boiling or
disinfecting (chlorinating) the
groundwater. But again, adding costs that
are unnecessary if prevention practices are
followed.

Other contaminates, including heavy

metals and inorganic compounds such as:
calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium,
ammonium, iron, sulphate and bicarbonate are Infections
not so easy to deal with, and in fact can react Skin and blood infections resulting from
with the chlorine used in the disinfection direct contact with waste, and from
infected wounds.
process. This increases both risk and hazard to
Eye and respiratory infections resulting
the public. from exposure to infected dust,
especially
HEALTH during landfill
IMPACTS operations.
OF
WASTE
Different ACCUMULATION
diseases that results from the
Impacts of waste accumulation bites of animals feeding on the waste.
Intestinal infections that are transmitted
The group at risk from the unscientific by flies feeding on the waste.
disposal of solid waste include – the Chronic diseases
population in areas where there is no proper Incineration operators are at risk of
waste disposal method, especially the pre- chronic respiratory diseases, including
cancers resulting from exposure to dust
school children; waste workers; and workers and hazardous compounds.
in facilities producing toxic and infectious Accidents
material. Other high-risk group include Bone and muscle disorders resulting
population living close to a waste dump and from the handling of heavy containers.

those, whose water supply has become Infecting wounds resulting from contact
with sharp objects.
contaminated either due to waste dumping or
Poisoning and chemical burns resulting
leakage from landfill sites. from contact with small amounts of
hazardous chemical waste mixed with
general waste.
Burns and other injuries resulting from
occupational accidents at waste disposal
30 | P a g e sites or from methane gas explosion at
landfill sites.
Uncollected solid waste also increases risk of injury, and infection. In particular, organic
domestic waste poses a serious threat, since they ferment, creating conditions favourable
to the survival and growth of microbial pathogens.

Direct handling of solid waste can result in various types of infectious and chronic
diseases with the waste workers and the rag pickers being the most vulnerable.

Exposure to hazardous waste can affect human health, children being more vulnerable to
these pollutants. In fact, direct exposure can lead to diseases through chemical exposure
as the release of chemical waste into the environment leads to chemical poisoning. Many
studies have been carried out in various parts of the world to establish a connection
between health and hazardous waste.

Diseases

Certain chemicals if released untreated, e.g. cyanides, mercury, and polychlorinated

biphenyls are highly toxic and exposure can lead to disease or death. Some studies have
detected excesses of cancer in residents exposed to hazardous waste. Many studies have
been carried out in various parts of the world to establish a connection between health and
hazardous waste.

INCINERATION

Incineration is the destruction of

something, especially waste material, by
burning. Incineration is a waste treatment
process that involves the combustion of
organic substances contained in waste
materials. Incineration of waste materials
converts the waste into ash, flue gas and
heat. These products are later used for generation of electricity. The gases, flue gases are
first treated for the eradication of pollutants before going into the atmosphere.
Incineration or thermal treatment of waste is much popular in countries like Japan where
there is a scarcity of land.

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Advantages

 Incineration is an efficient way to reduce the waste volume and demand for
landfill space.
 Incineration plants can be located close to the centre of gravity of waste
generation, thus reducing the cost of waste transportation.
 Using the ash from MSW incinerators for environmentally appropriate
construction not only provides a low-cost aggregate but further reduces the need
for landfill capacity.
 The slag quality should be verified before it is used.
 Energy can be recovered for heat or power consumption.
 Incineration provides the best way to eliminate methane gas emissions from waste
management processes.
 Furthermore, energy from waste projects provides a substitute for fossil fuel
combustion.
 These are two ways incineration helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 One of the most attractive features of the incineration process is that it can be used
to reduce the original volume of combustibles by 80 to 95%. Air pollution control
remains a major problem in the implementation of incineration of solid waste
disposal.

Disadvantages

 Not all waste can be burned (there will still be landfill)

 Release hundreds of toxic chemicals into the atmosphere.
 Disposal of ash (the toxic substances are more concentrated in the ash)
 Highly related to economic condition.
 Incineration plants involves the heavy investment & operating cost.
 The complexity of incineration requires skilled staff.

32 | P a g e
 Treatment of waste

W
aste disposal, the collection, processing, and recycling or deposition of the
waste materials of human society. Waste is classified by source and
composition. Broadly speaking, waste materials are either liquid or solid in
form, and their components may be either hazardous or inert in their effects on health and
the environment.

Types of Water Treatment Plants

 Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP)

 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs)
 Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP’s)
 Demineralization (DM) Treatment Plants
 Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water Treatment

33 | P a g e
Effluent treatment plants

ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant) is a

process design for treating the industrial
waste water for its reuse or safe disposal
to the environment.

 Influent: Untreated industrial

waste water.
 Effluent: Treated industrial waste water.
 Sludge: Solid part separated from waste water by ETP.

Why ETP?

 To clean industry effluent and recycle it for further use.

