“Oh! Another bin”, was the sarcastic response of most of the people to the ‘My Green Bin’ promoted by the NGO Green Environ on the premises of the Kozhikode Corporation on Monday. Those who have over the years seen various attempts of waste management of the corporation - such as pipe compost, biogas plant and recently the aerobin compost - take it with a pinch of salt when volunteers say that they will provide regular service and follow up on each bin they sell.
“The problem with most of our waste management schemes was that they were subsidised and supported by local bodies. Once the support is gone, the project falls flat,” said Pramod Mannadath, one of the board members of Green Environ, declaring that they were not seeking any subsidies from the Corporation.
“Waste management projects should be taken care of the same way you take care of an electronic device at home. But people have a lackadaisical attitude about them when they get it free of cost. If you pay for it, you will care for it,” he said.
‘My Green Bin’, manufactured by Chennai-based Greenrich Grow India, is a fibre bin to compost the household organic waste with the help of microbes. The Green Environ that markets it in Kerala claims that it could decompose anything from fruit waste to the seemingly impossible chicken feathers and human hair, and has the capacity to hold waste for at least 80 days and can be used for up to 10 years.
Separate bins have been designed for the use of small households, big ones, house complexes and shops. The price range is from ₹2,950 to around ₹2 lakh depending on the size. The waste gets converted into dry manure which can be removed after 80 days while the liquid content will be collected separately in a tank below the bin, without producing any foul smell. “The compost tea thus collected is good for pest control and as a toilet cleaner,” he said.
Green Environs has a solution to the question of what to do with all that manure if you are not into farming.
“We collect the manure and compost tea at the rate of ₹2 and ₹10 per litre respectively. It has great market,” he said.
