It’s been 3 months since DSR Rainbow Heights started its genuine mission of contributing to make the world a greener and salubrious place. They put together a team of devoted volunteers who worked really hard to convert Household waste to manure, with the help of a supportive association (RWA members), to convert around 50% of their community’s wet waste contribution to manure. The remaining wet waste is sent to KCDC (Karnataka Compost Development Corporation) for composting. They appointed Hasirudala, a reputed waste pickup agency in Bangalore, to collect the community’s segregated waste (wet, dry and sanitary) and dispose of them in a scientific manner.

Once the waste segregation rules and procedure were set, with a little bit of order and compliance with the system, they made their mission a major success.

Russell Kirk: “In any society, order is the first need of all.”

Today, this apartment complex proudly follows the 2 bins (wet waste) and 1 bag (for dry waste) waste segregation concept and contributes less than 100 gms of waste per family but hopes to soon bring this down further.

Let’s take a look at how did the community proceeded to convert Household waste to Manure-

1)      Creating a Core Team- They brought together a team of devoted and enthusiastic volunteers who carried out a door-to-door campaign for two months with the backing of the association. The volunteers adopted a serious demeanour, sent thank you and congratulations notes to people following predefined steps and had to be stern in their dealing with people offering resistance.

2)      Working with Association Closely- It was important that their ideas were backed by a proactive association who were ready to jump in any difficult situation or whenever needed otherwise. Ideas that came from volunteers had to be approved by the association before getting implemented within 48 hours from the time of approval.

3)      Tie-up with a Strong Waste Pickup Agency- Equally important was tying-up with an agency, Hasirudala, that is quality-conscious, responsible, ethical, is well-familiar with the concept of waste segregation and believes in a scientific pickup of waste.

4)      Train the Housekeeping Staff- They needed a team to help collect waste segregated. This is when they had to train the housekeeping staff on how to collect wet and dry waste correctly. Once the team was trained, a leader was chosen to head the task and efforts were made to keep them motivated.

5)      Implementing a Strong Penalty System: A simple and effective ‘3-chance’ penalty system was implemented for cases when a resident did not follow this segregation system. Volunteers informed association of the list of defaulters and this was recorded. After chances expired, measures were taken.

6)      Build Infrastructure: The heart of the entire movement is having a good machine that directly converts wet waste to manure. As the cost of a typical good organic waste machine will cost anywhere between 8 and 10 lakhs, it’s important to build the right infrastructure.

Why is waste segregation and scientific waste disposal important?

A good look at Mandur landfill will testify the fact that not only is disposal of solid waste making our city extremely unclean, but with the amount of air pollution caused, it is in fact taking a toll on our environment and in turn risking our health. City environmentalists have raised serious concerns over this and BBMP has sent out circulars and published waste segregation mandates. It’s high time that people read the circular and check the sketch sent out by BBMP and start planning and implementing proper segregation and disposal of community generated waste for a cleaner, healthier and safer environment.

What practices have you and your community adopted for a better and greener environment? Let us know and we will be happy to cover your efforts!

Share with us if you have any query on how to convert Household waste to Manure.