Garbage in, Garbage out

Q37. How to prepare compost?

Ans. Steps

                          i.        Collect garbage like fruit and vegetable peel, egg shells, used tea leaves, waste food, dry leaves etc.

                        ii.        Put the garbage in the pit and cover them with soil.

                       iii.        Remove the soil after few days and observe the changes in the garbage. A black color and no foul smell indicate that rotting of garbage is complete and compost is ready to use.

Q38. Why it is not advisable to store cooked food items in plastic bags?

Ans. It is not advisable to store cooked food items in plastic bags due to the following reasons.

                          i.        Consuming food packed in such plastic bags could be harmful to our health.

                        ii.        Many a time shopkeepers use plastic bags that have been used earlier for some other purpose.

                       iii.        Sometimes bags collected by rag pickers are also used after washing them.

                      iv.        Use of such recycled plastic bags to keep food items could be harmful for our health.

Q39. What are the merit and demerit of plastic?

Ans. Merit

                         i.        It is durable

                        ii.        It is low cost.

                       iii.        It is water resistant.

                       iv.        It is light weight.

                        v.        It is unbreakable.

Demerit

                        i.        It gives out harmful gases upon heating or burning.

                       ii.        It is non-biodegradable.

                      iii.        If it is thrown carelessly on roads other places, it gets into drains and sewer system and chokes the drains.

Q40. What can we do to minimise over use of plastics and deal with garbage?

Ans. We can we do the following to minimise over use of plastics and deal with garbage:

1. We make a minimum use of plastic bags. We re-use the bags whenever it is possible to do so without any adverse effects.

2. We insist shopkeepers use paper bags. We carry a cloth or a jute bag when we go out for shopping.

3. We do not use plastic bags to store eatables.

4. We do not throw plastic bags here and there, after use.

5. We never burn plastic bags and other plastic items.

6. We do not put garbage in plastic bags and throw it away.

7. We use vermicomposting at home and deal with our kitchen waste usefully.

8. We recycle paper.

9. We use both sides of the paper to write. We use a slate for rough work. We use blank sheets of paper left in our notebooks for rough work.

Q41. How can we make handmade paper?

Ans. Steps to make handmade paper

      1.   Tear the paper into small pieces. Put them in a tub or a bucket and pour water in it.

      2.   Let the pieces of paper remain submerged in water for a day. Make a thick paste of paper by pounding it.

      3.   Now, spread the wet paste on the wire mesh fixed to the frame. Pat it gently to make the thickness of layer of the paste as uniform as possible.

      4.   Wait till water drains off. Now, carefully remove the layer of paste from the frame, spread it on a sheet of newspaper in the sun.

      5.   Keep the corners of the newspaper sheet pressed by putting some weights so that these do not curl up.

      6.   Add food color, pieces of dry leaves or flower petals or pieces of colored paper in the paste before spreading it so as to get a recycled paper with beautiful patterns on it.