Indian Government's 'Clean India Campaign' fails for me right outside my colony, with an entire family of waste pickers living, eating, sleeping behind three big containers of overflowing trash that our colony generates. These waste pickers collect and segregate our waste with bare hands and are paid INR 70 per month for their efforts. They are dealing with all kinds of waste- dry, wet, menstrual, broken glass, dog shit and sometimes dead rats.

Why is our trash not our problem? Why do we forget about our waste the minute we leave it outside our doors every morning in black plastic bags, thinking it's somebody else's business to deal with it? Why can't we segregate? Why can't we compost? Why can't we say No to plastic straws or pre- peeled oranges in three layers of non recyclable packaging, when they come with their own compostable outer covering? Why can't we carry our own bag for grocery shopping?

We are using an insane amount of resources to make useless products and packaging that will never decompose and sit in the landfills and oceans forever.

It's fair to blame the government for not making the right efforts (hoardings with the P.M.'s photo is hardly an effort), for not making composting compulsory, for not banning the plastic bag and disposables, for not doing things at a community level, for serving meals in plastic containers in trains, for not making refill water points, for not providing proper cleaning gear to the waste pickers...

But it's also fair to blame ourselves for the mess we have and are creating!

I have put together some simple steps that can be done by each of us in my series -

CUT THE CRAP 
26 WAYS TO UNF**K THE PLANET

I am not proposing anything new. These are things that a lot of people are already doing and are just a google search away. I have just tried to consolidate and simplify the information and put it together in an illustrated format. This list is not exhaustive but it will initiate you in the right direction. There are some wonderful communities and people online who will guide you better.

As far as my efforts are concerned, I am not there yet. I am just doing 19 out of the 26 things proposed but I am trying .. every single day! :)