Science [3 Marks Each] QUE-ANS

Rag-pickers come across different sorts of wastes. While they are collecting rags they are subjected to chemical poisons, infectious materials and hazardous materials discarded as wastes. Since they are always malnourished they tend to suffer from diseases like tuberculosis and cancer, retarded growth and anaemia.

Redworms do not have teeth. They have a structure called ‘gizzard’, which helps them in grinding their food. The redworms eat the waste material, which is ground in the gizzard. The ground material is then excreted out of its body and is called compost.

1. Use paper or cloth bags in place of plastic bags.
2. Educate friends and family members about harmful effects of plastics.
3. Avoid buying frozen foods which are preserved in plastic packing.

1. Fumes and gases produced by burning dry leaves caused cough and breathing problems for the people living in the nearby area.
2. An environment friendly way to dispose the dry leaves is to use them for making manure.

1. Two kinds of waste that need to be separated are biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes. The former is part of garbage on which bacteria can act to form harmless substances and the latter is part of garbage that cannot rot or decay.
2.  

1. The part of garbage which cannot be disposed off by other method is dumped in a landfill, e.g. Any metal items.
2. The rotted plant and animal waste can be sent for composting. The microorganisms can act on these wastes to convert it into manure.

1. All kinds of plastics give out harmful gases, upon heating or burning. These gases may cause many health problems, including cancer, in humans.
2. Stray animals, while looking for food in the garbage thrown in plastic bags, end up swallowing them. Sometimes, they die due to this.
3. The plastic bags thrown away carelessly on roads and other places get into drains and the sewer system. As a result, drains get choked and the water spills on the roads. During heavy rains, it might even create a flood like situation.

1. A toxic odour will develop in the surroundings.
2. Large number of mosquitoes and pests will begin to settle.
3. Many diseases will spread.
4. The air gets polluted.
5. Unhygienic conditions will develop.

No, in my opinion, Paheli’s action were not responsible. She wasted paper and used a polythene bag. If I would have been in her place, I would have used the reverse side of the paper for doing rough work or convert it into paper pulp to make a handicraft item.

1. Burning plastics cause emission of poisonous gas.
2. Plastic waste is eaten by animals resulting in their death.
3. Plastics choke sewer system.

Yes, it is possible to reduce problems related to disposal of garbage. Here are some steps that can be observed by every individual to reduce the problem of garbage disposal:

1. Avoid using plastic bags. Encourage shopkeepers to use paper bags or always carry a cloth or jute bag while shopping.
2. Save paper. Use both sides of paper to write.
3. Use separate bins for recyclable and non-recyclable waste.
4. Kitchen waste that includes fruit and vegetable peels, waste food, tea leaves, etc. can be used to make manure.
5. Encourage your family, friends, and others to follow proper disposal practices.

Yes, it is better to use compost instead of chemical fertilizers. This is because compost is prepared from plant and animal wastes, therefore, it easily gets decomposed. It does not add any harmful chemicals to the soil, whereas an excessive use of chemical fertilizers causes soil and water pollution.

Yes. A pit might contain other soil microbes such as bacteria, other species of earthworms such as brandling worm and red wiggler worm.

Proper disposal of garbage should be a concern of every citizen, and not just of the government. Each and every individual must reduce activities that pollute the environment. A lot of waste is generated from homes, offices, schools, hospitals, etc. It includes food waste, paper, plastic, glass, metal, etc. Therefore, it is required that every individual must reduce the production of wastes and must help in the proper disposal of these wastes.

The recent ban on plastic bags is justified because:

1. The resources used to create the bags are scarce.
2. They harm the environment when disposed off improperly and also are visible blight of roadside litter.
3. Cost of disposing or recycling them is high, as they are non-biodegradable.

Converting the heaps of dried leaves into compost is better than burning them because burning of leaves produces smoke and gases that are harmful to health. Converting the leaves into compost will not produce any pollution and will also enrich the soil.

We would prefer to eat food in a banana leaf platter. This is because a leaf platter is a harmless substance that can be used to make manure by the process of composting, whereas plastic plates cannot be converted into harmless substances by composting. They remain in the environment and create many problems.

Some shopkeepers use plastic bags that have been used earlier for some other purpose. Sometimes bags collected by rag pickers are also used after washing them. Using such bags and containers for storing eatables can be harmful.

Banana leaf platter, because.

• Easy disposal.
• Easy be recycled.
• More environment-friendly.

Packaging increases the amount of garbage as we keep on throwing the packaging materials carelessly on roads and other places. Also, since these packaging materials (mainly plastic covers) are non-recyclable, they keep lying on the roads and cannot be properly disposed off. Sometimes, they get into drains and sewer systems and block them, creating more problems.