NCERT Textbook: Garbage In, Garbage Out | General Science(Prelims) by IRS Divey Sethi - UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


16
Garbage in, Garbage out
W
e throw out so much rubbish
or garbage everyday from our
homes, schools, shops and
offices. The grains, pulses, biscuits, milk
or oil purchased in shops, are packed
in plastic bags or tins. All these
wrapping material go out as garbage.
We sometimes buy things that are
rarely used and often thrown into
the garbage.
We generate so much garbage in our
day-to-day activities! We often throw
groundnut shells on public places, in
buses or trains, after eating the nuts.
We throw away the ticket when we get
off a bus. A child might go on
sharpening pencils just for fun. If we
make mistakes or spill ink on our
notebook, we tear off the sheet and
throw it away. And we also throw away
many domestic wastes such as broken
toys, old clothes, shoes and slippers.
What if the garbage is not removed
from our homes and surroundings? How
do you think, this will harm us? When
safai karamcharis take the garbage from
the bins, where does the garbage go and
what happens to it? Is it possible for all
of this garbage to be changed into
something that will not harm us? Can
we contribute towards this in any way?
We will look for answers to these
questions, in this chapter.
Children from Paheli and Boojho’s
school did a project called ‘Dealing with
Garbage’. We will learn about some of
the things they learnt through this
project.
16.1 DEALING WITH GARBAGE
Safai karamcharis collect the garbage in
trucks and take it to a low lying open
area, called a landfill (Fig. 16.1).
There the part of the garbage that
can be reused is separated out from the
one that cannot be used as such. Thus,
Fig. 16.1 A landfill
The Prime Minister of India launched
the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
The aim of this mission is to create
an open defecation-free India by
2 October 2019.
A Step towards Cleanliness
2022-23
Page 2


16
Garbage in, Garbage out
W
e throw out so much rubbish
or garbage everyday from our
homes, schools, shops and
offices. The grains, pulses, biscuits, milk
or oil purchased in shops, are packed
in plastic bags or tins. All these
wrapping material go out as garbage.
We sometimes buy things that are
rarely used and often thrown into
the garbage.
We generate so much garbage in our
day-to-day activities! We often throw
groundnut shells on public places, in
buses or trains, after eating the nuts.
We throw away the ticket when we get
off a bus. A child might go on
sharpening pencils just for fun. If we
make mistakes or spill ink on our
notebook, we tear off the sheet and
throw it away. And we also throw away
many domestic wastes such as broken
toys, old clothes, shoes and slippers.
What if the garbage is not removed
from our homes and surroundings? How
do you think, this will harm us? When
safai karamcharis take the garbage from
the bins, where does the garbage go and
what happens to it? Is it possible for all
of this garbage to be changed into
something that will not harm us? Can
we contribute towards this in any way?
We will look for answers to these
questions, in this chapter.
Children from Paheli and Boojho’s
school did a project called ‘Dealing with
Garbage’. We will learn about some of
the things they learnt through this
project.
16.1 DEALING WITH GARBAGE
Safai karamcharis collect the garbage in
trucks and take it to a low lying open
area, called a landfill (Fig. 16.1).
There the part of the garbage that
can be reused is separated out from the
one that cannot be used as such. Thus,
Fig. 16.1 A landfill
The Prime Minister of India launched
the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
The aim of this mission is to create
an open defecation-free India by
2 October 2019.
A Step towards Cleanliness
2022-23
156 SCIENCE
Activity 1
Collect the garbage from your house
before it is thrown into the dustbin.
Separate it into  two groups, so that
they have:
Group 1: Garbage from the kitchen —
like fruit and vegetable peels, egg shells,
waste food, tea leaves. Include
newspapers, dry leaves and paper bags
in this group.
Group 2: Pieces of cloth, polythene
bags, broken glass, aluminium wrappers,
nails, old shoes and broken toys.
Now divide the contents of each group
into two separate heaps. Label them
Fig. 16.2 Putting garbage heaps in pits
as A, B, C and D. Put one heap from
Group 1 and one heap from Group 2
into two separate plastic bags. Tie the
mouth of these two bags tightly. Put all
the four heaps in separate pits and
cover them with soil (Fig. 16.2). You
can also use four pots to bury these
garbage heaps.
Remove the soil after four days and
observe the changes in the garbage. A
black colour and no foul smell indicates
that rotting of garbage is complete. Put
the heaps again in the pits and cover
with the soil. Observe again after every
two days and note your observations as
suggested. Did the garbage.
