Wednesday, March 19, 2008

EM - Technique to covert kitchen waste into manure

Here is one of the products which can be used very effectively to convert garbage into very good quality manure.
EM - Effective micro-organisms are extremely beneficial, Eco-friendly and totally harmless. EM-solution is very economical and easy to use.

EM solution can be classified into 3 categories.

1. Original EM (EM-1)
2. Extended EM (EM-2)
3. Rice Wash EM (EM-3)

EM-1
Made only at the factory. It has dormant micro-organisms and is used to make extended EM solutions. Instruction booklets are also available along with this.

Extended EM solution (EM-2)
Fill one liter-size plastic bottle with plain water leaving about 2'' on top. Corporation water contains Chlorine so please leave it open overnight before use. Add 10ml original EM solution and 2 tbsp of sugar (15gms) to this water. Mix well and keep it airtight away from sunlight in a cool dark place for seven days. Once in two or three days open the lid to let out some gas. This will be ready for use on the 8th day. In cold weather it may take a little longer (about 10 days or more). Shelf life is one month after it is ready.

Rice Wash EM (EM-3) Solution
This EM further enhances properties of EM and makes its use even cheaper. Take 1ltr size plastic bottles number them 1 to 7. When you wash rice for cooking collect first two washes (approximately 1ltr from 250gms of rice). Fill one bottle with this water leaving little space on top (about 2''). This rice water should be used within 4hrs. Add 20ml of EM-2 (Extended EM) and 2tbsps of sugar. Close cap tightly and keep aside for 7 days in a cool place away from sunlight. Repeat the process every day till all the 7 bottles are ready. On the 8th day bottle no1 is ready for use on your kitchen waste. The shelf life of the EM enhanced rice water is one week.
Take 2 or 3 plastic buckets and number them 1 to 3. Empty your kitchen waste (egg shells, bones, stale food, vegetable waste etc) in the first bucket. Pour EM-3 over it till the whole waste is immersed in this solution. Repeat this process every day until the bucket is full, leaving a little space on top to let out the gas. Keep covered for ten days. Repeat the process with the other buckets. After ten days take out the first bucket, sieve the liquid into another empty container. This liquid diluted 300 times with water is excellent liquid manure. Water your pots and plants with this water once in a week or once in ten days. Shelf life of this liquid is about 10 to 15 days. The leftover garbage contents is mixed with 3 times the quantity of soil and stored in gunny bags or empty cement bags for 10 to 15 days after which the fertile soil is ready for use. Use this soil directly in pots or on the ground. This process is very good for flat owners as they can conduct the whole process inside their flat. Extra fertile soil can be used in the society premises. The results are excellent.

Help spread the awareness and use of EM as a social cause. For further clarifications please mail me at sudhaspai@hotmail.com

GARBAGE To GARDENS - A creative approach to recycling By Sudha Pai

What prompted me most to write this article is an advertisement which comes on almost all the T.V. channels ;It shows a filthy pile of garbage and a couple of children and a stray dog walking by the side of this pile, covering their noses and mouths saying ‘CHEE’. One is then seen asking the other whether he had had a bath with Lifebuoy soap. The whole world is seeing this existing reality!

It is a well-known fact that none of the soaps or shampoos can be a solution to this existing grave garbage situation. Whenever you are out for a walk anywhere in any city each and every corner of the street has filthy and stinking garbage bins, overflowing and surrounded by stray dogs, cats, rats, birds and what not. To add to this, there are the little street urchins who put their little hands into this pile of rubbish looking for plastic bags and bottles. In the process, they are exposed to all kinds of infections, cuts and wounds. They too belong to our own society! We can’t afford to shut our eyes to this miserable situation and walk past, if at all we have any conscience within us.

People are spending a lot of money on advertisements and on other social causes like Pulse Polio, bringing film stars etc. And while lots of donations are given to build hospitals; little thought has been given to the real problem, which is also the reason behind all other problems, which has to be tackled.

For the last 58 years however we have not seen anything happening on this front. We too easily blame the government, politicians, corporators and every other public system we can point our fingers at. Fortunately we have not had any minister for garbage affairs, or else, the public would have by now beaten him up! With the increasing population things are only going from bad to worse.

Now coming to the point, first of all we should stop complaining about and at the same time not ignoring this problem. We have to decide to do something worthwhile in our own individual capacity .We should create an awareness that we should do something for ourselves and thereby help our society, surroundings and ultimately the whole environment.

The household garbage should be considered as our own personal problem and responsibility and it should be taken care of at that level. There is no need to form any groups, collecting donations, giving speeches, street shows etc. All one has to do is separate out the garbage into wet (e.g. kitchen waste & garden waste) and dry (e.g. plastic and other stuff) and then make constructive use of this wet garbage. I’m speaking from my personal experience and feel very happy about it. Some of my friends and neighbors in Magarpatta city, Pune are also following these methods and are very happy. They are able to achieve beautiful gardens in their premises.

Lastly you may ask what one can do with the garbage that accumulates. First of all this garbage need not be thrown out of the premises at all. There are few effective methods by which this can be converted into very useful and excellent manure for all kinds of plants with no smell or odour emanating during the process. Unfortunately these products are not advertised on the T.V. channels. If these are advertised in the future, beautiful plants and flowers may replace the garbage pile in the background with healthy children walking by. The viewers would also feel a sense of pride and joy when they see this.

I have been able to use my kitchen waste and garden waste very effectively by using these methods and can very proudly say that none of my household garbage has ever left my premises!

I appeal to all my friends living on this planet, Mother Earth, who has given us everything starting from life itself, followed by pure air to breathe and pure water to drink and good grains, vegetables and fruits to eat and natural healthy surroundings to live in. Let us also reciprocate with our heart and soul and make this a better, healthier and happier place to live.

I would love to share my experience of using all these recycling methods.

Article on Sudha Pai in Times of India - Pune Edition