 To reduce the usage of fresh/potable water in Industries.
 To cut expenditure on water procurement.
 To meet the Standards for emission or discharge of environmental pollutants from
various Industries set by the Government and avoid hefty penalties.
 To safeguard environment against pollution and contribute in sustainable
development.

Design of ETP

The design and size of the ETP depends upon:

• Quantity and quality of the industries discharge effluent.

• Land availability.
• Monetary considerations for construction, operation & maintenance.

Treatment Levels & Mechanisms of ETP

Treatment levels

 Preliminary
 Primary
 Secondary
 Tertiary (or advanced)

34 | P a g e
Treatment mechanisms

 Physical
 Chemical
 Biological

Preliminary Treatment level

Physical separation of big sized impurities like cloth, plastics, wood logs, paper, etc.

Methods: Common physical unit operations at Preliminary level are:

1. Screening
2. Sedimentation
3. Clarification

Primary Treatment Level

Purpose: Removal of floating and settleable materials such as suspended solids and
organic matter.

Methods: Both physical and chemical methods are used in this treatment level.

1. pH Control
2. Chemical coagulation and Flocculation

Secondary Treatment Level

Methods: Biological processes are involved in this level.

Biological unit process: To remove, or reduce the concentration of organic and inorganic
compounds.

Aerobic Processes

 Aerobic treatment processes take place in the presence of air (oxygen).

 Utilizes those microorganisms (aerobes), which use molecular/free oxygen to
assimilate organic impurities i.e. convert them in to carbon dioxide, water and
biomass.

Anaerobic Processes

 The anaerobic treatment processes take place in the absence of air (oxygen).

35 | P a g e
  Utilizes microorganisms (anaerobes) which do not require air (molecular/free
oxygen) to assimilate organic impurities.
 The final products are methane and biomass.

Tertiary / Advanced Treatment

Purpose: Final cleaning process that improves wastewater quality before it is reused,
recycled or discharged to the environment.

Mechanism: Removes remaining inorganic compounds, and substances, such as the

nitrogen and phosphorus. Bacteria, viruses and parasites, which are harmful to public
health, are also removed at this stage.

Methods

Alum is used to help remove additional phosphorus particles and group the remaining
solids together for easy removal in the filters.

Chlorine contact tank disinfects the tertiary treated wastewater by removing

microorganisms in treated wastewater including bacteria, viruses and parasites.

Remaining chlorine is removed by adding sodium bisulphate just before it's discharged.

Biological treatment of wastes

 Biological treatment processes are widely used throughout the world for a variety
of purposes, from treating wastewater to cleaning up contaminated soils.

36 | P a g e
  Biological treatment may be suitable for organic hazardous wastes at low
concentrations. Biological processes are never 100% efficient and this limits their
application.
 Biological processes rely on the natural actions of living organisms, but for their
effective harnessing, clearly defined conditions must be present. Where conditions
are outside the required range, the process will fail.
 Biological processes may take months to reach goal concentrations of microbes –
the required conditions for good microbial activity will vary according to
individual organisms and treatment may therefore take a long time.
 Biological treatments may be used after physical or physico - chemical processes,
to further refine waste streams. This is often the case with wastewater treatment
processes. Industrial wastewater can seldom be treated solely by biological means.

Strategies to use
waste

3R approach

Waste minimization
or reduce is the
process and policy
of reducing the
amount of waste
produced by a
person and a society

Reduce

Reducing is simply creating less waste. It’s the best method for keeping the environment
clean, so it’s the first of the 3 Rs. By reducing, you stop the problem at the source.
Making less waste to begin with means there’s less waste to clean up. Here are some easy
ways you can reduce the amount of waste you make:

 Bring reusable bags to the grocery store

 Pack your lunch in a lunchbox
 Say no to bottled water
 Watch what you buy

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Reuse

Reusing is taking old or unwanted items you might otherwise throw away and finding a
new use for them. There are all sorts of ways you can reuse items to help reduce your
trash footprint:

 Clean out your closet.

 Share your toys.
 Find a new use for an old item

Recycle

Recycling is the last — and most commonly used — of the 3 Rs. Recycling is changing
discarded materials into new products in order to avoid using more virgin resources.

Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles and
electronics.

End of pipe treatment

 The End of Pipe or EOP treatment is a system that processes the waste before
releasing it on the environment. This includes chemical treatment, recycling, and
waste burning.
 This term refers to the technical measures used to remove already formed
contaminants from a stream of air, water, waste product or similar pollutants and
other polluting substances which have already occurred to render them
controllable or disposable.
 The industries are expected to treat waste prior to discharge into natural
environment. The control technologies are known as the ‘end of the pipe
technologies’

Scope of end of the pipe treatment

 To reduce the air pollution, by treating the pollutants which causes health and
environmental impact
 To prevent the waste water to mix up with the water sources which causes damage
to all forms of life (terrestrial and aquatic)

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Limitations

 Pollution control technologies such as effluent treatment plants, wet scrubbers,

filters etc. were considered as dead investment by the industries with no profitable
returns
 They just changed the phase of the pollutants rather than eliminating them from
the carrying medium
 Hazardous and toxic solid wastes involve considerable risk in land filling.

