CORRECT MANAGEMENT IN YOUR KITCHEN OF SEPARATE DRY AND WET WASTE

I was following up with a neighbor on keeping the wet and dry waste separate in his flat kitchen. We had last spoken on global warming a few weeks ago. He is a very conscientious man, doing a lot of good to the environment. But these were the mistakes he was making with wet and dry wastes (which hopefully would be corrected after yesterday’s conversation) :

·       He had kept two waste bins for wet and dry waste – one green, one blue. I explained it was not necessary to keep two separate bins – as the waste collector did not have two separate receptacles to collect wet and dry waste and the wet and dry wastes would be mixed in his cart.

·       A big plastic packet would be best for dry waste, hung at the tap below the sink – the kind of packets we get with presents or with big items we buy. we can even buy and keep such packets – as this one plastic packet will save all the rest of the dry waste from being mixed with wet waste and will be recycled itself in any case.

·       The neighbour had not monitored that his maids were putting dry and wet wastes in the different spaces for them correctly. One needs to check for about a week or so and then everyone is habituated.

·        His wet waste bin had a plastic packet into which the wet waste went and was given to the waste collector. I told him plastic mixed in wet waste would keep it from composting in oxygen rich conditions which was best. When wet waste was buried below plastics, the wet waste composted without oxygen – giving rise to lots of methane which was lethal for global warming.

·       In our home we just tear up newspapers in napkin sized pieces, kept ready in a stack in kitchen for various tasks. Such newspaper pieces went to the bottom of the wet waste bin and sides also if needed after it had been washed and dried. They kept the bin from getting too dirty and could be composted with the wet waste.

·       The neighbor was giving out the dry waste daily even if in a separate packet. I told him such small packets would not be collected by rag pickers and would remain mixed in wet waste. Dry waste needs to be stored in the kitchen only in big packets and till it is stuffed full. Takes about a week or so until it is a big bag. Then it has to be securely tied on the top and given to waste collector. Such a bag is worth 100-150 rs. to the ragpicker and is immediately plucked out and processed for the recycling industry.

CORRECT MANAGEMENT IN YOUR KITCHEN OF SEPARATE DRY AND WET WASTE KEEPS YOUR KITCHEN DRAIN CLEAN, YOUR WET WASTE BIN CLEAN AND NOT OVERFLOWING, AND GIVES YOU THE SATISFACTION THAT YOUR WASTE IS NOT CONTRIBUTING TO GLOBAL WARMING MUCH. AND IT SUPPORTS POOR PEOPLE. IT IS EASY – WE HAVE DONE IT FOR 18 YEARS. 

Making compost in 50 days from Day 1 of putting wet waste in the compost bin !

Khad (compost) from our compost box has been working well since about March 2018. No food waste is now given out to trash. Our earlier knowledgeable farmer housekeeper said it was as good as gobar ki khad (cow dung manure).

We are sold the composting bin by a local industrialist as part of his philanthropic work, for about 250-300 rs. a set, as I recall : 1. a re-used industrial bin which has been perforated on all the sides including top and bottom. 2. a bag of coco-peat which comes from the coconut tree. 3. a panja to turn the waste with.

Close up of the perforations in the compost bin..

Here's our kitchen waste, ready to be put into the composting bin. we leave out only narial ka khol (coconut shell), aam ki gitak (mango seed) etc. as they would take too long to compost. Those are bagged and put out to the waste collector when bag is full. but they are not mixed with dry waste such as paper, plastic, rubber which is easily sale-able and collected in a big bag until brimming full, then tied a knot on and put out. We dont use plastic bags as lining for kitchen waste. cut newspapers do the job perfectly well.

When starting out a new bin, one puts two fist-fulls of the coco-peat at bottom.

One empties the wet waste bin in the composting bin. one then washes and leaves the wet waste bin to dry. the second wet waste bin, already washed and put to dry the previous day, is put in the kitchen.

One then adds a fistful of coco-peat to the wet waste.

One mixes the coco-peat into the wet waste using the panja provided. one closes the bin cover. at our place, the bin is full in about 20 days. the wet waste in the  is then given a good mix up with the panja and left to the side somewhere where too much rain cant get into it. In about a month, it looks mature and black the way you saw in the first image.

we then normally put the compost in our plant pots and kyaris where it composts further. you can turn the soil a bit to hide it if you like.  We dont need to dry the compost as you saw in the first picture. we were drying it this time only to use it like the coco-peat bag - so one need not source coco peat again and again. one can just use the dried compost as a base layer and then to add a fist full everytime you put wet waste in the composting bin.

so at our rate of generation of wet wastes (two of us + 1-2 staff + guests over perhaps once a week), we need three compost bins which we have. but a family with less number of people to cater to, would still need two compost bins if they dont want to throw any wet wastes out, which we dont.