Managing waste One worm at a time

[Music]

more than 10 years back

we visited a city called velour in tamil

nadu

where we went to check out the

decentralized waste management

out there and there i saw huge tanks

that were converting kitchen waste into

wormy

composting with the help of earthworms

and for the first time in my life i held

these worms in

my hand and i was totally fascinated

and fell in love with him i returned

home

back to bangalore with a precious cargo

a box of earthworms i left it

out in my terrace the night and the next

morning they were all gone

looks like the early bird got the worms

this loss was only a beginning into the

fascinating world

of composting i experimented

with different kinds of composting

aerobic anaerobic vermicomposting

and also with different systems

my city bangalore generates around 5000

tons of

waste every day and i generate

around 1 kg of kitchen waste every day

we cook three meals a day and for the

past

10 years i have not shown even a single

peel

out of my home composting

is of experiential learning

and an amazing everyday action

to contribute positively to this planet

this rich organic waste usually

ends up getting trapped in the landfills

generating methane the deadly

greenhouse gas impacting the climate

change

instead of polluting this resource can

be converted

into living soil to grow our food

getting teams together to get more

people excited about composting

became a mission in our lives we did fun

things together

after we caught the composting bugs

setting up

garden litter composting models running

around searching for

cow dung waking up early in the morning

to go and sweep the roads

and bring back precious resources that’s

tree

shed in certain seasons and compost them

all

i get thousands of visitors on my

terrace to see urban composting

processes

we share our practices by conducting

workshops

demo talks road shows and standing

in stalls and events and of course using

social media

all the myths people have about

composting is being addressed

if done the right way it is earth

smelling material

and does not need too much space or time

talking trash started attracting

thousands of followers

and with my insta handlers worm rani it

created curiosity for my pose

my life got so much more meaningful than

ever before

as i shared this magical composting

journey

with others got them to experience this

important process

being a part of sw marty was incredible

it was like a team of crazy

practitioners doing everything to make

the city deal with the waste the best

way they can

once i made pot fulls of gold black gold

the next step was to start growing a

garden and i have

never ever grown a single plant in my

life till then

growing food was one of the best things

that happened to me

it gave me an access to understanding

safe food and nutrition

without chemicals and pesticides and

paved a path

towards sustainable living there are

large-scale degradation of soil

due to modern agricultural practices and

it is so important to put organic matter

back to regenerate the land i soon

became a part of a movement in bangalore

who grow food on their terraces and

balconies

they were the vibrant urban farmers

there were thousands of terrace

gardeners

getting together and learning through

sharing exchanging seeds

saplings and harvest there was a

tremendous sense of joy

as each of us learned to live more

consciously and sustainably

we at swmrt realized that it was

important to roll out campaigns

to get more people to participate in the

decentralized

models in 2016

we launched swachha graha it was

about creating three green spots in our

homes

compost grow and cook

we invited and continue to invite people

to take the one week challenge to keep

our kitchen waste

away from the landfill people got to

experience composting

and growing food in small spaces the key

to sustainable living

is with each conscious action we take to

contribute positively

towards this beautiful planet few things

that we can do

one composting at home two refusing to

buy food that’s grown with chemicals

three sourcing food that’s grown in

natural agricultural practices

cutting down on processed food are the

few actions we can take

as our health is directly connected to

the soiled health

taking responsibility of the waste we

generate could be the best gift

we can leave behind for the future my

daily mantra

i will compost all my green waste for

the rest of my life

and i invite each of you to experience

this commitment

to this beautiful planet