In the first episode, I interviewed Shashank who used to go on Landfill Pilgrimages. Yes, that term intrigued me too. So a few weeks later, I went on my own Landfill Pilgrimage to the Bhalswa landfill. I met Gunraagh there.
Gunraagh Singh Talwar runs an organisation called Better Bhalswa, which works on ground there. He is an architect and possesses a deep understanding of Bhalswa, both scientifically and socially. Let’s go, listen!— He talks about growing up with the dumpsite, the history and politics of Bhalswa and much more.
(1:00) - Beginning
(1:31) - On Gunraagh's connection with Bhalswa
(3:22) - On growing up with the dumpsite
(4:13) - How did your awareness arise?
(8:00) - Which is the biggest landfill in Delhi?
(8:28) - Why did the landfill catch fire?
(8:47) - Engineered landfills v. Dumpsites
(9:10) - What is biomining?
(10:10) - Why do landfills release methane?
(11:41) - How is the fire in landfills extinguished?
(13:20) - How does a landfill/dumpsite affect the groundwater?
(16:04) - On the stigma of living near a dumpsite
(19:27) - Intersectionality
(20:02) - Which constituency does Bhalswa lie in?
(20:17) - Clarification on landfills and dumpsites
(21:13) - No Landfill Policy
(22:17) - Is source segregation enough?
(22:42) - Kabaadiwalas FTW!
(23:28) - Is there a solution?
(24:18) - Leapfrogging technology
(24:58) - Delhi Master Plan 2041: A Promise
(26:08) - What is bioremediation?
(27:20) - What is inert soil?
(28:18) - What is Refused Derived Fuel?
(29:44) - The irony
(30:41) - Bhalswa lake
(33:34) - Leachate
(33:53) - Better Bhalswa & Wonder in Waste
(35:00) - Volunteering for Better Bhalswa
#landfill #wastemanagement #climatechange
Amar is the Business and Strategy head at Daily Dump Compost. Daily Dump enables people to compost in urban spaces. They make composters and lots of other products using which you can easily compost even in an apartment . They make composting easy, approachable and even exciting.
Most of urban India uses LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) as a source of energy in their kitchens. Many of us condemn using petrol and diesel for our transportation uses but often overlook that we still use fossil fuels to fuel our kitchens! And that LPG is going to be depleted in a few years. Thankfully, we have some clean alternatives. Biogas is one of them, it runs on food waste - solving our waste problem too! Tune in to listen to my conversation with a long-time user of biogas, Priyadarsan.
Priyadarshan is the founder of Vaayu Biogas. He has developed Vaayu, a technology which enables people to make biogas from the comfort of their homes without any unpleasant smells and residue. It uses food waste and converts it into biogas which replaces fossil fuels in our kitchens, helping the double issue of waste management and fossil fuel replacement making it a win-win solution.
(0:47) - Beginning
(2:03) - Problems with LPG
(2:39) - How the Russia-Ukraine issue is related to LPG
(3:10) - Fossil fuels and pollution 5:35 How is biogas produced?
(7:39) - The effect of LPG on us, our cities and the society
(9:54) - Non-violence and biogas
(10:10) - Cooking on wood
(12:05) - Biogas is decentralised and atmanirbhar
(12:52) - Apprehensions in using biogas
(14:26) - Organic Carbon
(15:25) - Carbon sequestration
(16:34) - Capitalism
(21:52) - Methane as a greenhouse gas
(23:44) - Residue
(24:09 - Education system
(25:45) - How did it all start?
(27:10) - usiness experience
(31:38) - Effect on waste workers
(38:44) - On winning the Green Skills Award
(42:19) - Being inspired by Shark Tank
(43:50) - Inspiration from nature
(44:32) - Inspiration from music
(45:55) - Biogas as the perfect solution for hotels and restaurants
(48:19) - Café Climate in Pune
(49:58) - Biogas storage balloon
(51:35) - Why has biogas not been more popular?
(51:51) - Conspiracy theory
#wastemanagement #swachhbharat #climatechange #biogas
Sachin Sharma is the Director of GEM Recycling and helps us understand the many nuances of recycling.
#climatechange #recycling #zerowaste