If You Have a Garden,Then it’s Right Time for Composting

Like many other developing countries Pakistan is facing serious environmental problems. One of them is solid waste management (SWM) .Currently over all solid waste collection 50% ( average) of quantities generated .For cities to be efficiently clean ,either this collection should reach 70% or there should be extensive reduction in waste .

A study undertook by Ministry of Environment reveals that on average waste generation in Pakistan is from 0.283 kg/capita/day to 0.613 kg/capita/day or 1.896 kg/house/day to 4.29 kg/house/day, where half of the waste consists of food articles and scraps. Waste separation at home reduces the costs for collection and segregation of waste. This can be done at house hold level effectively by composting. Composting not only reduces the volume of waste generated but also provides homemade organic fertilizer to be used in your backyard.

Kitchen / backyard composting can be done simply by putting organic degradable things into a large bin ,where it must be kept in mind that not all organics can be thrown into bin i.e. meat , fish , bones and non-biodegradables . The food scraps break down into a nutrient-rich mixture that is applied into your garden soil which is often referred as “black gold”.

In Pakistan we usually don’t have separate bins for plant peals and cuttings in kitchen but if you do so it’ll save time for segregation. If you are up to composting, purchase a black polythene dustbin with a tightly fitted lid of a size to fit under your sink/shelve, later you can place in garden in sunny but semi shaded place. Place a large, leak proof sheet inside & slowly start filling it with used tea bags, egg shells, vegetable peelings etc. But remember never add any remains of cooked food, oil, fish, meat or chicken. If the compost bin is kept sealed totally, and the lid firmly closed, just opening it for a moment will prevent it from any bad odor.

Add only dry pieces. Keep it away from water courses .Ideal compost have greens and brown in equal concentrations. Woody items usually decay very slowly so they should be chopped or shredded first. It should be regularly well shaken for aeration, this activates aerobic bacterial activity otherwise reduced compost will be the result.

Decomposition usually takes about two months. Once complete you can use this into your garden and increase yield. Apply it as mulch or spread a layer over the soil. it conditions the soil and thus less water is required . compost prevents unwanted matter out of landfills thus minimize the burden to some extent.

Being a Pakistani you can play your part to keep your country cleaner and healthier by , on first hand reducing your needs and on other by adopting sustainable ideas as much as possible and composting is one of them!
This Article is Written By “Qanita Arshad” Author At Envirocivil.com

Originally Published by www.envirocivil.com