CTC - HOME COMPOSTING - THE COMPOST PEOPLE - PART 1 !!!!

The compost chronicles - PRABHA

Details :

Prabha g

6/27/2016

Large 3T Khamba

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet."

- James Oppenheim

My compost chronicles was kicked off by a sheer chance,more like serendipity that i had stumbled upon similar to how someone finds their love,after all love has various forms !. My rigorous search for the method of composting scientifically ended up in thedailydump website and was disappointed to see that they don't ship kambhas to Chennai. This is where CTC's home composting sessions came as a blessing(for special effects imagine that bright rays of shine and angelic harp music..ok its a bit overboard !!),that is exactly how i felt. being a small time organic gardener i was in need of a very simple yet effective method of composting and this opportunity flagged of by CTC had set down my path down the lane of composting.

I had ordered my large 3t kambha pots and started composting from 28/06/2016 till current date batch one (16 days old compost)

Following all the great help from the well versed ones a rookie like me has made this much improvement.

The yield is indeed sweet literally the compost emanates such sweet earthy smell that it zips me off and takes me inside the depth of the forest where you taste the same sweet earthy smell (via nostrils !).

Its a well established fact that the compost made from our kitchen can be used as a soil amendment additives that contain the required nutrients,mixing the home compost and cow manure,any soil can be made healthy.

SIMPLE "ECO"-NOMICS- (FOR THOSE WHO MAINTAIN A SMALL GARDEN AND NOT IN A COMMERCIAL FARMING PERSPECTIVE)

ORGANIC WASTES (ONE DAY\|)	ONE YEAR	COST CUT ON COMPOSTS PURCHASED (TWO MONTHS)	12 MONTHS
1 KG	360 KGS(SAVED FROM GETTING DUMPED IN THE LANDFILL)	200 ₹	1200 ₹

Its all about composting - Sujatha

Details :

Sujatha Manohar

6/12/2016

Large 3T Khamba

First of all, thanks to Ravi and CTC for enrolling me into this program. My first compost is not yet ready but is shaping up perfectly and nicely, will be ready in another 10 days. What brings me more satisfaction is that I have ensured not even a small piece of plastic or usable waste goes out of my home into the landfill. I do complete "Source Segregation" and if this mail can inspire many more to do this, I would be very happy.

I just want to share what I do with my waste:

1. As we all know, all veg, fruit peels and any food waste and dried leaves from my garden go into the khamba for composting. In fact, I am sharing my big khamba with all the four neighbors in my apartment block.

2. I have a small basket in my kitchen in which i will keep the rinsed milk covers for the day(which are initially dried by sticking them on the wall tiles), i ensure that this basket is kept outside in the balcony for drying before i step out of home for work. These dried covers are stored separately and the scrap collector who comes every month picks up these. Along with the milk covers, i also store the thick plastic covers which are given in department stores like shoppers stop, westside etc, and even the washed,dried oil packets which are thick. These covers are recycled.

3. Old news papers, glass bottles, tins, all plastic bottles, thick/thin cardboard boxes (like pizza boxes, flipkart boxes etc) are collected in a separate bin and sold off to scrap collector. I also ensure that I wash them before storing (like ketchup bottles) if they are not dry.

4. The biggest challenge is with the thin plastic covers like biscuit wrappers, bread covers, chocolate wrappers, dhal/chips/namkeens packets etc. Usually the scrap collector will not be ready to take these, because he won't be paid by the scrap buying companies for these. But after discussion with my scrap collector (who is also very interested to contribute in his own way to this cause),he has agreed to pass on these to the scrap buying company. He also suggested me an alternative to give these plastic covers to the ragpickers or to the person who comes in the garbage truck who get paid also for these. Eventually these thin plastic get used for either road laying or any other good purpose. Though I don't know the technicalities, I have got confirmation from them that these don't go to landfill anyway. Even the thin plastic covers in which we get sambhar from the hotels when we order food, are stored after rinsing and drying them (in the small basket that i keep in the kitchen for drying milk covers)

5. I have bins labelled for all of the above and the scrap collector comes once a month to take all these. After doing all the above, what is left in my daily waste are only things that cannot be decomposed (like mango seed), dust, pieces of paper, diapers etc...and they are all mostly dry. I have made covers with 2 layers of newspapers of various sizes and I keep the waste inside that cover (Thanks to youtube video for teaching me how to make newspaper cover in one minute :-)) Since our garbage bin is outside the apartment gate, my maid carries this paper cover to throw it there.

Thanks again to Ravi, Ashwin and all other CTC members who inspired me to do this.

Happy Home!! Happy Composting!! - Suresh Veerasamy

Details:

Suresh Veerasamy

08/06/2016

Large 3T Khamba

I had waited a week to post this, just to assess the quantum of solid waste that one can save from being dumped to water bodies..
Started my home composting from last Saturday and could save almost 7-8 kg of food waste from being dumped off... That’s a massive 300kgs a year saved from being dumped.....!!!!
Special thanks to Chennai Trekking Club's initiative..

What are you waiting for...???