Varsha Sriram and Sahil Patil live in the same city. Although they don’t know each other—the former is a 46-year-old senior bank official while the latter is a 16-year-old college student—they have one thing in common. They were both inspired by Satyamev Jayate’s Don’t Waste Your Garbage episode to start composting at home.
Charged up by the show, Varsha Sriram began processing wet waste again.
“I always felt that waste is created by all of us. It not only makes the roads shabby, but also creates so many health hazards,” says Varsha. In a bid to do something to change this, Varsha had earlier taken the initiative to start wet waste processing in her locality. Unfortunately, it did not work out as she had planned.
Then she saw Satyamev Jayate’s episode on solid waste management. “The episode, which showed stories of people working at their individual levels to address this problem, was very inspirational. I was charged up to start again.” Varsha began doing her own research on composting at home. She found a vendor online who sold composting bins and ordered her set.
But is the process difficult or time-consuming? Varsha feels it is neither. She spends just 10-15 minutes a day on managing her wet waste. “It’s all very simple and not an inch of garbage goes out of the house!” she says enthusiastically. “I would definitely give the bins as a house-warming gift, but let me see how they work first.” Her first compost is still a couple of months away but she can’t wait to use it in her kitchen garden.
16-year-old Sahil Patil says composting at home has changed his perspective on life.
Sahil, on the other hand, did not wait to order compost bins. He simply took two unused dustbins to segregate his waste. After seeing the How to Compost video on the Satyamev Jayate website, he discovered that composting wasn’t as difficult as it looks. He says, “I put wet waste, some dried leaves and dried plants from our garden into one bin. I then mixed this with some semi-compost. I also added three earthworms to this mixture, which can quicken the process.”
There have been challenges along the way—the unexpected rains and excessive heat have slowed down the process. But for Sahil, composting at home isn’t just about making natural fertilizer; it’s about helping society. He says the act of composting has changed his perspective on life. “I have learned why waste should be segregated and recycled—it's sad that I didn't compost till now, although better late than never.”
Sahil is also trying to convince his friends in junior college to adopt composting. If all goes well, we may soon have a small army of waste warriors.