I
have been trying to compost my vegetable waste for the very reason of not
seeing more dump on the road.I started thinking that the volume of vegetable
waste generated from a family of four would be very less,but ended up surprised
as we are also vegetarians, there is a whole load of vegetable peels that land
on your waste basket.
My
journey began by turning waste to something useful for my plants.I started
using the Khamba(from Daily Dump).They have a very useful website where they
talk about how to use them also. http://www.dailydump.org/kambha/how-use
Composting
not helps in recycling waste but has a whole lot of advantages like
-Feeds
earthworms and microbial life in soil which actually supports your plants.
-It
maintains neutral ph of the soil
-Allows
soil to hold more nutrients and water(almost quadruples the soils ability to
hold water)
-Any
kind of soil(acidic/alkaline) can be improved with compost
-Tea
and coffee contains caffeine,which is a natural herbicide.
There
are two major types of composting
aerobic composting:
Anaerobic composting
Aerobic
composting:
organic materials + oxygen + water = carbon
dioxide + water + energy
If
the oxygen in the pile is not replenished by stirring or aeration, the microbes
that do not need oxygen tend to take over. These are the anaerobic
bacteria.They do not produce heat. They do produce a good deal of ammonia, that
gives off a tell-tale smell. The ammonia is a waste product; it comes from the
microbes as they seek to discard the unneeded nitrogen in their small bodies.
Another gas that can get produced in this anaerobic state is hydrogen sulfide,
which smells like rotten eggs.
(Info
courtesy:Daily Dump)
Anaerobic
composting:
organic materials + water = carbon dioxide + methane + hydrogen sulfide + energy.
organic materials + water = carbon dioxide + methane + hydrogen sulfide + energy.
Bio
gas is a form of anaerobic composting.Given below is the site where the process is happening here in chennai.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-propertyplus/fuel-for-thought/article3694674.ece
Here
is a good read on composting:
Vermicomposting:
is the product or process of
composting through the utilization of various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and earthworms, to create
a heterogeneous mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste (excluding meat,
dairy, fats, or oils), bedding materials, and vermicast. Vermicast, also known
as worm castings, worm humus or worm manure, is the end-product of the
breakdown of organic matter by species of earthworm.
I
have been now composting for the past four years and have graduated to
collecting vegetable waste from 30 homes,my neighbours and composting them in bigger drums as Khamba is
not sufficient.The happiness generated by this is incomparable. I am saving the roads from
becoming a big dump and giving a better future for the coming generations.I
have slowly started teaching people and setting example to others.
Looking
forward to hearing the way you compost at your own place.
