Thiruvananthapuram: A handful of people in the city have been making compost bins in a simple manner.
One of them, G. Vijayan, a retired government official, says, “in a grow bag, I put sand, waste and ash. I add water as slight moisture content. This is repeated for 5-6 days. Then it is kept aside for 10 days or so. Into this, we plant saplings.”
Since there are just two people at home (he and his wife), he says that he has to borrow waste from a relative many times. The rooftop of his house which is about 750 square feet has 50 grow bags at a time.
He started with his “compost experiment” around 10 years ago, when the person who was to collect waste stopped coming. Vegetables — amaranthus, beans and ladies fingers to name a few — were planted. Through trial and error, he perfected the technique.
A tip he shares: adding cowdung would bring worms. Beans need larger grow bags. The price of the bags ranges from Rs 15 to Rs 30. This newspaper checked with the corporation whether this could be made popular.
An official said that a protocol for this methodology needs to be developed and approved by Suchitwa Mission before they can campaign for it.
It is part of Suchitwa Mission’s plan to campaign for such simple composting method, according to Suchitwa Mission executive director K. Vasuki.
“Even in urban areas half of the households do not need any waste management device. Turning kitchen waste into compost through such a method is effective and the most sensible way to manage waste, as the nutrients in the waste are absorbed by the plant. I reckon that a family of four would need 8 to 10 flower pots,” she says.
