This arappu-buttermilk solution is packed with five ingredients, some of them used in the kitchen for everyday cooking. But put together, they really pack a punch. Continue reading
Author Archives: Endlessly Green
Go rustic. Go rural. Go real.
There was a time during my childhood when I wanted to simply run away to Bangalore in search of solitude. In search of anonymity. The desire to lead a life where misogyny and caste politics weren’t blatant used to spill out of every spigot of my soul. Continue reading
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This 24-hour composter was on fire, literally!
A simple human error resulted in this machine catching fire and damaging the roof of DSR Woodwinds apartment’s compost room six months ago. It seems beyond repair now and has been dumped in the parking lot. (Pics: SH)
This is an incident that unfolded at DSR Woodwinds apartment, Sarjapur Road. An automatic 24-hour machine given by the builder to compost kitchen waste caught fire when a staff member mistakenly switched on the machine after sundown. Within hours, the machine was spewing out flames and the roof got damaged. The smoke spread. The staff somehow managed to sneak into the compost room and put out the fire. Since then the machine, which comes loaded with promises of turning precious green waste into valuable compost, has been gathering dust in the community’s parking lot. (For more technical details on these machines, please read this post.) Continue reading
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Swachagraha: A million dreams in the making
Cynics can’t see what activists do. Or, is it the other way around? Whatever maybe the case, you have Swachagraha rolled out before you in all its splendour inviting you to a journey you have never heard of. Continue reading
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Into my 5th year of blogging & indebted to your support
Blogging doesn’t come easily to print media journalists. At least that’s what has been my observation over the years. In my case, it all stemmed from the need to create my own space to write whatever I thought was relevant. “If it is indeed relevant, it will be read,” I told myself when I registered with WordPress. Continue reading
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What is 2Bin1Bag & what its colour-coded concept tells us
Actor, model and marathoner, Milind Soman is all for segregation at source. He offered support to spread awareness on the concept through SBI Pinkathon and social media.
A humble kit with a holistic approach. That’s what this 2Bin1Bag concept is for you.
The effect of this simple and practical concept is already being felt in nearly one lakh homes in Bangalore. With the Karnataka High Court mandating three-tier segregation by weaving this into its landmark verdict on December 17, it’s time for you to understand it more deeply.
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A big win for Bangalore’s green activists at HC; 2Bin1Bag, waste-pickers rule the roost
(L to R) Ex-cricketer Rahul Dravid joins the 2Bin1Bag campaign, saying, “it makes the job of segregation easy”. This is how full of smiles all the waste-pickers were at Hasiru Dala today.
The Year 2015 couldn’t have ended better!
In what can be termed a holistic and humane judgment, the Karnataka High Court today directed the city of Bangalore to adopt a three-tier, colour-coded segregation and gave the first right to recyclables to waste-pickers. The segregation at source rule applies to all—individual homes, bulk generators, commercial establishments, government offices, Railway, Defence, etc. Continue reading
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Will Minister George’s new 1000-acre landfill quest solve City’s garbage problem?
Minister for Bangalore Development K J George
Just like the curiosity surrounding the potential whereabouts of the Holy Grail refuses to cease, the Karnataka government’s quest for a new landfill does not quite seem to be coming to an end.
Once again yesterday, Bangalore Development Minister K J George revealed his latest trick of solving the City’s garbage problem based on Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa’s advice: To identify at least 1,000 acres of land for dumping and processing… Further, he stated that this would help “break the politicians-officials-garbage contractors’ nexus”. Continue reading
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About letting it RELIVE before it gets recycled
Store-bought celery does sprout!
Most often, I look at internet tips with a good deal of scepticism (while being fully aware that I add to the stockpile quite a bit and quite often, too!). Continue reading
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If crackers are a must for Diwali, why not go for these “70% safe”, eco-friendly ones?