(i) rot completely and not smell?
(ii) rot only partially?
(iii) rot almost completely, but still
smells bad?
(iv) not change at all?
Garbage in which heap was seen to
rot and which did not?
Enter options (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) in
the columns of Table 16.1 based on your
Paheli did wonder as to what
could be useful garbage? Why
was it thrown away in the first
place?  Is there some garbage that
is not actually garbage?
the garbage has both useful and non-
useful components. The non-useful
component is separated out. It is then
spread over the landfill and then
covered with a layer of soil. Once the
landfill is completely full, it is usually
converted into a park or a play ground.
For the next 20 years or so, no building
is constructed on it. To deal with
some of the useful components of
garbage, compost making areas are
developed near the landfill. What is
compost? Let us learn about it, from the
following activity.
2022-23
Page 3


16
Garbage in, Garbage out
W
e throw out so much rubbish
or garbage everyday from our
homes, schools, shops and
offices. The grains, pulses, biscuits, milk
or oil purchased in shops, are packed
in plastic bags or tins. All these
wrapping material go out as garbage.
We sometimes buy things that are
rarely used and often thrown into
the garbage.
We generate so much garbage in our
day-to-day activities! We often throw
groundnut shells on public places, in
buses or trains, after eating the nuts.
We throw away the ticket when we get
off a bus. A child might go on
sharpening pencils just for fun. If we
make mistakes or spill ink on our
notebook, we tear off the sheet and
throw it away. And we also throw away
many domestic wastes such as broken
toys, old clothes, shoes and slippers.
What if the garbage is not removed
from our homes and surroundings? How
do you think, this will harm us? When
safai karamcharis take the garbage from
the bins, where does the garbage go and
what happens to it? Is it possible for all
of this garbage to be changed into
something that will not harm us? Can
we contribute towards this in any way?
We will look for answers to these
questions, in this chapter.
Children from Paheli and Boojho’s
school did a project called ‘Dealing with
Garbage’. We will learn about some of
the things they learnt through this
project.
16.1 DEALING WITH GARBAGE
Safai karamcharis collect the garbage in
trucks and take it to a low lying open
area, called a landfill (Fig. 16.1).
There the part of the garbage that
can be reused is separated out from the
one that cannot be used as such. Thus,
Fig. 16.1 A landfill
The Prime Minister of India launched
the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
The aim of this mission is to create
an open defecation-free India by
2 October 2019.
A Step towards Cleanliness
2022-23
156 SCIENCE
Activity 1
Collect the garbage from your house
before it is thrown into the dustbin.
Separate it into  two groups, so that
they have:
Group 1: Garbage from the kitchen —
like fruit and vegetable peels, egg shells,
waste food, tea leaves. Include
newspapers, dry leaves and paper bags
in this group.
Group 2: Pieces of cloth, polythene
bags, broken glass, aluminium wrappers,
nails, old shoes and broken toys.
Now divide the contents of each group
into two separate heaps. Label them
Fig. 16.2 Putting garbage heaps in pits
as A, B, C and D. Put one heap from
Group 1 and one heap from Group 2
into two separate plastic bags. Tie the
mouth of these two bags tightly. Put all
the four heaps in separate pits and
cover them with soil (Fig. 16.2). You
can also use four pots to bury these
garbage heaps.
Remove the soil after four days and
observe the changes in the garbage. A
black colour and no foul smell indicates
that rotting of garbage is complete. Put
the heaps again in the pits and cover
with the soil. Observe again after every
two days and note your observations as
suggested. Did the garbage.
(i) rot completely and not smell?
(ii) rot only partially?
(iii) rot almost completely, but still
smells bad?
(iv) not change at all?
Garbage in which heap was seen to
rot and which did not?
Enter options (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) in
the columns of Table 16.1 based on your
Paheli did wonder as to what
could be useful garbage? Why
was it thrown away in the first
place?  Is there some garbage that
is not actually garbage?
the garbage has both useful and non-
useful components. The non-useful
component is separated out. It is then
spread over the landfill and then
covered with a layer of soil. Once the
landfill is completely full, it is usually
converted into a park or a play ground.
For the next 20 years or so, no building
is constructed on it. To deal with
some of the useful components of
garbage, compost making areas are
developed near the landfill. What is
compost? Let us learn about it, from the
following activity.
2022-23
157 GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT
observations. If you make any other
observations, do not forget to write all
these down in your notebook. Do not
remove and burn the garbage that did
not rot.
