SHALOM HILLS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
SUBJECT: Waste management
Topic
: Revamping of Vermipits
DATE
: 30th September 2014
PICTURES:
REPORT:
Mr. Rohit from Ecoslate along with smarter dharma – Knowledge provider (Bangalore based
company) will be helping us for revamping of our vermipits. Currently we are putting the dry leaves in
the vermipits. We met canteen in-charge to find out the exact amount of kitchen waste generated
per day.
Around 8 to 10 kgs of kitchen waste is generated per day. Accordingly following action plan was
chalked out and implemented by class VII GSP children
Background:
A good compost is primarily about maintaining healthy carbon to nitrogen ratio.
While nitrogen comes from the food scraps, carbon rich matter includes
branches, stems, dried leaves etc. A healthy compost pile should have much
more carbon than nitrogen. Too much nitrogen makes for a dense, smelly,
slowly decomposing anaerobic mass. Good composting hygiene means covering
fresh nitrogen rich material, which can release odors if exposed to open air, with
carbon rich material, which often exudes a fresh, wonderful smell. If in doubt, always add more
carbon.
Step-by-Step Process:
1. Our school generates around 8-10 kg of food waste daily, for that the ideal pit dimensions
should be: 1-1.5 ft deep and 5-6 ft in length
2. We will divide the pit further into different horizontal sections.
3. following items ready in two different containers:
a. The first container will have dry leaves, branches or any other plant material. This
should include dead or diseased plant material. This will contribute our carbon in the
compost
b. The second container will have all the food waste. Ideally, this should be more of precooked food, left over etc. Cooked food should be as less as possible
c. Ideally, the weight of both containers should be equal
STEPS INVOLVED :
4. Chop as finely as possible all the material present in the two containers
5. Create a layer of dry leaves first
6. Sprinkle small quantity of water
7. Next, create a layer of your food waste
8. Over it, create another layer of dry leaves or plant material
9. Sprinkle some water
10. Over it create a layer of soil
11. Sprinkle some water
12. Cover the pit with another layer of dry leaves
13. Sprinkle some water over the top layer
Once, this is done we can keep adding food waste over it daily with alternate layers of dry plant
material and soil. Keep sprinkling water to keep the compost moist.
As and when one portion of the pit gets full, we can move on the next portion.
A very important part of maintaining a good compost pit is to rotate all the material at least once a
week. This ensures mixing of all material and availability of oxygen in adequate quantities
Class VII children will take up the responsibility of doing the same in their GSP session