If you are one of those who feels guilty after firing a rocket filled with toxic pollutants but finds it impossible to say ‘no’ to fireworks at the same time, here’s a safer option: Kaliswari Fireworks from Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, a manufacturer since 1923, has come up with eco-friendly fireworks which are claimed to release drastically low levels of pollutants in the air. Continue reading
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Yelahanka Eco Group does fantastic waste management on Ganesha, Bakrid & Dasara; sets a benchmark for Bangalore
No grandiose statements or placards. No chest-beating. No gaggle of mediapersons or TV cameras trying to devour glimpses of roadside spot clean-ups. Instead, this is what it was: An unprecedented co-ordinated effort by BBMP officials of all rungs and committed volunteers from Yelahanka, North Bangalore, that cleaned up the waste overnight on the last three major festivals—Ganesha, Bakrid and Dasara. They call themselves, Yelahanka Eco Group (YEG).
To put it succinctly, it’s the real Swachh Bharat we have all been dreaming of. In letter and spirit. Continue reading
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How to further enrich your compost
First things first: My first experiment with lab-produced microbes took place in June 2013. And, I am still learning. One lifetime is not enough to unravel the mysteries hidden in a fistful of soil. But meanwhile, I thought of sharing this info with you which helped us transform our eight-acre community garden into completely organic. I am open to inputs, corrections and suggestions on this topic. For all I know, I have been able to merely scratch the surface. Continue reading
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Community composting: If it’s costlier & fancier, does it get better?
One of my Solid Waste Round Table Management (SWMRT) colleagues told me about an apartment which is getting ready to spend up to Rs 45 lakhs on a certain method for its in situ wet waste composting. In other cases, some companies which have succeeded in installing their 24-hour composting machines in some apartments at the cost of up to Rs 20 lakhs or more are laughing all the way to the bank.
Should a residential community invest so much in composting alone? Continue reading
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Do you want 90% freedom from landfill? Here’s a model
There are two ways to look at the landfill crisis in Bangalore (or any other city for that matter). Deal with it in the most sustainable manner possible (within the available means) at a personal level. Or, join in the chorus of the multitude which does not want to participate in this change but is ready to pursue erratic paths to pointless ends.
My own community—Sobha Althea-Azalea located in Yelahanka—was a model that ToI celebrated as one of the 15 ideas to emulate in its 2014, August 15th edition. Continue reading
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How N S Ramakanth, a noble soul, is trying to save Sankey Tank
“Avarige protective gear kodsi, Swamy… Can you look at the filth they are standing in? There’s lead and mercury in the sludge. They will get all kinds of diseases. Can’t you just get them boots and gloves?”
I heard N S Ramakanth (NSR)—a Bangalore-based environmental activist—say this to a mid-ranking BBMP official on Gandhi Jayanthi evening at Sankey Tank. A never-seen-before, massive clean-up operation was into its fifth day to save whatever that was left of this beautiful water body post Ganesha festival. “Don’t say that, saar! They will stop working,” the official replied. Continue reading
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The saga of sanitary waste-2: OF DONKEYS AND ONE WOMAN’S PERIODS
In the age of sanitary pads and other easier options, it’s difficult to fully comprehend the agony suffered by the women of older generations during periods. One can ascribe any number of religious and cultural significance to the taboos that pushed women into menstrual huts, it goes without saying that they were (still are, in many parts of India) subjected to unspeakable inconvenience, pain and humiliation.
India is a land of narratives. And the narratives built upon the “crimson flow” are many. Although menstruation is a natural, cyclical and biological occurring, the experience varies with each woman. Each one can tell a different story.
Here’s a moving account on a woman’s periods, her “ritual” dips and the donkeys (yes!) as seen from the eyes of a young, innocent boy. Although using cloth pads is now being looked at as sustainable menstruation as it does not leave behind non-biodegradable waste, I thought of including this post in the sanitary waste series for the simple reason that it offers a rare male perspective on a subject that even women hesitate to discuss openly.
Thanks to N JAYARAM for sharing this beautiful blogpost with you all. I am sure you will find yourself immersed in this short story just as I did.
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How I am going organic–1: About some doubts & trust issues
It’s one thing to talk organic but quite another to suffer sticker shocks when you step inside organic grocery stores.
