Zero waste policy: Green hero's home now a must-visit
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Zero-waste-policy-Green-heros-home-now-a-must-visit/articleshow/5238001.cms
Bishwanath Ghosh, TNN 17 November 2009
Chennai, S Indra Kumar
Zero Waste
CHENNAI: For S Indra Kumar, a machine operator-turned-environment
activist, charity begins at home. No chemical, save the soap he uses,
enters his home. And no waste is ever let out. This makes his modest
dwelling in Pammal, the southern suburbs of Chennai, a "zero-waste
home".
He didn't have to read rocket science to turn his residence into an
"green" home. He is inspired by the simple, age-old chemical process
that every housewife in India is familiar with. "If you leave a bowl
of milk behind for five days, how will it smell when you come back?
Rotten, right? But if you put a drop of buttermilk into it before you
leave, you'll find fresh curd!" beams Indra Kumar (59), whose
1986-built house has now become a pilgrimage for those wanting to do
their bit for the environment — be it farmers from Arakkonam or school
students from Chennai.
"Here, smell it," says Indra Kumar, as he opens the lid of the septic
tank in his garden. One instinctively recoils, but its contents look
as harmless as accumulated rain water. "Is there smell?" No. "Do you
see any mosquitoes?" No. "That's because I treat sewage with a certain
bacteria," he declares. The bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, neutralise
the sewage to turn waste into manure for plants in his garden.
Then, the earthworm takes care of the liquid waste from the kitchen.
Under the drainage pipe, Kumar has buried some worms which not only
digest the organic matter but also feed on mosquito eggs. And at the
spot where water from the bathroom drains out, he grows cama plant,
whose roots treat the soap water.
Solid waste from kitchen is collected in an earthen pot and dried
cowdung sprinkled on it periodically. "Any smell?" Indra Kumar asks.
No. "Any fly?" No. "In 60 days this will turn into beautiful compost,"
he exclaims. He treats leaves from the garden similarly: collects them
in drums and sprinkles dried cowdung on them till they turn into
compost. "This way, you give back to nature what it gives you. People
often burn dry leaves, which only causes pollution."
Indra Kumar's fascination for composting is understandable because in
2004, he took voluntary retirement from Areva (formerly the English
Electric Company, where he worked as a machine-man and then as a
purchase supervisor) to take up vermi-composting. Today, as the
president of Home Exnora, he is a sought-after man who is called by
universities and citizens' group to speak on waste management. "If you
control pollution at the micro-level, it doesn't require any money or
the government's involvement. People only think about what they eat or
what they drink. But what about the air that you breathe non-stop,
right from the time you are born?" Kumar asks.
