Pollution claims around 630,000 lives every year in India, affecting many more with chronic diseases.
WHO named India as one of the world’s most polluted countries (with 13 out of its list of ’20 most polluted cities’ being in India)
Pollution costs our country US$80 billion a year.
The recent dengue outbreak is being attributed to our country’s improper waste management.
Environmentalists believe that the current situation of India’s waste management will invariably lead to a crisis if no serious measure is taken soon enough.
At an individual level, we can start by reducing the amount of waste we send to landfills (which is a source of air and water pollution).
One-third of total waste sent to landfills is organic and compostable.
This can help cut down one-third of the entire city’s waste sent to landfills, in turn lowering pollution resulting from it.
Composting is an effective way to help us reuse one third of our total generated household waste. This nutrient-rich compost serves as a fertilizer to improve the overall health of our yard soil and plants.
Many of us are not acquainted with the concept of composting, and questions that often pop up are:
What exactly can I compost?
How do I compost easily?
How effective is it?
And so on…
This Sunday, 23nd November 2014, CommonFloor Groups brings to you a workshop on Composting: Converting Garbage to Gold, where you can ask experts all your waste management related questions directly. Let’s fight for a nation with a clean environment, free of health risks and diseases.
It’s really in your hands!
Date: 23nd November 2014
Timing: 10am-12am
Venue: CommonFloor.com
No.4, Service Road,
Domlur Layout,
Near Post office
Bangalore – 560071
See you there!
Only 30 seats available. To register, call 9916977654 NOW.
Do you know? – About one-fourth of our regular household waste can actually be recycled into rich compost, which serves as an excellent natural fertilizer for your garden plants and soil.
This means we can recycle & reuse a portion of our everyday household trash all by ourselves, and considerably bring down waste sent to landfills in only Five Easy Steps. (Find out How You Can Build a Compost Bin at home)
Learn how:
Takeaway: “Layer, Water & Turn” – This is essentially all your composting routine comprises of!
Your garden compost will be ready-for-use in 3 to 4 months. This compost, which is high in nitrogen, can be used to enrich your garden soil or to improve your yard plants’ overall health.
The first and foremost item you need when you decide to start composting is a compost bin. Good news is that you CAN easily build one yourself without putting much effort or money into it. (If you are an energetic pro-green individual, you may want to check our article on How You can Compost Organic Waste in just 5 Easy Steps.)
This article will guide you in making your own bin in about an hour using readily available items.
Aim: To build a bin that is budget-friendly, durable & adds to your home’s/yard’s aesthetic appeal.
** Your bin material should not be chemically treated.
1) Trash Can Composter
Steps:
i) Drill rows of holes on its upright surfaces, with holes placed 4-6 inches apart.
ii) Puncture a few holes on the can’s base and lid as well. (This helps in air flow and the passage of extra moisture)
iii) Secure the can using a bungee cord/rope and use duct tape to attach it tightly. (to keep it safe from pests)
The same ‘can’ becomes a Tumbler Composter when it’s cylindrical in shape. Roll it around in your yard once or twice a week to mix properly.
2) Wire-Mesh Composter
Steps:
i) Take a roll of wire-mesh and cut it to the size you need.
ii) Use a pair of pliers to cut off wire bits sticking out. Make the surface as even as possible to avoid any abrasion or cut.
iii) Roll the wire-mesh piece into a cylindrical shape.
iv) Secure the two joining edges of the roll with a wire.
**Use working gloves while setting this up.
3) Wooden Panel Composter
Step:
i) Make a four-sided box (of dimension= 3ftx3ftx3ft) by fixing together four wooden pallets using nails or wire.
ii) You may choose to add another pallet as the box’s base to allow more air flow.
** Spaces between the box’s wooden slats provide air circulation.
4) Stick Fence Composter
Steps:
i)Fix a wooden post on each corner of a square area (dimension=3ftx3ft) in your garden/yard.
ii)Use wires to attach the stick fence to wooden posts along the marked square’s perimeter. (take the help of pliers)
iii) Secure both ends of the fence using wire ties.
** Spaces between the box’s wooden slates provide air circulation.
5) Little Kitchen-Composter
Steps:
i) Pick an ice-cream box, coffee/gum/paint container to use as your compost bin. Make sure its lid can be fixed tightly.
ii) Drill enough holes (10 or more) on the lid of the container to allow air movement.
iii) Stick a charcoal filter on the inner side of the lid (to keep container free of odor)
If you are a step ahead of us and have built yourself a unique and more effective kind of compost bin, we’re excited to learn from you! Please share your creative ideas with us!
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 wastying-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 ateam 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.
Did you know??
Let’s fight for a nation with a clean environment, free of health risks and diseases. 
