From my last week’s article, you must have understood what to expect while your compost is on the way to maturity or already matured. So certain animal species and plant species are going to be a part of your compost ecosystem. These living beings are essential for making a good quality compost. While the kind of insects, fungi etc. mentioned in that article are your ‘compost companions’, there are creatures like cockroaches, mosquitoes, ants, large blue-coloured flies, common house flies etc. which you would never observe hovering on or sitting right on your compost in the compost bin.
We know that, generally, these animals get attracted to filthy, rotting eatables and similar items in the garbage. My own experience is that since past 12 years I have not seen a single cockroach or mosquito or house fly getting attracted to my home compost bin which I have kept in my bedroom window. All these animals can be considered as the indicators of the ‘health’ that is the quality of your compost.
If you see cockroaches or mosquitoes or even the house flies in your compost bin, then something is terribly wrong with the compost process. Probably, those ‘compost companions’ are not getting conducive environment for their normal action. This could be due to extreme changes in the pH, temperature, moisture content etc.
These can be corrected by adding appropriate raw materials as described earlier. You won’t see the earthworms either. Though these animals are extremely useful and helpful in composting, it is generally not advisable to use them or introduce them in home composting. If you are planning to do composting at the society or community level, then using earthworms is highly beneficial for large scale production of compost. The technique of Vermicomposting if somewhat different than biocomposting. I will provide detail information on vermicomposting sometime later.
Now I hope that you have made up your mind and have decided to start biocomposting at your home. But then you might start thinking like where can I get the required material, who will guide me through for setting up such home unit for bio composting, how much it will cost? etc.
In the city of Thane and around, there are many NGOs and individuals who can provide the relevant guidance. Paryavaran Dakshata Mandal (Enviro-Vigil) is one such NGO working in Thane, Dombivali, Kalyan, Titwala, Murbad etc. for the past 25 years. Its objective has always been environmental education, research & awareness creation among the masses for clean, healthy and hygienic environments and has been striving to do so since its inception in 1999.
This organization is working with a vision to build a strong and self-sustained organization working for the cause of Environment and with a mission to empower today’s youth to accept challenges of changing world in tune with sustainable development. It is working with various schools and colleges in Thane and surrounding areas. It provides consultancy to the educational institutions, housing societies regarding the overall management of biodiversity, waste management, water and energy management etc. In my next article, I will elaborate more upon the work done by this organization in waste management at the household level and community level.
Till then have a good weekend!
(The author is an environmentalist. Views personal.)
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