Use & throw nightmare

A fridge fished out of a Bengaluru lake tells us what’s in store as upgrades replace repairs in consumer culture 

It’s true, Bengaluru’s lakes sometimes catch fire. Because there’s so much garbage that it simply overwhelms the water. This sight, if not the fires, at least not so far, is a familiar one at water bodies across the country. What feels even more overwhelming is how every cleanup points to the need for bigger and better efforts. At Madiwala lake, which suffers a severe water hyacinth infestation, an airboat called Jaldost, designed by the National Aerospace Laboratories, has already pulled out over 20 tonnes of waste. But what all makes up this waste? 

Not just weeds. Not just plastic bags. But also mugs, books, pens, steel vessels. Both at home and at work, our dustbins are growing larger and larger. The detritus of modern life overflows. The garbage mounds lining our highways and railway tracks and culverts that we are constantly photoshopping out of our selfies, are the result of govts slacking. They have totally fallen out of step with how much, how fast today’s Indians consume and create waste. Once, we used to marvel at bicycles being discarded into Amsterdam’s canals. Today, Jaldost has fished out a refrigerator from Madiwala lake. 

We haven’t embraced DIY culture with nearly the same enthusiasm. In India it’s still possible to comfortably find someone to repair a shoe or an air-conditioner, to reupholster the family sofa, to appreciate a hand-me-down silk sari or door or carpet or book. Our neighbourhoods still have carpenters, cobblers, tailors, mechanics, carrying forward our reuse and recycle heritage. Of course the less it’s patronised the faster it will die, and as that Madiwala fridge tells us, so will our lakes and forests. Imagine all our refuse and rubbish invading all our surroundings like relentless water hyacinth. Have a rethink. Choose repairing over replacing.