Waste to Garden Gold!

Have you ever thought of what happens to that plastic cover that you chuck into the dustbin? Or the potato peels? Or the leftover slice of Pizza? Do you throw them all into the same bin or do you separate them?

 If you aren't segregating your waste at home--you really should.

Pic courtesy : Dailydump.org

The fact is big Indian cities produce about 3000 tonnes of waste a day, at the very least. Most of them are dumped into illegal dumps just on the outskirts of the city. Organic waste from your kitchen is 60 percent water. The municipal department spends money transporting this waste! If  we do our bit, we can manage our waste at home, thus saving resources and time, that can be utilised better for other things like education and infrastructure.

Organic waste  really does not need to  travel. Also, thousands of people in our country are rag-pickers who make a living out of scavenging in the waste bins and selling the plastic dumped there. If the plastic is not covered in rotten food, left over chicken curry, vegetable peels and other things, they can earn more.

If you cook at home regularly, then your kitchen itself generates about 750 gms to 1000 gms of raw material every day. Of course you can segregate it and throw it out ---but there is a better way to manage it. How?

You can make your own compost! And it isn't hard at all.

I started doing it almost an year back and I am super pleased with the results.
This is how I do it:

 

 First I invested  in the above kit. It is not very expensive and also it is a one time investment that is going to pay you rich dividends. If I remember right, I paid around Rs.1200 for the above three containers. However, if you do not want the containers, you can also use pots.(They are a lot cheaper)

 I bought my kit from Pelican Biotech. In Bangalore, there is also Daily Dump. (from which the above information has been condensed).   Do check out their website --they do some fabulous work. Do find out the organizations in your city that are similar.

One also needs to buy comp-absorb, which costs around Rs.125/- for a 5 kg bag. The bag will last you for more than 2 months.

Next, you line the bottom of the first pot with newspaper. Then you add a layer of comp-absorb.

 Now you are ready to go.

You begin by adding the organic kitchen waste. Do not add rotten food.

After a 2 inch layer of kitchen waste is added, you add the comp-absorb. The process continues till the container is filled. Then it goes right to the bottom and the next container comes to the top, and the same process continues. There is absolutely no smell if you do it right.

If you have any questions  do check out both the links above, which answer in great detail, the process for home composting.

By the time the third container is full, the first container (that you placed right at the bottom) will be full of dark, rich organic compost! Look at the compost I made.(Have planted sunflower  and Bhindi in it)

 This is a superb medium and you can put the plants right in. Even if you do not have a garden, trust me you will want to, once you see the compost that you have made! (In any case, even if you just chuck it outside, you are still doing the environment, society and yourself a massive favour by composting!)

Here is one of the plants that I have grown in my compost:

And here is the rock-garden that Satish and I made. (Many of the containers have the compost that I made)

Inspired?

You are sitting on a mine of garden gold. Don't waste the waste It isn't that hard. It just takes five minutes of your time to segregate and dump right, once it is set up.


Now, go do it!


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