Don’t trash the Himalayas, manage waste wisely

IF you can't clean your surroundings, then don't make them dirty. It is as simple as that. However, persisting with our crooked way of living, we are transforming our mountains adorned with trees, foliage, running streams and rich biodiversity into mountains of garbage, junk, slime pits and debris. Of all the waste we generate, plastic bags are perhaps the greatest symbol of our throwaway society and symptomatic of our apathy towards the environment. They are used, then forgotten, and they leave a terrible legacy. Plastic waste is now found in even the most remote areas of Himachal Pradesh. It kills agriculture, destroys forest wealth, injures livestock and wildlife alike, and thus does major harm to local communities. We humans indeed possess the perverse talent of making waste that even nature can't digest.