I have been reading and writing about waste management for long years. Have visited at least a dozen landfill (actually dumpsites) sites in several cities of India in connection with studies etc. However, about a year and a half back, I decided to do something about it myself. After a survey of the options available, I decided composting of waste generated in our kitchen at home could be the best way to start. Several options for suitable equipment were explored. I knew the theory of aerobic digestion well from all these years of studies etc. Luckily, we have a fair-sized house with a dry balcony ideal for keeping the composting kit. I zeroed on a basket supplied by Mr. Jayant Joshi from Thane who branded it as “Kitchen Kompost”. Jayant has developed this after long experimentation himself and one which can be made from easily available baskets in the market. Anyone interested can talk to him {Jayant Joshi: +91 9969634182} and procure one. An important feature is the affordability.
When I started with this it was, unfortunately, July when monsoon was at its peak. I realized that it is very important to control the moisture content of the disposed feed, especially in the rainy season. The highly moist feed would lead to stink and I feared my wife would ask me to stop. However, luckily, I had some coco peat handy and it helped me in drying the batch quickly and stopping the rotting process. Initially, I used to add the waste as it is but soon realized that the basket fills up pretty fast.
When I started with this it was, unfortunately, July when monsoon was at its peak. I realized that it is very important to control the moisture content of the disposed feed, especially in the rainy season. The highly moist feed would lead to stink and I feared my wife would ask me to stop. However, luckily, I had some coco peat handy and it helped me in drying the batch quickly and stopping the rotting process. Initially, I used to add the waste as it is but soon realized that the basket fills up pretty fast.
Then, I discovered an old mixer which we had abandoned being somewhat noisy. I got it repaired and then started grinding almost all the waste before charging it in the basket. It somewhat increased my time commitment to this activity. However, the effect of this was manifold; firstly, the feed became quite uniform. Secondly, there was a dramatic reduction in the digestion time. Previously it took 30 to 45 days for completing the digestion and large lumps of things like fruit peals still remained. Now the digestion time reduced to 15-20 days, so one basket lasts at least 35 – 40 days for our house (of only 2 of us).
For larger families of say 4 persons (couple and two kids) the basket may fill up in a month, I think. We are vegetarians so I am not sure about time for digesting non-veg waste, but I guess cooked remains of meat may digest faster (and their compost may be better in terms of the presence of nitrogen). However, bones would need other treatment, I think. In any case, one should have at least two baskets as after filling the basket would need about 15 days to completely digest all waste added in last days.
After a basket is filled up feeding it should be stopped but daily churning should still continue for around 15 days. After that, the compost is ready for grinding and packing. It smells like soil and gives awesome pleasure. I am sure at least some readers may get motivated to start composting.
Meanwhile, I discovered a WhatsApp group run by an NGO which collects dry and plastic waste once a fortnight. So, we started disposing our dry waste through their service. As a result, our house has become practically a zero-waste household!
Our small contribution to Swachh Bharat Mission!
Wish all the readers a happy, healthy and cleaner 2019.