Part 2: How to compost at home : Using the Daily Dump
by Bhavani Prakash
In Part 1 of this blog, we had talked of How to compost at home – using container pots outlining the composting process using resources at home, what to compost and what not to compost, the “greens” and “browns” to use and to what proportion, as well as to encourage you to convert your garbage into a useful resource for your garden.
In this second part, we continue on the theme of home composting, using aesthetically designed terracotta pots that can be stacked one on top of the other. This makes it really easy to use in small spaces like in kitchens and balconies or apartments. Conceived by the award winning designer, Poonam Bir Kasturi, these pots are called the Daily Dump and are available as an open source licence for anyone to copy the designs and spread the practice of composting.
We had excluded cooked food including meat, fish and bones in the previous method. Using the Daily Dump, the main thing to note is that the terracotta pots are heavy, so they are not prone to vermins or pests. The composting method which allows for the usual kitchen waste as well as cooked food, uses an accelerator for decomposition, called Biocullum which is available in India. You could find an alternative EM (Effective Microorganisms) formula from your local nursery where you live. Also use equal amounts of “browns” by way of sawdust, dried leaves and so on.
The pots or “Kambhas” as they are also known, work as in this diagram.
Here’s a video explaining how the Daily Dump can be used (no audio)
Here’s a cool fridge sheet for the Daily Dump which shows what can and can’t be composted.
Mrs Navneeth Raghavan: Chennai Clone for the Daily Dump
I had the opportunity to visit Mrs Navneeth Raghavan in Chennai, India recently. She is a “Clone” i.e., she has used the open source designs of Daily Dump to manufacture and sell the terracotta pots at her store. She explained to me how Poonam Bir Kasturi, the Bangalore based originator of the concept had encouraged her to start making Daily Dumps in her city and how the different distributors or clones in India have come together as a supportive network. Mrs Raghavan hopes to see many more clones in Chennai, and that people start composting on a wider scale.
And we hope to see a revolution too, in the way you think of your waste and manage your waste. Composting is an easy, cost-effective, and a wonderful way to convert trash into resource. You’ll also be doing a huge service to the planet and your descendants by helping keep tons of garbage out of landfills, and toxic poisons out of water, air and soil that come from plastic bags.
Happy composting!
Further links you may be interested in:
EWTT : Poonam Bir Kasturi : Designing the Daily Dump (which features an interview with the lady who behind this innovative design concept)
EWTT: Part 1: How to compost at home – using container pots
The Daily Dump website
Be a Daily Dump Clone
Short URL: http://www.ecowalkthetalk.com/blog/?p=3636
Posted by admin
on Jul 24 2010. Filed under Composting.
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