Turning trash into treasure

The Ice Bucket Challenge maybe passé, but reviving the famous trend  with a twist, are seven people from the city who are crusading for solid and wet waste management. However, this challenge is not to drench oneself in chilled water, but to build one’s own compost pit in anything as small as an old bucket.

On International Mother Earth Day, the group, founded by Naganand Rayikanti, kicked off their campaign of SwatchaGraha, challenging people to start their own terrace or indoor kitchen gardens, by segregating their waste and building compost pits. Talking about the initiative, Naganand says, “It takes three months for wet waste to decompose in compost pits. People shy away from it because they feel like it will start smelling, or because they don’t want to wait so long to see results. So, with SwatchaGraha, we plan to set up demo stalls in public parks and horticulture expos to spread awareness about composting that can happen within a week. In the pit, we introduce decomposing microbes, which makes the process faster,” he says, and explains that it was all inspired by an episode of Satyameva Jayate about waste management.

Aarti Chowdari, another team member, talks about how they came together. “We have all known each other for five years. I am an admin for the Facebook group of Intipanta — Organic Kitchen Terrace Gardening, where we have more than 3,000 active members. Some of us, along with people from the Sustainable Gardening group, started by Naganand, have conducted about 250-300 workshops so far, on this subject. As a child whenever I was sad, I used to go to my backyard, climb up a tree and pour my heart out to it. My family was a little worried. The film The Inconvenient Truth  really struck a chord, and the turning point came when I had my daughter. I wanted to give the best care for her. The veggies and fruits that we get now are full of pesticides. I couldn’t trust organic farms either, so I decided to start growing my own vegetables. Now I am 70 per cent self-sufficient,” she says, explaining that the Facebook pages are actually just a way of encouraging people to take up composting.

Shobha Patimidi has turned her 400 square yards of space into what is called a permaculture garden. She explains, “It is something like a natural ecosystem —  very similar to a forest. Now, I don’t have to do anything and the garden takes care of itself. It bears fruits and flowers, and the seeds that fall on the ground, give rise to more saplings,” she says, and adds that it has reached this stage only because of her compost. Summer is the best time to start this since decomposition happens faster.

The team, that includes Vrishali Ingle Patil, Nita Prasad, Nalini V.M. and Ramana Lanka look up to the likes of Vani Murthy and Subhash Palekar, two well-known crusaders of sustainability, organic farming and waste management.