If the garbage was found to rot
completely and did not smell, mix it in
the soil where you sow your favourite
plants. This would provide nutrients to
the plants.
You must have observed from this
activity that some things in the garbage
rot. They form manure which is used
for the plants. The rotting and
conversion of some materials into
manure is called ‘composting’.
In some cities and towns,
municipalities provide separate dustbins
for collecting two kinds of garbage.
Usually one is coloured blue and the
other green. The blue bin is for materials
that can be used again —  such as
plastics, metals and glass. Did you
notice that these are the materials that
do not rot in the garbage heaps? The
green bins are for collecting kitchen and
other plant or animal wastes. You may
have noticed that this type of wastes rot
completely when buried in the soil. Do
you see why it is necessary for
us to separate waste into two
groups as we did in Activity 1,
before we throw it?
Have you noticed garbage
heaps of dried leaves on the
roadside? Most of the time
these are burnt (Fig. 16.3).
Farmers too often burn the
husk, dried leaves and part of
crop plants in their fields after
harvesting. Burning of these, produces
smoke and gases that are harmful to
our health. We should try to stop such
practices. These wastes could be
converted into useful compost.
Fig. 16.3 Burning of leaves produce harmful
gases
 Boojho noted in his notebook: Do
not burn leaves! You will not be
able to tolerate the fumes!
Here are some of the observations
and thoughts, noted by Paheli and
Boojho, from their project “Dealing
with Garbage”.
Table 16.1 What has happened to
the garbage heaps?
e g a b r a G
p a e h
4 r e t f A
s y a d
6 r e t f A
s y a d
r e t f A 2
s k e e w
4 r e t f A
s k e e w
A
B
C
D
2022-23
Page 4


16
Garbage in, Garbage out
W
e throw out so much rubbish
or garbage everyday from our
homes, schools, shops and
offices. The grains, pulses, biscuits, milk
or oil purchased in shops, are packed
in plastic bags or tins. All these
wrapping material go out as garbage.
We sometimes buy things that are
rarely used and often thrown into
the garbage.
We generate so much garbage in our
day-to-day activities! We often throw
groundnut shells on public places, in
buses or trains, after eating the nuts.
We throw away the ticket when we get
off a bus. A child might go on
sharpening pencils just for fun. If we
make mistakes or spill ink on our
notebook, we tear off the sheet and
throw it away. And we also throw away
many domestic wastes such as broken
toys, old clothes, shoes and slippers.
What if the garbage is not removed
from our homes and surroundings? How
do you think, this will harm us? When
safai karamcharis take the garbage from
the bins, where does the garbage go and
what happens to it? Is it possible for all
of this garbage to be changed into
something that will not harm us? Can
we contribute towards this in any way?
We will look for answers to these
questions, in this chapter.
Children from Paheli and Boojho’s
school did a project called ‘Dealing with
Garbage’. We will learn about some of
the things they learnt through this
project.
16.1 DEALING WITH GARBAGE
Safai karamcharis collect the garbage in
trucks and take it to a low lying open
area, called a landfill (Fig. 16.1).
There the part of the garbage that
can be reused is separated out from the
one that cannot be used as such. Thus,
Fig. 16.1 A landfill
The Prime Minister of India launched
the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
The aim of this mission is to create
an open defecation-free India by
2 October 2019.
A Step towards Cleanliness
2022-23
156 SCIENCE
Activity 1
Collect the garbage from your house
before it is thrown into the dustbin.
Separate it into  two groups, so that
they have:
Group 1: Garbage from the kitchen —
like fruit and vegetable peels, egg shells,
waste food, tea leaves. Include
newspapers, dry leaves and paper bags
in this group.
Group 2: Pieces of cloth, polythene
bags, broken glass, aluminium wrappers,
nails, old shoes and broken toys.
Now divide the contents of each group
into two separate heaps. Label them
Fig. 16.2 Putting garbage heaps in pits
as A, B, C and D. Put one heap from
Group 1 and one heap from Group 2
into two separate plastic bags. Tie the
mouth of these two bags tightly. Put all
the four heaps in separate pits and
cover them with soil (Fig. 16.2). You
can also use four pots to bury these
garbage heaps.
Remove the soil after four days and
observe the changes in the garbage. A
black colour and no foul smell indicates
that rotting of garbage is complete. Put
the heaps again in the pits and cover
with the soil. Observe again after every
two days and note your observations as
suggested. Did the garbage.
(i) rot completely and not smell?
(ii) rot only partially?
(iii) rot almost completely, but still
smells bad?
(iv) not change at all?
