Conscious Composting

Source: www.dailydump.org 

Bangalore old timers still ruminate over a coffee at Koshy’s on how the city used to be in all its natural beauty and how today its been ruined. Several conspiracy theories have been popularised on beliefs and personal encounters. But the truth remains that the city of yester years has definitely deteriorated. City roads have recently been a sore point among the city’s citizens. However I for one feel the internal “off urban” limit roads are like a race track, sharp corners but laid out like silk. A cloudy morning was perfect on to get on the Enfield and ride along to see where one of these silk tarmac’s led. The road was winding through hamlets and fields with bursts of natural fragrance only to lead to the most dismal sights of the city. A reality, the city has grown so fast with population pushing to break the 8 million mark, that the dark side of this frenzy has been the staggering tons of waste being produced and disposed daily. The largest garbage disposal “mountain” is an exposed pile of the city’s rubbish. Exposed to the elements, scavengers are amok and nature’s forces of rain and wind litter surrounding neighbourhoods. A narrow road leads in and out of this “mountain dump” which has a trail of BBMP garbage trucks lined up to dump their load. If you do have the misfortune of getting caught behind one of these trucks, you need to stop immediately and let it disappear out of sight. The rotting smell not to mention the odd floating pieces of garbage are a nauseating sight. Its ironical that during the internationally acclaimed air show hosted at the Yelahanka Air Base, last year, this mountain of garbage had to be physically covered with meters of tarpaulin to dissuade the scavenger birds from getting in the path of the aircrafts on display.

Recycling and composting have to be alien concepts to the city’s million homes. Do we need a draconian law to make us realise the negative impact our lifestyle is having on the city and its dwellers? Removal of the sun film from cars worked, so maybe the answer is a hefty fine for wrongful garbage disposal. Few basic but critical measure are needed to protect the environment from speedy degradation. Segregate your garbage (at home): get 3 dustbins – 1 for kitchen waste (peels, skins, food etc); 1 for plastics (bags, bottles, dispensers etc) and 1 for paper and glass.

Dustbin 1 with the kitchen waste can be decomposed to form the best natural compost you can use in your garden. A Bangalore based NGO – Daily Dump (www.dailydump.org) has some thought provoking concepts and ideas to deal with waste. I remember when I was in Dubai, my fondness for having a garden was limited to 5 – 7 potted plants on my balcony (partly due to constrain on space and the extreme summer) for which I used to buy 20 kg bags of compost (soil) for AED 100 (which at today’s rate is Rs 1500). In India you have the luxury for making your own compost not only from kitchen waste but also all garden waste from plant cuttings to fallen leaves. The elements of Dustbin 2 and 3 are a rag pickers delight; he can sort and sell his collection which eventually goes into the recycling process.

Inculcating small doses of “civic sense” will go a long way in making the huge difference.