Arijit Mitra, CEO and founder of Green Techlife, quit his corporate job to start a business that can add value to the environment. Using his home as a garage, he first designed SmartGarden, a self-watering organic garden suitable for terraces and balconies. Now, his company has come up with SmartBin, a kitchen dustbin that converts food waste into compost for plants.
“I know people who are used to having their own garden, but when they move to the city, they find it difficult to raise even a few plants leave alone a garden. People want to contribute to the environment but find it hard in urban spaces. That’s when a simple concept like SmartBin could fit well into their busy schedules,” says Arijit.
SmartBin is a 20-litre bucket into which one disposes food waste. Fill the bin with waste chopped into small pieces, adding 1 tsp of Bio Bloom — a microbe that prevents rotting — every time till the bin is full. It takes about two weeks for the waste to get pickled. This pickle should be layered with dry compost and stored in another container. In three to six weeks, this will transform into compost.
Even though SmartBin was meant to create compost, its liquid by-product has been found to be just as useful. “During the pickling stage, the food waste generates a liquid that must be drained using the tap on SmartBin. This liquid, which we call SmartBrew, unclogs pipes by eating away the grime; moreover it is an excellent organic liquid fertilizer. We’ve had customers telling us incidents where the liquid saved dying plants.”
A SmartBin costs Rs. 2,295, but its costs can be easily recovered in the long run, says Arijit. “On an average, a family of four generates about 8 kg of high-grade compost per month and a packet of compost comes at a price of Rs. 40 per kg. So, a family generates compost worth Rs. 320 per month. Even if you subtract Rs. 82 per month of Bio Bloom, this would still leave you with Rs. 2,856 in just one year and a SmartBin can last up to 15 years. So these initial costs will seem paltry in the long run.”
The company delivers SmartBins across the country. For details, call 92292 24424 or visit www.greentechlife.in.
