Ekam Eco - Composting Kit

Composting is the process of converting the Kitchen Waste into a form that can be used as natural fertilizer for plants. It’s a highly effective way to treat solid waste from households at a local setup.

Over the last year, many cities across India have seen more and more institutions adopt composting of wet waste generated out of their facilities. In large cities, treating organic waste at a centralized facility has proved very costly and polluting. In fact, municipalities dump huge amount of organic waste in dumps and land fills.

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has decided to make composting a must. This move has the potential to cut down the solid waste volume by 60%.

Basically, composting your kitchen waste is breaking down of the complex compounds in the organic matter into a form which can boost the fertility of soil. By composting, we ensure that the nutrients we get from vegetables is returned to where it started from- the soil. It preserves the nutrients in the food chain.

60% of all the waste coming out of an urban household is Wet Waste. It’s a challenge to collect, segregate and treat Organic matter at a centralized facility. Asking people to share the load and take care of their waste, seems the appropriate step. A few facts that lead to the conclusion —

1. In New Delhi, 85% of the city’s sanitation budget goes into transportation of waste from the local collection centers to central landfills. Three out of city’s four landfills are overdue for closure.
2. The urban local bodies spend approximately Rs.500 to Rs.1500 per tonne on solid waste for collection, transportation, treatment and disposal. About 60–70% of this amount is spent on collection, 20–30% on transportation and less than 5% on final disposal.
3. About 0.2 million tonnes of municipal solid waste is generated in India every day. That is approximately ~70 million tonnes annually. Per capita waste generation in major Indian cities ranges from 0.3-0.8 Kg. 60% of this municipal waste can be made into Compost.
4. 45 million tonnes, 3 million trucks worth, of garbage is untreated and disposed of by municipal authorities everyday in an unhygienic manner leading to health issues and environmental degradation.

5. Think of the amount of fuel we burn during the transportation of the wet waste? It’s quite significant and can be put to better use. Or no use at all.

6. Composting is a very easy, safe and sustainable to 60% of all the waste coming out of our houses. It doesn’t require any additional resources like water or electricity. Yes, the TV ads you’re seeing probably make you believe that it does need electricity. But you can do it without.

7. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan hopes to achieve a goal of Clean India by 2019. The Wet Waste from our house are huge nuisance during transportation, causing pollution at hundreds of collection centers across metros

8. In cities like Mumbai, the Dump has reached heights of 20 floor buildings. The city is now forced to tackle it immediately, because it causes problems in aviation.

9. Aren’t you fond of the plants outside in the garden? The compost that results out of the process, is a rich source of Nitrogen, Carbon and a lot of other minerals that plants find yummy. Why don’t you consider growing a small kitchen garden?

10. Give Back What You Borrow: These are essential nutrients in our food value chain that go waste when our cities can’t treat them at centralized facilities. It’s only humane to think of the value chain and make sure living creatures beyond us get the nutrients they deserve.

11. The food that you eat is grown at farms, which use chemical fertilizers. Over time, the buildup of these chemicals in our food value chain can be toxic. In fact, many a times it already has. Using your natural compost in a kitchen garden to grow a few vegetables can rid of at least a part of the toxins.

12. In case you’re fond of gardening and use compost, you’re probably spending at least a $100 every year. A home based compost system will cost you ~ $40. It makes for a smart investment.

13. It feels good. In case you’ve young folks growing up at home, it sets an amazing example of ecological mindfulness. Builds Character. A child who sees parents caring so much for nature, will grow up to be a fine lad(y).

14. Despite multiple judicial orders, cleaning professionals across India continue to work in inhuman conditions. Additionally, there is shortage of municipal staff. It’s a wise step to share the load. Your Garbage, Your Responsibility. Seems fine to me.

15. It is not possible to always have a Bio Gas Converting plant in a society. It require ample amount of setup and an ongoing maintenance cost. Composting on the other hand is cheap and can be managed inside the home boundaries, in a backyard or in the kitchen.

16. Banana Peels can be put to better use !

Although, there are a variety of ways to produce compost from the wet waste, for the purpose of this post we’ll think of primarily two types — Aerobic and Anaerobic Composting.

As the name suggests, the processes differ majorly whether they use oxygen or not to breakdown the complex food into plant friendly compost. Interestingly, you can choose either of them for your backyard. Let’s take a closer look at each of them

Aerobic composting takes place when you use above-ground containers, freestanding pile or a simple basket with perforations. As long as air is available, aerobic decomposition takes place much faster than the anaerobic method, meaning you have to wait less for the compost. However, if during the process supply of oxygen gets limited, the process may slow down.

To make sure that decomposition takes place at a good speed, you may want to add some perforations to your container. Alternatively, keep your pile of organic materials so that there is sufficient air circulation in that area.

One simple precaution is to stir the pile once in while and mix it well. In case you are doing it outside in a heap, you may fork it to an adjacent location. Typically, you’d need to do this 2–3 during the entire decomposition process.

Usually this bacteria which breaks down the food, also releases a lot of heat. This heat kills off most of the pathogens present and make the composting safe. Ideally, the composting process is free of any foul odor. In case, you sense a bad odor, your compost is too wet or wasn’t mixed well. Adding brown parts such as twigs, fallen dry leaves, coffee or coconut fiber like moisture absorbing materials can help. A well made compost pile has a very pleasing, earthly aroma.

Anaerobic decomposition takes place in lack of oxygen, primarily in underground pits. You just need to dig a hole, prepare a organic mix to fill it. Seal the hole with a layer of soil and work starts. Typically, anaerobic digestion takes longer than the organic digestion process.

There are a few limitations to the process. It’s is first impossible to monitor the development of the compost without digging into the ground. Also, the process releases an unpleasant odor as a by product. Often, pathogens present in the mixture aren’t completed destroyed due to the cooler conditions underground.

Despite these disadvantages, anaerobic composting is the best way to go in some situations:

• If you had a huge party and there’s lots of leftover. One time loads of wet, smelly kitchen waste is best dealt this way.
• If you garden has gone as a massive overhaul and you’ve pulled out many plants. It’s easy to dispose them off underground.
• You want to improve the soil structure and fertility of the land.
• You don’t want to spend any time monitoring the aeration and progress of decomposing process.