Compost Chronicle
Are you still giving one garbage bin with loads
of mixed waste to the garbage collectors?
I was also doing so until a few years ago.
But I don’t do it anymore.
I keep my green waste in my house itself for
months!
People give me a strange look & ask me
“It must smelling bad and you must be having
insects all over your house!”
“Not at all….! “ I say with a smile
I turn it in a bagful of Black Gold, and use it
in my tiny garden or give it away to my friends!
Old habits die hard
Until just a few years back I used to line up my bins with plastic. Each
day plastic bag was taken away and a new one was put for the next day. One day,
while returning home from the city I noticed the BBMP garbage workers opening
up large black garbage bags and segregating the huge pile of trash just near
our apartment. The whole thing looked very ugly and the stench was even worse. This got me into thinking about my own solid
waste management practices.
Although waste segregation has now become compulsory, even educated
people still give mixed garbage. In my apartment we started promoting the usage
of “2 bins and a bag” about 3 years back. It is very tough to inculcate
segregation of waste and even harder to convince people to do it themselves.
This blog is about my journey from food scraps to black gold mine.
I had known about composting pit and vermiculture on farms. I had also
seen solutions for composting in an apartment. But for an urban busy woman like
me who is on perpetual cleaning spree this was an impossible option. I used to
throw out any unwanted dry or wet kitchen waste at the earliest opportunity.
January 2016
After a lot of canvassing from my eco-friendly friend Shilpi and after
viewing a number of websites I finally decided to order an EcoBin online
for around ₹1400. I got two white bins
with sieves and taps at the bottom and 2 kg microbes. Though some friends gave
me strange look because I spent so much on just two kachra dabbas, I was
determined to do this experiment. Shilpi uses a khamba
(aerobic composting) but when I surfed on the net, people had recommended Bokashi method.
Bokashi…The Japanese name did a trick and I was convinced that this is
for a newbie like me.
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| EcoBin |
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| Sieve inside the EcoBin |
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| Food scraps being added. |
Failed experiment and new discoveries
January to March 2016
I followed the instructions given by EcoBin. Up to the pickle phase
(first three weeks) everything was fine. I was removing the leachate
regularly. As per the instructions, I
did layering in an older dustbin using dry soil. Since there was no ventilation
in the bin and there was no way of draining the excess water and the decay was extremely
slow. Also, the transfer of pickle from EcoBin to the dustbin was a nightmare.
The balcony would smell terrible! I felt that kids playing downstairs could
smell it. In my next attempt, I drilled some holes in the dustbin with an
electric drill. This helped a bit in reducing foul smell however, the pickle
was still too watery and there was no sign of compost even after 6 weeks. Also,
the breakdown of pieces was rather slow.
Another problem was of maggots. My EcoBin would get completely filled up
with white maggots and the moment I would open the bin to add food scraps they
would crawl out of the bin. I tried adding Neem powder, shikakai powder
etc. Nothing helped! The maggots and foul smell sill persisted. There were
times I felt that I should just clean up everything and junk all the bins.
Three important points
that I understood from these failed trials were as follows:
- · For the layering phase plastic bin was not suitable. Something more airy was necessary.
- · Using soil for layering made it very sticky and smelly.
- · I was adding large stems of vegetables and corn directly into the pile. It was not decomposing properly.
EcoBin - Khamba Combo and the magic of Remix
April - May 2016
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| Adding microbes |
I had to now look for
an earthenware or wicker basket. It is necessary to cut the food scraps into
smaller pieces to save space and to aid faster decomposition. I started
chopping the scraps with a knife but it was time consuming.
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| Layering scraps with coocopeat |
One day, after the ritual of transferring pickle to another holed bin I
was fed up and I decided to visit the DailyDump shop which was recommended by
Shilpi. I purchased two stackable units of a khamba. Although, one can
directly go on adding food scraps in a khamba,
I decided to use a combination of EcoBin and a khamba because, EcoBin allows faster fermentation and the leachate can be removed. Another, important ingredient that was missing in my earlier experiments was the cocopeat i.e. remix powder.
I decided to use a combination of EcoBin and a khamba because, EcoBin allows faster fermentation and the leachate can be removed. Another, important ingredient that was missing in my earlier experiments was the cocopeat i.e. remix powder.
I kept one sharp pair of scissors near my temporary bin of food scraps
to cut all the stems and stocks into smaller pieces. Later on, I developed my own steps of anaerobic and aerobic composting.
The harvest of black gold is
takes about a month after transfer to the Khamba. The total time of turnover is around 2 to 3 months.
Zen and the art of composting
June - September 2016
When I started composting, I just wanted to manage my wet waste in an
eco-friendly way. As I started composting I went through a scientific analysis
of the process. Every day, I learn Biology, Chemistry and Physics of the
ecosystem in the pots. This is an excellent laboratory for designing new
experiments.
An important observation: Red chilli which is put in oil while seasoning
does not break down at all even after months in compost pile. The microbes do
not eat it! Microbes eat healthy and I take it as a lesson to cut on the
consumption of red chilli.
As I watch the transformation from scraps to the black gold and when I
sift the final harvest I go through a meditative phase. The smell of black
earth which is rich with nutrients and microbial activity is full of life.
Sometimes, a small seed of tomato or peanut gives rise to a sprout. I take it
out and transfer into a pot. It is a pleasure to watch it grow each day! When I
see a bud on the rose bush, my heart fills up with an inexplicable joy!
As I transfer the smelly pickle from EcoBin to the earthen pot, I learn
to empathize with the garbage collectors and can feel their pain. I breathe
mindfully and transfer the contents. I feel better because of the fact I am
reducing the burden on garbage collectors by a minuscule amount. My husband Vinay helps me in chopping the scraps into fine pieces. Each day I spend only about 5 minutes in sorting my pile. Once a month, i spend 45 minutes in sorting out things. I reduce wastage
and focus on appropriate usage of groceries that I buy. I am learning to cook
appropriate amount of food because cooked food should not be put into compost.
I strive for a zero garbage lifestyle. When I see wilting scraps, I am
able to see the transient nature of life. Composting has become my laboratory
of Zen practice!
For a quick video click here:
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