Monday, August 29, 2011

Vermicomposting kitchen waste

An earlier post in the blog - Talking trash, vermicomposting - done some two months back hasn't evoked any response from PropCare. And, it must be admitted, there was no further effort on our part,as residents,to push the waste disposal agenda. This post is prompted by an article in The Hindu - Segregating waste can generate income - that refers to vermicomposting taken up by residents in Alwarpet.
At Venus Colony, Alwarpet, with 175 apartments they have a vermicompost shed, from which they generate adequate manure to fertilize plants and the green patch in their 2.25 acre residential complex.The Venus Colony residents association built a composting shed with four compartments for collection of kitchen and garden waste. The association,which has been vermicomposting kitchen waste for the last five years,is engaged, at the same time, in creating public awareness and educating residents on the need for segregating household waste to enable their disposal in a meaningful,and also productive, way.
Wouldn't it be worth our while to visit Venus Colony and meet with the residents association ? Contact person - Mr K V Ananthakrishna Iyer, manager, Asiana Flat Owners Association in Venus Colony, Alwarpet.

2 comments:

  1. Dear Mr Krishnan,

    I am all for this - however i think we should meet with the other residents and discuss the issue - the process would only work if we are all on board!

    Once the current residents agree to the vermicomposting and its attendant trash segregation processes we will need to work fast to put said processes in place. Then whoever comes after the process starts would have to be requested to follow suit.

    However, i do need to voice my doubts as to whether we will be able to get all the residents on board with us. And this would definitely pose problems. Wonder if anyone has any ideas as to how to implement this.

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  2. Your doubts are valid. To quote a resident of Venus Colony, "although we started vermicomposting five years ago, association members continue to educate residents". The association imposes a levy on those violating rules of waste disposal. The association however admits violations are not uncommon.
    At the Alwarpet residential complex, apart from appealing to residents to segregate waste they have deployed six women, part-time, to separate plastics and non-biodegradables from household waste.
    As Ms Nair says, we may not be able to get all residents on board with us right away. But should this dissuade us from setting up a vermicompost shed ? At Mantri's our first challenge, as I see it, is getting PropCare to set it up. And everyone of us need to push the case till we get this done.
    Let's us first contact and visit Alwarpet people to see how they work the composting plant. Would appreciate if someone gets us their contact details, so that we can plan trip to Venus Colony.

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