39 | P a g e
 COMBATING DEFORESTATION

Joint Forest Management (JFM)

Joint Forest Management (JFM)

is partnership involving both the
forest departments and local
communities in natural forest
management. The concept was
introduced by Government of
India through the National Forest
Policy of 1988.

 Under JFM, village

communities are entrusted
with the protection and
management of nearby forests.
 The communities are required to organize forest protection committees, village
forest committees, village forest conservation and development societies, etc.
 Each of these bodies has an executive committee that manages its day-to-day
affairs.
 In return of their services to the forests, the communities get the benefit of using
minor non-timber forest produce.
 As a result, the forest can be conserved in a sustainable manner.

Objectives of JFM

The main objectives of JFM are as follows:

 The protection of forests from fire, intrusion or grazing,

 To look after the continual use of forest resources by the local communities.
 To fulfill the intermediary benefits of the villagers.
 To balance the relationship between the local communities and the Government.

The role of local people is very important because

 They are likely to have excellent location specific knowledge of the resource base

40 | P a g e
  The quality of life of the people is dependent on the health of the natural resources
in that area. Consequently, they are better motivated to manage the forests and its
resources than any other resources
 They have the knowledge of traditional methods of conserving the forests.
 Close association of the local people would improve the resource base and so help
in the reduction of rural poverty
 People can closely monitor the forests and as a result, are able to notice the
changes that could have an impact on the environment

Community Forestry

Community forestry is a set of practices, techniques and methods to manage the forest
and its natural resources. It is regulated by a specific legal framework that organizes local
communities’ participation.

Community forestry is thus making local communities or indigenous peoples responsible

for managing the forest and its resources. In the longer term, it is a historic restitution of
property rights to local communities or indigenous peoples.

Objectives of community forestry

 Increasing Forest Area and Restoring Ecological Balance

 Meeting Basic Rural Needs
 Ensuring Better Land Use
 Generation of Employment
 Controlling Pollution

Challenges of community forestry

 Uneven political support

 Absent or poor legal frameworks and community awareness
 Lack of technical and administrative capacity
 Land grabbing
 Unsecure land tenure
 Gender inequality
 The persistence of top-down approaches

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 ALTERNATIVE TO TIMBER

The different alternatives to timber

PVC, aluminium, and composite are some of the alternatives to natural timber suitable for
any decking and cladding project.

PVC

As the name states, PVC decking or cladding is made from plastic, and it can be suitable
for a wide range of projects. It provides strength and durability and is resistant to
splitting. PVS is noise resistant and quiet upon contact with shoes and other objects.
Additionally, it’s lightweight and easy to install. Other advantages of PVC include:

 Resistant to the elements, termites, and rotting

 Affordability
 Can look like wood
Aluminium

Aluminium is another timber alternative. It requires minimal maintenance and upkeep and
offers durability and strength. It’s also resistant to rot, mould, termites, and rust. Other
advantages include the following.

 Appealing finish
 Lightweight and easy to install
 Recyclable
Bamboo

Although commonly considered a type of wood, bamboo is actually a grass. Bamboo is

versatile and used for everything from furniture and clothing to flooring, decking, and
cladding. Its strength and durability, natural beauty, and lightweight quality make it an
ideal material for some applications. Other advantages of bamboo include:

 Resistant to moisture to a certain degree

 Resistant to expansion and contraction

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  Fast-growing and sustainable as a crop
Composite

Composite decking or cladding is typically made from recycled or new plastic and scrap
and recycled wood (pulp, fibre, or sawdust). It has gained widespread popularity in recent
years thanks to its strength and durability, along with its unmatched resistance to slips,
rot, warping, damp, fire, UV, termites, and other pests.

Available in a wide range of colours and textures, it can be made to look as beautiful as
natural wood. Composite decking and cladding require virtually no maintenance, whether
restaining, resealing, sanding, or painting. Additional pros include:

 Sustainable, eco-friendly, and do not contribute to deforestation

 Easy installation with no nails or screw and so sleek appearance
 Long warranty periods of around 25 years
Polished concrete

Polished concrete is highly durable and able to endure heavy-duty pressure. As long as
it’s sealed and maintained, it can be a long-lasting, cost-effective cladding or decking
solution. It’s relatively resistant to marking and staining. Other pros include:

 Little maintenance
 Long-lasting
 Eco-friendly
Stone and porcelain

Stone and porcelain (made from clay) offer stunning natural beauty as cladding and
decking solutions. Porcelain and some stones tend to be resistant to most liquids as well
as moss, mold, and mildew. They tend to be fade-resistant and will retain their looks for a
long time. Additional advantages include:

 Variety of options
 Durability
 Moisture and stain resistance

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