Journey from food waste clean-up to environmental activism

In Rawalpindi, there are many open spaces, where plastic bags with food or other valuables are thrown about everywhere. It gives the city a bad reputation, and many sarcastically comment that the city has become a garbage city. This is what I want to change. With the small efforts, we can do wonders with this waste. It needs just a little bit of empathy. Just as we keep our homes clean, we should keep our city clean.

When I grew up in my home, I used to go to my grandparent’s place, a small town in Punjab, during summer vacations in the 1960s. This place was self-sufficient in waste disposal. There were no plastic bags, plastic bottles, single-use plastic cups, cutlery etc. Whatever little waste was generated in the kitchen was diligently put in a street sink, a big stone bowl where people could throw their kitchen-wet waste for cattle to eat or drink from.

The cows would come and eat it within minutes. It was a valuable source of nutrition for them. Therefore, I decided to do the same in my city. Kitchen waste, like vegetable and fruit peels, is a valuable source of food for cattle.

During the first few weeks, I was looking for a street sink. Therefore, when I spotted cows a few hundred meters from my house, I was quite happy that there were animals nearby. There are various animals like cows, bulls, dogs, cats, and even birds. After removing food from plastic bags and placing it in the bin, the animals would eat from it. Yet, I continued my search for a spot with a street sink, where animals can come and enjoy food served on a platter.

One day, I followed a few cows going inside a lane from the main road while walking, which led me to a place where I saw a large street sink, just a few meters inside that lane. I was thrilled that I finally found my happy place. Every day, I would start walking from my home and take my kitchen waste to dispose of there. This was my daily routine for a year or so.

This activity became my daily morning routine. I found that the walk towards that place has now expanded. Earlier, I was only giving food waste from my house to these animals. Now, it included providing food discarded along my pathway, as well as my food, to cattle. Additionally, it involved collecting plastic bottles and other recyclable plastic to be given to a vendor. Finally, it entailed collecting scattered non-recyclable plastic covers and placing them in gunny bags, which are collected by the RWMC pickup vans. Such was my journey from food waste clean-up to environmental activism.