Destination: Garbage Dump

After a life-changing internship this past summer at the Post Landfill Action Network (PLAN) in Dover, New Hampshire, where I was writing a manual for college students to use in order to reduce waste on campuses across the country, I was compelled to assess the waste management system in India for my Independent Study Project (ISP). As I did my preliminary research for this, I learned about the organization SWaCH (Solid Waste Collection and Handling), born out of the organization KKPKP (Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat) (कागद कछ पत्र कष्टकारी पंचायत)

This is a coop of waste-pickers living in Pune. Waste-pickers, or rag-pickers, are usually members of the Dalit caste, also known as the “untouchable” caste. This is the lowest caste, and, because of this alone, they are left with the worst jobs available. Waste-pickers rummage through garbage – in the streets, in landfills, in dumpsters, or anywhere – picking out recyclables (plastic, glass, paper, and anything of any recyclable value) that they can then sell to middle-men to make money. They work a minimum of ten hours a day, often arising before the sun in order to get access to dumping grounds that are locked during the day. They make sixty to one hundred rupees per day, which is the equivalent of one to one and a quarter dollars. Without waste-pickers, India would recycle almost none of its garbage, and the streets would be catastrophically filthier than they already are. Waste-pickers exist in nearly every developing country in the world, and are routinely marginalized, stigmatized, and treated as sub-human. Despite the fact that they offer a priceless service to the community, as well as remove an enormous burden from the backs of governments, waste-picking remains an informal occupation, meaning insecure earnings, no legal protection, no social security, unfair practices by traders, regular harassment, and extreme health ailments.

To give you an idea of their reputation in society, hear this: when I was sleeping over at a friend’s house here in Pune one night, my friend asked her mother how to best dispose of used tampons, because she knows that waste-pickers go through the trash and she did not want to offend or impact the dignity of any of them. Her mother replied with a chuckle and the words “who cares? They’re waste-pickers.”

So it’s a pretty dire situation.

Then there is the fact that ninety – yes, ninety – percent of waste-pickers are women. For most of them, waste-picking is the only source of income for the entire family.  

I want to understand how it is that the only option (and it really is their only option – you can tell because almost anything is better than immersing yourself in other people’s garbage all day long) available to these women (and men) is waste-picking. How can an economy be set up like this?

Anyway, Pune is an incredibly special place to be in terms of waste-picking. It is the only city in the entire world where any sort of organized support is being offered. Usually, waste-pickers are completely on their own, but in Pune there is SWaCH. SWaCH organizes the members – there are about 2300 currently – so that they can do door-to-door collection, have sorting stations, and generally maintain their dignity and self-respect to a higher degree.

Upon arriving in India, I was stunned by the true nature of the garbage crisis. It was so much worse than I even imagined. The garbage is thrown everywhere and anywhere: on the street, in the rivers, in sewers. It's pretty repulsive but people are so used to it here that it has simply become part of the landscape.

The adviser for my independent study project is on the board of SWaCH and is named Aparna. She travels around Pune teaching about the city’s waste management system, what it’s like to be a waste-picker, and how SWaCH is helping. She is an amazing woman, though also quite intimidating. But I’m pretty used to, at this point, being floored by almost every woman I meet in this city.

Yesterday I went to SWaCH to see it and also to meet with my adviser to get the ball rolling on my ISP. Using the directions she had scribbled for me the first time we met, I hopped in a rickshaw and headed for the Kothrud Police Station, the place she told me to use for reference. She said it was 100 meters from the station but I couldn’t make out in which direction, so I tried all of them with no luck. Once people were sufficiently confused by my motives – that’s always the goal! – I went to ask for help in the police station. About fifteen men offered up their knowledge, none of which was particularly helpful, and one man who had very little idea of what I on earth I was talking about even offered to take me there on his motorbike (I politely declined).

I finally found it - in the middle of a garbage dump. Yep, SWaCH is literally located in a dump. There is waste everywhere and the ugly landscape is dotted with the bright colors of saris worn by the women sorting through the mountains of trash. There are goats, cows, chickens, rodents, stray dogs, and cats amidst these heaps. This place is surreal - it's an entire ecosystem supported by the stuff the other half of the city no longer wants around. It smells and I am getting stared at and it is extremely hot and I am questioning my life choices in a big way. “Garbage, Sarah?! Really?!?!”

But I move forward.

Eventually I find Aparna. She is sitting at a desk in a small room. She greets me with a smile but clearly she is very busy. I wait patiently, my eyes darting around the room, taking in all this newness.

By the end of our meeting I have fallen in love with SWaCH. It is caring for women who are some of the most hard-working yet vulnerable citizens in India. It’s inspiring and intense and I feel so out of place yet my heart feels so at home.

(pc: inclusivecities.org)

This is about so much more than garbage. Garbage – trash – waste – in the words of Mira Engler – is “society’s dirty little secret.” Trash says so much about a society, and about the direction the world is going in. It’s about understanding the effects of rapid urbanization and globalization. It's also a crucial aspect to understanding ourselves as human beings. 

I ask if there’s a way for me to spend some time at SWaCH regularly during the week, and see how the whole operation works from the board’s perspective. She asks if I would like to intern – to help her with the plethora of office tasks she has to do. I can’t believe it but I say, elatedly, that I would absolutely love to.

I leave with notebook and pen in hand and excitement coursing through my veins. I wave to a few of the women dropping off huge white bags of, supposedly, sorted garbage. They wave back enthusiastically, staring in awe and curiosity. All I have to offer at that moment is the biggest smile I can muster and a whole-hearted “acha!” (bye!).

And I can’t wait to be back. 

(For more info on SWaCH and KKPKP, check out their website: http://www.swachcoop.com/

For more info on women around the world working in informal employment, check out WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing): http://wiego.org/

Both are great resources to learn more!)