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NCERT Solutions for Class 5th The World Around Us Chapter 4 Waste Management — Write

Book page 59 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.
Can you name the colour of the bin used for the following? Dry waste: _________________ Wet waste: _________________
Answer

Dry waste — the BLUE bin. Wet waste — the GREEN bin.

BinColourWhat goes inWhat happens to it
Wet wasteGreenFruit and vegetable peels, leftover food, tea leaves, egg shells, fallen leaves, flowersIt rots. It can be made into compost — rich black soil for the garden.
Dry wasteBlueWrappers, plastic, paper, glass, foil, cloth, broken thingsIt does not rot. Whatever can be recycled is taken out and used again.
Why the two must not be mixed: Wet waste is wet and it rots. If a dry newspaper or a piece of cardboard sits in a bag of wet peels for a day, it becomes soggy and smelly and cannot be recycled any more. So mixing does not make one bag of waste — it spoils the good half. Keeping them apart takes one second at the bin and saves everything that was still useful.
An easy way to remember: Green for what grew — it came from a plant or an animal and it will rot back into the soil. Blue for the rest.
Q2.
Different recyclers collect different items. What are the various recyclers in your area called? Find out what each one collects.
Answer

These are the people who buy or collect old things so that they can be used again. In most of India they are called the kabadiwala or raddiwala. The name changes from place to place, and so does what each one takes.

What people call themWhere the name is usedWhat they collect
Kabadiwala / kabadiNorth India, most citiesOld newspapers, magazines, books, cardboard, bottles, tins, iron, plastic, old fans and coolers
RaddiwalaNorth and west IndiaMostly paper — newspapers, notebooks, cardboard cartons
Bhangarwala / bhangarMaharashtra, GujaratScrap metal, iron, aluminium, old utensils
Paatra / paathram-vaalaKerala, Tamil Nadu (utensil exchange)Old clothes, taken in exchange for new steel vessels
Bartanwala (steel-for-clothes cart)EverywhereOld clothes, given in exchange for buckets, mugs and vessels
Waste picker / safai saathiEverywhere, and in city waste-worker unionsPlastic bottles, glass, metal and paper, sorted out of mixed waste
E-waste collectorCitiesOld mobiles, chargers, wires, batteries, broken computers

How to find out for your own area:

  1. Ask at home who buys your old newspapers, and what they are called.
  2. Listen for the call they make on the street, and write down the exact words in your own language.
  3. Ask your neighbours — some carts take only clothes, some only metal.
  4. Write a small chart: name / what they take / what they pay per kilo.
Why they matter: They are the first and the strongest link in recycling. Long before any factory sees it, a kabadiwala has already pulled the paper, glass, metal and plastic out of our waste and sent it back to be used again. Their work saves trees, saves the ore dug out of the earth, and keeps enormous amounts of rubbish out of the landfill. It deserves respect and a polite greeting.
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