Garbage in which heap was seen to
rot and which did not?
Enter options (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) in
the columns of Table 16.1 based on your
Paheli did wonder as to what
could be useful garbage? Why
was it thrown away in the first
place?  Is there some garbage that
is not actually garbage?
the garbage has both useful and non-
useful components. The non-useful
component is separated out. It is then
spread over the landfill and then
covered with a layer of soil. Once the
landfill is completely full, it is usually
converted into a park or a play ground.
For the next 20 years or so, no building
is constructed on it. To deal with
some of the useful components of
garbage, compost making areas are
developed near the landfill. What is
compost? Let us learn about it, from the
following activity.
2022-23
157 GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT
observations. If you make any other
observations, do not forget to write all
these down in your notebook. Do not
remove and burn the garbage that did
not rot.
If the garbage was found to rot
completely and did not smell, mix it in
the soil where you sow your favourite
plants. This would provide nutrients to
the plants.
You must have observed from this
activity that some things in the garbage
rot. They form manure which is used
for the plants. The rotting and
conversion of some materials into
manure is called ‘composting’.
In some cities and towns,
municipalities provide separate dustbins
for collecting two kinds of garbage.
Usually one is coloured blue and the
other green. The blue bin is for materials
that can be used again —  such as
plastics, metals and glass. Did you
notice that these are the materials that
do not rot in the garbage heaps? The
green bins are for collecting kitchen and
other plant or animal wastes. You may
have noticed that this type of wastes rot
completely when buried in the soil. Do
you see why it is necessary for
us to separate waste into two
groups as we did in Activity 1,
before we throw it?
Have you noticed garbage
heaps of dried leaves on the
roadside? Most of the time
these are burnt (Fig. 16.3).
Farmers too often burn the
husk, dried leaves and part of
crop plants in their fields after
harvesting. Burning of these, produces
smoke and gases that are harmful to
our health. We should try to stop such
practices. These wastes could be
converted into useful compost.
Fig. 16.3 Burning of leaves produce harmful
gases
 Boojho noted in his notebook: Do
not burn leaves! You will not be
able to tolerate the fumes!
Here are some of the observations
and thoughts, noted by Paheli and
Boojho, from their project “Dealing
with Garbage”.
Table 16.1 What has happened to
the garbage heaps?
e g a b r a G
p a e h
4 r e t f A
s y a d
6 r e t f A
s y a d
r e t f A 2
s k e e w
4 r e t f A
s k e e w
A
B
C
D
2022-23
158 SCIENCE
Not theft really ?. She must have
meant “illegal”. She wanted that the
government should make a law against
the burning of leaves and other plant
wastes anywhere in India.
16.2 VERMICOMPOSTING
We can be friends of plants by supplying
them with compost. We will also be very
good friends to ourselves by making
compost.
Talking of friends, do you know that
earthworms are called farmer’s friend?
Let us find out how a type of earthworm
called redworm is used for composting.
This method of preparing compost
with the help of redworms is called
vermicomposting. We can try to make
manure by vermicomposting at school.
Activity 2
Let us dig a pit (about 30 cm deep) or
keep a wooden box at a place, which is
neither too hot nor too cold. What about
a place which does not get direct
sunlight? Let us now make a
comfortable home for our redworms in
the pit or the box.
Spread a net or chicken mesh at the
bottom of the pit or the box. You can
also spread 1 or 2 cm thick layer of sand
as an alternative. Now, spread some
vegetable wastes including peels of fruits
over this layer of sand.
One can also use green leaves, pieces
of dried stalks of plants, husk or pieces
of newspaper or carboard to spread over
the layer of sand. However, shiny or
plastic coated paper should not be used
for this purpose. Dried animal dung
could also be used as a spread over sand
or wire mesh.
Sprinkle some water to make this
layer wet. Take care not to use excess of
water. Do not press the layer of waste.
Keep this layer loose so that it has
sufficient air and moisture.
Now, your pit is ready to welcome the
redworms. Buy some redworms  and put
them in your pit (Fig. 16.4). Cover them
loosely with a gunny bag or an old sheet
of cloth or a layer of grass.
Fig. 16.4 Redworms
Paheli made a note in her
notebook: Why has the
government not made
burning of leaves a theft?
Your redworms need food. You can give
them vegetable and fruit wastes, coffee
and tea remains and weeds from the
fields or garden (Fig. 16.5). It might be
a good idea to bury this food about
2-3 cm inside the pit. Do not use wastes
2022-23
Page 5


16
Garbage in, Garbage out
W
e throw out so much rubbish
or garbage everyday from our
homes, schools, shops and
offices. The grains, pulses, biscuits, milk
or oil purchased in shops, are packed
in plastic bags or tins. All these
wrapping material go out as garbage.
