Recycling: A Necessity or An Intelligent Move

Health is one of the rising issues in Pakistan. No one gets fresh food to eat. These days the farmers are more concerned about the quantity they are producing than the methods they are using to produce it. Using fertilizers and producing vegetables before time with artificial feed is what we are producing for the people of our country, which is in fact extremely harmful.

Did you ever think that flushing the water closet is convenient, but it can create ecological disaster due to unavailability of proper drainage and sewage systems and so it also deprives the soil from essential nutrients. As the soil fails to get the natural nutrients that will make it fertile it has to rely on fossil fuels to make food production. 

rely on fossil fuels to make food production.

For 4,000 years, human and animal excrement and urine were considered extremely valuable trade products in China, Korea and Japan. Human dung was transported over specially designed canal networks by boats. When we grow crops, we withdraw essential nutrients from the soil: potassium, nitrogen and phosphate, to name but the most important. During the greater part of human history, we recycled these nutrients through our bodies and returned them to the soil, via excreta, food trimmings and the burial of dead. Today, we flush them mostly into the sea.

We can classify these problems in three different sectors:

Firstly the sewage is dumped in the rivers, lakes and seas which kill fish and the fresh water is polluted which is contaminated and leads to water borne diseases like cholera. Secondly, we need artificial fertilizers to keep our soil fertile. In 2008, almost 160 million tons of inorganic fertilizers were used worldwide. Without these, our agricultural soils would lose their fertility in just a few years’ time, followed by an inevitable collapse of food production and human population. A third problem is that the water closet logically consumes large quantities of fresh water to flush everything "away", which is wasting the fresh water that could be used to drink.

The animal dung can be used not only as a fertilizer but also as a source of producing energy. Pakistan suffers because we are not using the resources efficiently and effectively. Let’s think for a while what is the most important crisis that Pakistan is facing? Yes you are right, “Energy Crisis”. Now, if we see the livestock of Pakistan and the dung that is produced we can easily use that dung to produce energy.

Cow dung gas is 55-65% methane, 30-35% carbon dioxide, with some hydrogen, nitrogen and other traces. Its heating value is around 600 B.T.U. per cubic foot. Cow dung slurry is composed of 1.8-2.4% nitrogen, 1.0-1.2% phosphorus, 0.6-0.8% potassium and 50-75% organic humus.

Dung can be turned into a fuel. When living things rot, they produce gases. One of these gases is methane. It is also found in animal waste. The waste is put in a special tank that collects the gas. Then the gas is used as a fuel for cooking and heating. As the prices of oil and compressed gas are increasing day by day these dungs could be used to produce an energy which would be a substitute. Many countries have even started working on it. Countries like Sweden collect dung from the zoo and use it as a fuel for rickshaws.

To use the cow dung we need to expose it under the heat of the sun and keep it away from water. Later add it in the crushed charcoal. If we heat it again we can use it for cooking.  It can also be put through a fermentation process which releases lots of methane gas which is what helps to produce electricity. 

The best part is we have the ideas, we know what should be done and how, but the worst part is that we are not given a platform from where we can share these ideas and uses resources to accomplish them. We are still stuck in the cage of our government where they are responsible for taking every decision for us no matter how adverse its impact is. Our exports are affecting because of the energy crisis, so is our industrial sector in fact every sector either educational or corporate. But, do we have a right to blame the local government for not working effectively as we individuals are not ready to take our responsibilities. We all talk money language either it’s the farmer who wants the least possible cost of production or the consumer who wants to buy the cheapest because of the expenses.

Now it is time for the youth to come up and take the front row. Bring in innovative and creative ideas and apply our knowledge practically.

It is our time!

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/10327

http://gm-volt.com/2012/03/29/hybrid-rickshaw-runs-on-human-trash-animal-poo-and-electrons/

By Anum Khalid