BENGALURU: Organic compost made of flowers and kitchen waste from one of Bengaluru’s famous temples — Banashankari Temple — is selling like hotcakes.
For the past three months, the temple has sold a whopping 368 kg of compost and is not able to meet the demand from the public. A kg of compost is sold for Rs 20 and the temple can supply only to those who book the compost in advance.
The temple has awarded a tender to collect the waste from the temple and convert it into compost. BR Nagendra, who supervises the collection of waste from the temple said, “Earlier, flowers, garlands, mango and plantain leaves, banana stem,s and kitchen waste used to be discarded. For the past three months, we have been collecting and converting them into organic compost.”
Daily, the temple on average generates 10 kg of waste. The waste might also end up having lemon rinds and other things that cannot be converted into compost. Such things will be removed and the collected items will be dumped along with cocopeat into concrete pits on the temple premises, Nagendra said.
It will be left to turn into compost for 40 days and the fresh waste will be dumped into other concrete pits. Once the compost is ready, it will be sundried and sieved and it will be ready for sale at the temple, he said.
Nagendra said that the compost gets sold out among the devotees and is in huge demand.
“I am growing jasmine flowers, tulasi, and others in my roof garden. I have been using the temple’s compost mixed with soil for the past few weeks and have been witnessing good growth,” said Shashikala, a regular customer who buys compost at the Banashankari Temple.