Sunday, November 4, 2012

Getting waste-wise

We all know of the process of converting household organic waste into manure. Most of us wouldn't  give it a try,  Why ?
Because:
1)  we think we can't spare the space;
2) It's messy, smelly, would attract flies.
3) Can't  find anyone for its up-keep.
4) Lack of consensus, in the case of apartment buildings.
Anusha Parthasarathy's article in The Hindu  citing residents who are using organic converters, says:
-  Not much space is  needed. A small green patch,  or balcony would do.
-  Maintenance costs get reduced if it is a community initiative, says the Bangalore-based 'Daily Dump' founder Poonam Bir Kasturi.
 -  Navneeth Raghavan, Chennai, lives on 4th floor, uses 3-layered terracotta pots - 'Khambas' for composting - leaves them in her balcony. No stink during decomposition and we have a solution to keep away flies, says Navneeth (.9840082607)
- 'Daily Dump' has changed the way Preethi Sukumaran and Sruti Harihara Subramanian think of household waste - everything that comes into the house is looked at,to see if it can be recycled or composted.
- Preethi carries own containers and oil cans to grocery stores - packaged grocer covers are washed, dried and put into the recycling bin.
- Preethi keeps separate kitchen bin for plastic, paper, and other recyclables. Uses stainless steel water bottles, instead of plastic ones.
- Rinse-water from hand-washed clothes is used  to mop floors and clean toilets.
- Water used to wash vegetables or rice is recycled for plants.
- Sruti sustains her terrace garden ...with Khamba compost....'Throw organic waste into it. You get microbes and additives to mix in'. Sruti, who runs Ashvita Bistro, Alwarpet, uses a Khamba there as well, and retails the compost sets.
- Singapore-based blogger Bhavani Prakash  has written an e-book called  '50 Ways to Make Your Home Eco-Friendly'
OMR Greens can consider setting up a pilot khamba compost unit - with contributions from a few volunteer households in gated communities. If apartment owners association designates a small patch for trial plant, OMR Greens, can take the idea forward.
Related links:
Eco-soap, detergents retail  KryaBoxtree
Recycler Kuppathotti

4 comments:

  1. GVK Uncle, Krish must have told you that we have been successfully using the kambha in our R A Puram apartment for the last two months. Owing to space constraints the kambha is in the balcony that is almost in the living room! In spite to that, not many people even notice it there. All the composting is managed by me, myself though the actual work involved is not much on a day to day basis. Still, a high level of committmemt is a necessity if you want to keep the composting unit free of bugs and creepy crawlies. I will try and send you some pictures of our kambha through Krish's gmail. BTW one standard size kambha can only handle one family's compostible waste. Of course we have been throwing all kinds of waste into it including plate remains and unusable leftovers.

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  2. hi,
    this blog is useful for us. we can get more information from that.
    regards,
    Vennarorganic

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was searching for waste management information on the net and came across lots of articles here - http://blog.apnacomplex.com/category/waste-management-in-apartments/

    there is even a "Sample Plan" for Solid Waste Management in Apartments - it is an interesting excel - we can customize it our each apartments in our area

    http://blog.apnacomplex.com/2012/09/30/sample-solid-waste-management-template-for-your-apartment-complex/

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  4. Rubbish Removal is a part of service which can make remove rubbish form home, office, shop, hotel, garden etc. This tips is service that we should always keep, it will help us. Thanks admin
    Household Waste

    ReplyDelete