Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

ATTITUDE OF PEOPLE TOWARDS THE EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF KITCHEN WASTE

Neeru Agrawal and Ayush Agrawal

Abstract

Increasing population, urbanization and poverty have generated pressure on the natural resources leading to degradation of environment which has become a serious issue as it threatens not only the people’s existence but their health and lives too. Environmental pollution cannot be prevented by laws alone, public participation is equally important. In the present time, there is a dire need of economically conscious people to save the environment from disaster. Public awareness, primarily at domestic level, is required to create a positive attitude towards environment. Everybody has to contribute their share for protection of the environment before it’s too late. In the present research paper, an attempt has been made to assess the attitude of people towards the effective management of kitchen waste with special reference to left out food, peels of fruits & vegetables etc. Data were collected randomly by providing questionnaire through google form. 308 people ranging between 18 and 70 years of age with different professions living either in independent house or multi-storeyed building of various cities of Chhattisgarh have responded to the questionnaire. It was observed that 61% of respondents are showing awareness about managing food waste by bio composting, however, it varies with the type of residence and city tier. People living in independent house are conveniently reusing kitchen waste while the ones living in multi-storeys want to dispose their waste out of house. As per the findings of survey, it was noted that as we move from tier 1 to tier 4 city, the compost making tendency in respondents is increasing and waste disposal in dust bin is decreasing. High awareness of people regarding disposal of bio and non-biodegradable waste as well as for making compost is found in this survey which may be due to participation of more educated people, independent house owners and low age group participants. In order to bring the awareness among all classes of society, an education drive will be mandatory for preventing environment.