Like most cities, Bangalore has a massive garbage disposal issue. Four years ago, it was already a problem, but nobody was willing to acknowledge it . Back then, we had just moved from an apartment complex to an independent house. In the apartment complex, we ignored the problem too and put our garbage outside the front door every morning; somewhere between 9 a.m. and noon, it disappeared. People visiting our complex before the clearance were treated to the dubious charm of garbage bags stacked outside each apartment on their way in. It says a lot that we didn’t think this issue was even worth commenting about, far less fixing. The garbage was cleared every day and that seemed good enough. Of course, we didn’t spare a second thought to the garbage’s eventual destination. It went. Mission accomplished.
So, when we moved into an independent house at the other end of town, it came as a shock to find that the garbage collection van came only three times a week. What’s more, the time and day of its arrival was erratic. It could come at any time of any day or as happened often, not arrive at all. So, there were many days when our garbage, which contained not only remnants of chicken and fish, but non-degradable items like diapers, lay unclaimed. The locality also had more than its fair share of street dogs which fancied attacking the bags. We tried to prevent this by placing our bags atop gate posts, but to no avail. All the while, the solution was staring right at us — composting.
It was Amit, my husband, who kicked off our composting endeavour. He researched on the internet about composting, and set up our earthenware compost pot. I was not pleased at all. Sure, I didn’t want my garbage adorning my gatepost, far less the road; but I didn’t want it sitting and rotting in a pot outside our kitchen either. Not only did I think it was unhygienic, I was convinced it would smell and attract pests like cockroaches and rats. To a certain extent, my fears came true. But on the other hand, it was not as bad as I had imagined. We didn’t get any rats; there may have been cockroach but we kept the pot far enough to keep them away from the kitchen.
For a brief period, we had an explosion of maggots which freaked me out, but then I found out that they are actually harmless and we eventually found out how to handle the compost mix to get rid of the maggots completely. It did smell, but only when we were up close. If you stood three feet away, you really couldn’t tell. So, how did the compost pit work? We scooped all the kitchen waste into one of those plastic containers you get when ordering takeaway food and emptied it into the compost pot each night. It took about four months for everything to decompose and in the end, you had a lovely, earthy, coffee-powder-like substance that was compost. We’ve been composting for four years now, and I’ve discovered that it is a simple and largely effortless way of putting a little bit back into the earth.
With composting, the volume of garbage we generated reduced drastically, and the stench practically disappeared.
Dogs also didn’t seem to find our garbage bags appealing anymore. All the same, we still filled up a garbage bag once or twice a week and of course, that didn’t always coincide with the garbage collector’s unpredictable schedule. So, we decided to reduce our garbage even further. We now segregate practically every bit of paper, plastic, metal, or glass that comes into our house and drop it off with a junk/scrap dealer. Our children are enthusiastic participants in this process and I’m happy to have to put out only one bag of garbage every two weeks or so. And what’s in that one bag? Mostly just dust, human and cat hair, and tiny plastic pieces from the packets that kitchen supplies come in. You should try it too.
This is the fourth of a five-part series about the green initiatives the writer has used for her home in Bangalore
