COMPOSTING

I started disposing the vegetable waste generated in my home in a clean, efficient and fruitful way. Lots of vegetable waste used to get generated while my mom prepares lunch for us. This ranges from carrot peels, cucumber peels, onion skins, stems of green leafy vegetables etc etc.

We have two dust bins at home. One for the dry waste generated (e.g. paper, hairs, cobwebs, dust) and the other for the damp or wet waste generated (left over food, skins of fruits and vegetables, coffee powder residue, tea residue etc). The organic waste was being dumped in the second dustbin mentioned above all these years. It did not occur to any of us that there can be a better way of disposing these organic wastes and so the same old practice of disposing the organic waste was being continued.



I got inspired by my cousin at Delhi. She is an environmentalist and I used to visit her frequently during my on-duty trips to Alwar (this place is located at a distance of 160 Km from Delhi). I was a bit surprised to find that they had no dustbins at home. The kitchen waste for the day was accumulated in a polythene cover and later dumped in their kitchen garden. The practice is called “Vermi-composting” ie putting all the vegetable matter into the soil after digging a small trench in the ground. The trench is then covered with soil and water sprinkled over so that the vegetable matter decays and gets converted into soil.



The organic waste is completely decomposed in time span of two to three weeks and the soil is also enriched with nutrients. Last Sunday after having my lunch I thought why not I try disposing the organic waste in an efficient manner. So I took a small shovel and the organic waste dumped in the second dustbin at my home. The soil was hard and rocky, all moisture being sucked due to the intense heat. I poured a little water to aid the digging process. I dug a small pit about ten centimeters deep and fifteen centimeters wide. Then I put half the organic waste in that pit, covered it with loose soil, sprinkled water and flattened the ground surface. I dug up another pit of that size adjacent to the first one and dumped the other half of the waste in that and covered that put also.



Today is the second day and I believe that by the end of two weeks this organic matter would have decomposed to a certain extent. I feel happy that I was able dispose the waste in a clean way. The other advantages include fewer burdens on the municipality to clear the organic wastes, less pressure on the landfills and cleaner roads and streets.



The most important advantage is that your kitchen garden is replenished with nutrients and the soil quality will be better, helping your plants to grow healthier. If all people realize this and make a conscious effort towards disposing vegetable waste by composting it then we could have cleaner streets, less overflowing dustbins and healthier surroundings.