We sometimes buy things that are
rarely used and often thrown into
the garbage.
We generate so much garbage in our
day-to-day activities! We often throw
groundnut shells on public places, in
buses or trains, after eating the nuts.
We throw away the ticket when we get
off a bus. A child might go on
sharpening pencils just for fun. If we
make mistakes or spill ink on our
notebook, we tear off the sheet and
throw it away. And we also throw away
many domestic wastes such as broken
toys, old clothes, shoes and slippers.
What if the garbage is not removed
from our homes and surroundings? How
do you think, this will harm us? When
safai karamcharis take the garbage from
the bins, where does the garbage go and
what happens to it? Is it possible for all
of this garbage to be changed into
something that will not harm us? Can
we contribute towards this in any way?
We will look for answers to these
questions, in this chapter.
Children from Paheli and Boojho’s
school did a project called ‘Dealing with
Garbage’. We will learn about some of
the things they learnt through this
project.
16.1 DEALING WITH GARBAGE
Safai karamcharis collect the garbage in
trucks and take it to a low lying open
area, called a landfill (Fig. 16.1).
There the part of the garbage that
can be reused is separated out from the
one that cannot be used as such. Thus,
Fig. 16.1 A landfill
The Prime Minister of India launched
the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
The aim of this mission is to create
an open defecation-free India by
2 October 2019.
A Step towards Cleanliness
2022-23
156 SCIENCE
Activity 1
Collect the garbage from your house
before it is thrown into the dustbin.
Separate it into  two groups, so that
they have:
Group 1: Garbage from the kitchen —
like fruit and vegetable peels, egg shells,
waste food, tea leaves. Include
newspapers, dry leaves and paper bags
in this group.
Group 2: Pieces of cloth, polythene
bags, broken glass, aluminium wrappers,
nails, old shoes and broken toys.
Now divide the contents of each group
into two separate heaps. Label them
Fig. 16.2 Putting garbage heaps in pits
as A, B, C and D. Put one heap from
Group 1 and one heap from Group 2
into two separate plastic bags. Tie the
mouth of these two bags tightly. Put all
the four heaps in separate pits and
cover them with soil (Fig. 16.2). You
can also use four pots to bury these
garbage heaps.
Remove the soil after four days and
observe the changes in the garbage. A
black colour and no foul smell indicates
that rotting of garbage is complete. Put
the heaps again in the pits and cover
with the soil. Observe again after every
two days and note your observations as
suggested. Did the garbage.
(i) rot completely and not smell?
(ii) rot only partially?
(iii) rot almost completely, but still
smells bad?
(iv) not change at all?
Garbage in which heap was seen to
rot and which did not?
Enter options (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) in
the columns of Table 16.1 based on your
Paheli did wonder as to what
could be useful garbage? Why
was it thrown away in the first
place?  Is there some garbage that
is not actually garbage?
the garbage has both useful and non-
useful components. The non-useful
component is separated out. It is then
spread over the landfill and then
covered with a layer of soil. Once the
landfill is completely full, it is usually
converted into a park or a play ground.
For the next 20 years or so, no building
is constructed on it. To deal with
some of the useful components of
garbage, compost making areas are
developed near the landfill. What is
compost? Let us learn about it, from the
following activity.
2022-23
157 GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT
observations. If you make any other
observations, do not forget to write all
these down in your notebook. Do not
remove and burn the garbage that did
not rot.
If the garbage was found to rot
completely and did not smell, mix it in
the soil where you sow your favourite
plants. This would provide nutrients to
the plants.
You must have observed from this
activity that some things in the garbage
rot. They form manure which is used
for the plants. The rotting and
conversion of some materials into
manure is called ‘composting’.
In some cities and towns,
municipalities provide separate dustbins
for collecting two kinds of garbage.
Usually one is coloured blue and the
other green. The blue bin is for materials
that can be used again —  such as
plastics, metals and glass. Did you
notice that these are the materials that
do not rot in the garbage heaps? The
green bins are for collecting kitchen and
other plant or animal wastes. You may
have noticed that this type of wastes rot
completely when buried in the soil. Do
you see why it is necessary for
us to separate waste into two
groups as we did in Activity 1,
before we throw it?
Have you noticed garbage
heaps of dried leaves on the
roadside? Most of the time
these are burnt (Fig. 16.3).
