Hsg soc produces bio-compost to turn complex into valley of flowers

Thane: Many housing complexes in the city are going the green way and adopting various techniques to re-use waste. Residents of Flower Valley housing society are leaving no stone unturned to turn their complex into a valley of flowers. After successfully implementing their Swachh Bharat mission in 2014 and vermi compost initiative in 2015, the residents have now adopted bio-composting.
“When the prime minister began the Swachh Bharat Mission in 2014, we decided to be the role models of a clean and green urban housing society and set up a Swachhata committee,” said Kirti Patil, member of the housing society committee.
“Our aim was not only to keep the society clean, but also to make it a zero waste complex. We want to turn every open space into a green and flowery zone. We began the waste-free complex campaign in 2014 by setting up a vermi-compost pit in which we dump dried leaves which is converted into manure with the help of earthworms. Till date we have generated more than 600 kg of pure natural manure which is used in our garden,” Patil said.
Vasudev Nayak, chairman of the Swachata committee, said, “Last month, we organised an event wherein all our residents collected milk packets, washed then and planted seeds. Through this, we have generated 5,000 saplings.”
Last Sunday, the society took up another initiative in which kitchen waste was disposed off without the corporation’s assistance and without any odour through bio-composting. “There are 370 families in our society. This means we generate tonnes of kitchen waste daily. To get rid of this, we converted three vacant areas in the corner of our society into bio-composting pits where the kitchen waste is converted into manure. While only some families have adopted this concept, we are sure in the days to come our society will become a zero-waste community,” said Nayak.
The society has also taken up other initiatives like rain water harvesting, bore-well recharging, solar electricity and herb and spice gardening.