Citizens Refuse to See India’s Garden City Reduced to Waste  · Global Voices
Tejasvini Prasad

A truck dumps solid waste at Okhla Landfill in New Delhi, India. Photo by Anil kumar Shakya. Copyright Demotix (5/6/2014)
The Garden City of India, Bangalore, is experiencing a trash management crisis vivid enough to warrant a “Trash Trail” tour of the city. The city generates about 4000 tons of waste per day, all of which is landfill bound, since most of the waste sent to garbage processing centers is unsegregated.
The BBMP (Bangalore's municipal corporation) has dealt with the problem by transporting and dumping waste outside the city. However, villages near the landfills suffer when waste is deposited, with water, air and soil quality compromised by toxins in the trash. The problem reached a head last year with Mandur, a once verdant village blocking trucks carrying trash and demanding closure of a nearby dump.
Screenshot from the 2bin1bag Facebook page
One solution to the problem is to segregate waste at source so that appropriate portions may be transported for composting, recycling and landfill. To this end, a citizens advocacy group has started a an initiative called 2Bin1Bag, where households are educated on waste segregation at source.
As per Bellandur Buzz:
All it requires is two different colored bins- a red one for reject waste and a green one for compostable waste, and reusable plastic bag for recyclable waste.
Guide to 3-way segregation of source:http://t.co/7NTkWOM6Hs . The model is replicable in all cities of India! #BengaluruLeads
— Bangalore/Thej (@WeAreBangalore) December 31, 2014
A short video explains the concept:
A group of students in collaboration with Fields of View, a game design company, created a board game to discuss and understand the intricacies of waste management.
The waste management problem in Bangalore is large and hairy, but with citizens acting to deal with the problem, it may be solved before long.