Farmers too often burn the
husk, dried leaves and part of
crop plants in their fields after
harvesting. Burning of these, produces
smoke and gases that are harmful to
our health. We should try to stop such
practices. These wastes could be
converted into useful compost.
Fig. 16.3 Burning of leaves produce harmful
gases
 Boojho noted in his notebook: Do
not burn leaves! You will not be
able to tolerate the fumes!
Here are some of the observations
and thoughts, noted by Paheli and
Boojho, from their project “Dealing
with Garbage”.
Table 16.1 What has happened to
the garbage heaps?
e g a b r a G
p a e h
4 r e t f A
s y a d
6 r e t f A
s y a d
r e t f A 2
s k e e w
4 r e t f A
s k e e w
A
B
C
D
2022-23
158 SCIENCE
Not theft really ?. She must have
meant “illegal”. She wanted that the
government should make a law against
the burning of leaves and other plant
wastes anywhere in India.
16.2 VERMICOMPOSTING
We can be friends of plants by supplying
them with compost. We will also be very
good friends to ourselves by making
compost.
Talking of friends, do you know that
earthworms are called farmer’s friend?
Let us find out how a type of earthworm
called redworm is used for composting.
This method of preparing compost
with the help of redworms is called
vermicomposting. We can try to make
manure by vermicomposting at school.
Activity 2
Let us dig a pit (about 30 cm deep) or
keep a wooden box at a place, which is
neither too hot nor too cold. What about
a place which does not get direct
sunlight? Let us now make a
comfortable home for our redworms in
the pit or the box.
Spread a net or chicken mesh at the
bottom of the pit or the box. You can
also spread 1 or 2 cm thick layer of sand
as an alternative. Now, spread some
vegetable wastes including peels of fruits
over this layer of sand.
One can also use green leaves, pieces
of dried stalks of plants, husk or pieces
of newspaper or carboard to spread over
the layer of sand. However, shiny or
plastic coated paper should not be used
for this purpose. Dried animal dung
could also be used as a spread over sand
or wire mesh.
Sprinkle some water to make this
layer wet. Take care not to use excess of
water. Do not press the layer of waste.
Keep this layer loose so that it has
sufficient air and moisture.
Now, your pit is ready to welcome the
redworms. Buy some redworms  and put
them in your pit (Fig. 16.4). Cover them
loosely with a gunny bag or an old sheet
of cloth or a layer of grass.
Fig. 16.4 Redworms
Paheli made a note in her
notebook: Why has the
government not made
burning of leaves a theft?
Your redworms need food. You can give
them vegetable and fruit wastes, coffee
and tea remains and weeds from the
fields or garden (Fig. 16.5). It might be
a good idea to bury this food about
2-3 cm inside the pit. Do not use wastes
2022-23
159 GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT
that may contain salt, pickles, oil,
vinegar, meat and milk preparations as
food for your redworms. If you put these
things in the pit, disease-causing small
organisms start growing in the pit. Once
in a few days, gently mix and move the
top layers of your pit.
Redworms do not have teeth. They
have a structure called ‘gizzard’, which
helps them in grinding their food.
Powdered egg shells or sea shells could
be mixed with the wastes. This would
help redworms in grinding their food. A
redworm can eat food equal to its own
weight, in a day.
Redworms do not survive in very hot
or very cold surroundings. They also
need moisture around them. If you take
good care of your worms, in a month’s
time their number will double.
Observe the contents of the pit
carefully after 3-4 weeks. Do you now
see loose, soil-like material in the pit?
Your vermicompost is ready (Fig. 16.6).
Put some wastes as food in one corner
of the pit. Most of the worms will shift
towards this part of the pit, vacating the
other part. Remove the compost from
the vacated part and dry it in the sun
for a few hours. Your vermicompost is
ready for use!
The part left in the pit has most of
the worms in it. You can use these for
preparing more compost or share them
with another user.
Use this excellent vermicompost in
your pots, gardens or fields. Is this not
like getting the ‘best out of waste’? Those
of you who have agricultural fields can
try vermicomposting in large pits. You
can save a lot of money that is spent on
buying expensive chemical fertilizers
and manure from the market.
16.3 THINK AND THROW
How much of garbage do you think, is
thrown out by each house everyday? You
can make an estimate by using a bucket
as a measure. Use a 5-10 litre bucket to
collect the garbage from your home for
Fig. 16.5 Food for redworms
Fig. 16.6 Vermicomposting
2022-23