To reduce pollution, reduce consumption

by B. R. GOWANI

“157,000 Shipping Containers of U.S. Plastic Waste Exported to Countries with Poor Waste Management in 2018” IMAGE/Plastic Pollution Coalotion
IMAGE/Phys.org

decades ago, I went to a mechanic to get my car-muffler fixed

he just took out the entire muffler and threw it in the trash

I was shocked to see this and yelled at the mechanic

as to why he was doing this, instead of welding the damaged part

his reply was that in the US they just replace it with a new part

coming from South Asia, it was a totally new experience for me

back there, they keep on welding the muffler

till there remained no place left to weld

in US, everything is produced en masse

so much so that its cost seems cheaper

compared to the labor cost involved in repairing the thing

however,

the more products that are produced;

more garbage is generated too

then after a long wait,

government finally heeds concerned peoples’ pleas

then,

yet new industries crop up to tackle the pollution problem

such as recycling waste or recycling energy

but the problem remains, because these are no proper answers

the real solution is only one:

necessary utilization, rather than gluttonous consumption

B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com

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