Convert Kitchen Waste into Compost
Rising concern over the increasing rate of garbage dumping in the city has led the civic administration and other institutes to take proactive steps. A wet garbage management bag is claimed to be an effective answer for all residential wet garbage problems.
The Brainchild
Invented by husband-wife duo Rajendra and Madhuri Ladkat of city-based Sanjeevani Disaster Research and Development Center, this bag converts all the wet garbage into compost using earthworms. The bag is firm and has a reticulation that divides the bag into two compartments, allowing the separation of vermicompost and compost tea.
“This bag takes care of common problems faced in vermicomposting, namely bad odour, moisture, insects, pests, and worms escaping. It is low cost (available for only 888), durable (for two years or more, depending on the usage), resistant to fungus, low maintenance, easy to remove compost tea and vermicompost, lightweight, movable, attractive, user friendly and helps the municipal corporation in wet garbage management,” said Madhuri.
The Design
The rectangular bag of non-woven porous spun-bond polypropylene material has a long handle with which the bag can easily be hung. The upper compartment of the bag consists of a zip and fastener, through which the wet garbage is put. The upper compartment also holds the earthworms on the mesh. The tubular plastic framework maintains the shape of the bag. The lower compartment also has a zip and fastener through which the plastic tray is inserted to collect the compost tea. A lot of water has to be poured into the bag daily to maintain humid and wet conditions that help escalate the earthworms’ activity.
The bag’s material allows proper air circulation, helping the earthworms to thrive comfortably and preventing garbage from rotting and stinking. A few inches above the bottom of the bag, a nylon mesh is stitched to filter the vermicompost collected in the lowermost part of the bag. A zip has been fitted in the bottommost part of the bag to collect vermicompost regularly. The closed bag protects earthworms from flies, birds, ants, rats, and other rodents.
Instructions to be followed
The bag must be protected from sunlight and rain. It must be preferably kept on the balcony or in the shade. The bag can decompose up to 1 kg of wet garbage daily. However, when the load of 3 kg or so is put in one go, the bag should not be filled for an entire week.
Either dechlorinated or stale, water must be poured daily in the half-filled bag. The approximate amounts are: during the monsoon season: half a cup; during the winter season: one cup; and during the summer season: one cup.
The wet garbage to be put in the bag can include regular kitchen damp garbage such as vegetable stems, fruit peels, onions, garlic, potatoes, and the like. Egg shells can be put in, but decomposing takes six months.
How to get the bag?
Cost of the bag: 1888
Contact Rajendra Ladkat: 9226759450
Address: Sairaj, S No 92/20, Shrikrishna Society, Pune-Mundhwa Road, near Kacha- ravasti bus stop
The Experiment
“We distributed the bags to about 100 households and requested honest feedback. The users complained of the metallic zips rusting, thereby causing a problem opening and closing the lowermost part of the bag. The earlier bag did not have the tubular plastic framework to give it a proper shape,” said Madhuri, adding that they replaced the bags with upgraded ones. The bags are prepared in bulk by the young women from Shasikiya Mahila Rajagruha, an NGO in Mundhwa.
The Future
The couple has patented the technology and plans to sell the upgraded bags for 888 to about 1,000 households and get their feedback. “We aim to work on the technical aspect of the product for improvement. Any agency or institution is open to learning about technology from us. The PMC can also support us in this initiative on a larger scale,” she said.