A soapy twenty seconds is one of the cheapest, best-proven ways to stop a household illness before it starts.
You couldn't have known. Now you do.
The street is not a spittoon.
Don't spit paan, gutka or phlegm on roads, walls and stairwells. Carry a tissue, or use a bin or a basin.
No wall asked to wear a red stain for the rest of its life.
Here's the science
What happensSpitting paan, gutka or sputum in public places
HowTuberculosis and other respiratory pathogens travel through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes or spits, so infectious droplets can be inhaled by others
SoAirborne spread of tuberculosis and other respiratory infections
How it works - the size isn't measured hereGLOBAL
“It spreads through the air when people with TB cough, sneeze or spit.”
This is the transmission mechanism, not a measured effect of spitting alone. India carries the world's largest share of the global TB burden, but no study attributes a specific case count to public spitting on its own, so no number is claimed.
A stairwell nobody spits in stays one you can lean against, sit near, and let a child touch without a second thought.
You couldn't have known. Now you do.
Two bins. Wet and dry.
Keep wet kitchen waste and dry recyclables in separate bins. Mixed-up garbage is far harder to compost or recycle.
Mix them once and two useful things become one useless, dripping heap.
Here's the science
What happensNot segregating wet (biodegradable) and dry (recyclable) waste at source
HowMixed waste cannot be composted or recycled cleanly, so more of it is contaminated and sent to landfills; segregating at source is a legal duty under the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016
SoLess material recovered and recycled, and more waste to landfill
How it works - the size isn't measured hereIN
“Every waste generator shall, - (a) segregate and store the waste generated by them in three separate streams namely bio-degradable, non bio-degradable and domestic hazardous wastes in suitable bins and handover segregated wastes to authorised waste pickers or waste collectors as per the direction or notification by the local authorities from time to time;”
This is a legal duty and its intended benefit - more recycling, less to landfill - not a measured quantity.
Sorted at home, wet waste can become compost and dry waste can actually be recycled - instead of all of it rotting together in one heap.
You couldn't have known. Now you do.
Don't burn it. The smoke goes somewhere.
Don't set fire to household waste or dry leaves. Burning plastic and trash sends toxic smoke straight into the air you and your neighbours breathe.
The pile disappears in an hour. The smoke just moves into a lung near you.
Here's the science
What happensBurning household waste and leaves in the open
HowOpen burning of solid waste releases toxic smoke and particulate pollution into the shared air; the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 prohibit a waste generator from burning waste in the open
SoToxic smoke and worsened local air pollution
How it works - the size isn't measured hereIN
“No waste generator shall throw, burn or burry the solid waste generated by him, on streets, open public spaces outside his premises or in the drain or water bodies.”
The quoted rule states the legal prohibition (the word 'burry' appears exactly as spelt in the official gazette). It does not quantify the health impact, so no number is claimed.
Waste that's sorted and handed to the collector instead of burned keeps the evening air breathable for the whole lane.
You couldn't have known. Now you do.
Carry a bag. Skip the throwaway.
Carry your own cloth bag and refuse single-use plastic where you can. Most of it is used for minutes and then litters for centuries.
A plastic bag works for ten minutes, then haunts a drain for five hundred years.
Here's the science
What happensUsing banned single-use plastic items instead of carrying a reusable cloth bag
HowIdentified single-use plastics have low utility and high littering potential, so they accumulate as litter and pollution; India has banned their manufacture, sale and use from 1 July 2022
SoPlastic litter and pollution in shared public spaces and the environment
How it works - the size isn't measured hereIN
“India has banned manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified single use plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential, all across the country from July 1, 2022.”
The ban covers specifically identified single-use items, not all plastics; this card cites the policy and its rationale, not a measured outcome.
One cloth bag kept in your pocket quietly replaces hundreds of throwaway ones over a year.
You couldn't have known. Now you do.
Find a toilet. A wall is not one.
Use a toilet rather than a wall or the roadside. Waste left in the open washes germs into the streets and the water everyone shares.
Here's the science
What happensUrinating or defecating in the open instead of using a toilet
HowPoor sanitation leaves human waste in the environment where it can contaminate water and surfaces and transmit disease-causing pathogens
SoHigher risk of diarrhoeal and other faecal-oral diseases spreading through the community
How it works - the size isn't measured hereGLOBAL
“Poor sanitation is linked to transmission of diarrhoeal diseases such as cholera and dysentery, as well as typhoid, intestinal worm infections and polio.”
A global disease-transmission mechanism, not a measured effect for any one place. Open defecation is often driven by a lack of safe, accessible toilets, so this is a matter of infrastructure, dignity and public health - not blame.