As many of us are already aware, zero-waste is the process of eliminating all trash, especially single use plastic, from everyday life. The first ever principle of zero-waste is to reduce purchasing as only when you buy less, you use less.

According to a study, India produces 26,000 tons of plastic waste every day and 9,490,000 tons a year; making it the 15th biggest plastic polluter globally. We can often see discarded plastic waste littering country roads, rivers and forming impromptu garbage dumps.

However in India there are still many people using metal tiffin boxes to hold food and snacks; there are tea stalls where tea is served in glass cups on the street; fruits and vegetables are bought at markets and put into cloth bags; rice,dried fruits, and many other things are sold in bulk on the street in many parts of the country.

Even though these methods of reducing plastic are still present, however the use of plastic is still extremely prevalent and is a major problem faced by the country. 

Hence, zero-waste is important. Starting from the individual choices, only then the consumption of plastic waste can be reduced. We see the transition from using disposable plastic water bottles to using reusable bottles that can be refilled many times. Around the world, many women have turned to reusable sanitary napkins instead of disposable ones and people are buying things in bulk to reduce waste because the way we consume and purchase products has a big impact on the amount of waste we produce. 

The government also has taken steps to ban single use plastic from being used. I'm glad to see that a town called "Titabor" in my state "Assam" has become Assam's first "zero waste town" by revolutionizing management of solid waste. It has also set up the state’s first bio-mining project to completely recover the dumpsite and work towards 100 percent waste processing.

We know zero waste cannot be achieved in a day and so a step by step process is what can bring us success. Hoping to see a complete zero waste India in the near future.

Here is the link to an article of some organisations in India working towards zero waste management

https://homegrown.co.in/article/804107/zero-waste-organisations-6-indian-initiatives-tackling-waste-management-creatively