Go green is the watchword today. When planting of trees and plants are being promoted, few give a thought to manure. With waste management becoming an issue, many Kochiites have taken to composting in a large way, not only to make their own manure but also to recycle waste.
What started as a matter of convenience has now become a duty to one’s homeland. Lush lawns, fruits, orchids and roses are a pleasure to watch in their backyards, terraces and rooftops in the heart of the city, that too mostly in high rise apartments.
None would guess that the secret behind it lies in the small painted terracotta pots stacked one over the other or placed at the edge of the garden. Disguised as decorative pots their secret mission is to produce compost required for these plants. More and more Kochiites are taking to this practice of recycling their kitchen waste into compost. When asked why, Chithra who grows a variety of vegetables on her terrace tells us “The reason is simple. With increasing food demand and decreasing farmland, farmers are resorting to fertilizers and pesticides beyond government specification to get better yield. Moreover, waste management is a big issue in Kochi and I thought of tackling it through composting”.
Contrary to popular beliefs, Basheer who has been composting kitchen wastes in his backyard vouches, “It is very easy, though many people think otherwise I have been composting for a while now and I feel it’s the easiest way to get rid of kitchen waste. We just need to follow the instructions”.
Composting helps in getting rid of solid waste from one’s household and is nature-friendly. It acts as a natural fertilizer and the resulting mixture keeps the garden healthy and strong. We need not waste money on fertilizers and pesticides that harm the soil. It helps in growing organic vegetables and fruits at home and eat healthy. All one has to do is segregate kitchen wastes and take what is biodegradable, reduce its size and drain out any excess water content before putting it in the composting bin . Sheela Peter who has been residing in Vypeen for the past 14 years, says, "Fruit and vegetable waste, peel, skin, seed, leaf, egg shell, coffee grounds including paper filters, tea bags, used paper napkins, corn cobs, newspaper, sawdust and any other cooked waste that is biodegradable can be used.”
Pradeep Kumar of Deepthi Eco stores, who sells these terracotta pots throughout Kerala is of the opinion that it is best to avoid meat and dairy products but instead use more grass clippings, leaves and wooden materials .
It only takes about 20-25 days for a layer of compost to be ready for use. Adding a compost accelerator helps the process. It could be a packet of microbes or even cow urine or cow dung. Turn over the mixture once every four days so that the bottom half also gets enough oxygen required for composting.
Compost from these terracoata pots or so-called ‘bio-pots’ can be used for any number of plants. While some of them have taken to growing a large number of fruit and vegetable like guava, brinjal, bittergourd, different types of chillies, tomatoes, mint, coriander, cucumber, lady’s finger others seem to be growing plants with medicinal qualities like neem, tulsi, aloe vera or ones with ornamental value like orchids and roses.
Sooraj Abraham of Plan@earth says, “We have now started producing bio-pots which can accommodate plants like spinach on it’s side hence the compost will be readily absorbed by the plants”. The pots are priced at Rs 400 to Rs 1,300 depending on it size and shape.
Randeep Sundar feels composting is the most practical option to prevent accumulation of waste since biogas plant units, priced around Rs 11,000 is a large sum to be spent by a single household against the few hundreds spent on these composting pots.
If you live in an apartment and wish to solve the waste management problem of the entire apartment complex together associations like CREDAI and Daily Dump offer a solution of ‘bio-bins’ for apartments. These huge bins adopt the same mechanism to produce compost but only on a larger scale. As per statistics one bin would be enough for every 10 apartment units.
Sheela said that government agencies not only help flats and homes install composting units but in addition distribute seedlings to those who do composting so that they may benefit from it as well. “We definitely have a problem on our hands since waste removal from our dumps are not regular. Composting is the best option and most effective solution,” said Rekha George, a resident of the city.
The theme for Environment Day this year, ‘Think, Eat, Save’ gives food for thought that tackling garbage issue is not the responsibility of the government alone. Each one has to share it and the World Environment Day is a good time to start.
—Anna Abraham Mulamoottil