I thought of writing my own experience after talking to quite a few people. It became clear to me that almost all of them went through the same phase, weighed pros and cons and then made the switch. Not that I have found all the answers surrounding this subject, but through this series, I hope I will be able to put certain common doubts and fears to rest. Continue reading
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Up against ‘PoP culture’, these Bangaloreans make their own clay Ganeshas to drive home a message
Volunteers from HSR Citizen FORUM learn the art of making clay Ganesha idols at Clay Station in HSR Layout. They are taking this initiative to their communities and encouraging more people, especially children, to go for pure clay idols instead of lead-laden idols made of plaster of Paris.
There may be several religious overtones to Ganesha idol immersion ritual carried out all over India each year. But the one that I find forever appealing is my mother’s philosophical take on it: “What comes from the Earth must go back to it. Immersion means abdication of any material attachment. It’s a means to develop philosophical detachment in life.” Continue reading
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Soil Recipe-3: This egg extract can boost your plant growth
Soil Recipes is a useful how-to-do-it manual on soil nutrition and maintenance authored by Goa-based organic farmer ISA ALVARES and published by The Organic Farming Association of India (OFAI). Endlessly Green is happy to republish these recipes.
The recipes, as the author says, have been “vetted and verified by experienced organic farmers” belonging to OFAI. They not only “enable the soil to re-stock its populations of beneficial soil microbes”, but also help “control disease…” Continue reading
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Home composting: Replace kitchen waste bin with EcoBin, let Bokashi bloom in your garden
There is a distinct pride I enjoy whenever I tell our housekeepers, “No kitchen waste today.” And that happens quite often these days.
If all of us were to replace our kitchen waste bin with a composting bin and if all of the commercial establishments did in situ wet waste management, 60-65 per cent of the global garbage problem gets solved in a few days.
If you want to be a part of this change and want a solution to stop your kitchen waste from going to landfills, give EcoBin—an indoor Bokashi composter kit—a try. It’s neat, compact and packs a punch if you have a garden at home. Continue reading
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By 2047, area equal to Mumbai, Chennai & Hyderabad will drown in garbage
We love our trash to the apocalypse. Let me illustrate why.
“The Position Paper on The Solid Waste Management Sector in India – 2009”, a study conducted by the Ministry of Finance, has this to say: India will need more than 1,400 square kilometer of land to dump its unprocessed garbage. In other words, we will have drowned all of Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad in garbage. No, it will not take ages for this to happen. Just a little over 30 years, that’s all. That’s the speed at which we are trashing this earth. Continue reading
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May Day tribute: 15,000 waste-pickers save Rs 84 crore for BBMP every year
Yes, it’s true.
In all probability, this number might be an understatement as there maybe be more than 15,000 waste-pickers in the City going about their work every day—building new hopes and sometimes little habitats and hoping that one day, they will live to live and not to repent having lived a life of drudgery amidst a sea of sheer callousness.
A study conducted by Hasiru Dala, Jain University, Bangalore and Solid Waste Management Round Table in 2012 analysed the data of 4,175 registered waste-pickers aged between less-than-20 and above-60. What came to light was a number that this hapless lot could hardly accommodate within the realm of its imagination: 4,175 of them save Rs 23 crore annually. When extrapolated, 15,000 of them collectively keep Rs 84 crore safe in BBMP’s treasury. Continue reading
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The journey of tissue paper from your home to…
“These bags are full of tissue papers,” says this ITC employee who picks up the load from various destinations and brings it to one of the dry waste collection centres in Yelahanka.
Did you know the tissue papers that you threw into your dustbin can travel miles and get processed and recycled all over again?
Before you get to know the final avatar it assumes, let me make it clear that I am referring to only segregated, unsoiled tissue paper which is not contaminated beyond remedy. Continue reading
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Soil Recipe-2: Jeevamrut means one solution and many benefits
Pic: Hariram P S
It’s hard to come across an organic gardener who has not heard of Jeevamrut. The ingredients needed for this are easy to source and it’s easy to prepare, too. The following recipe is being republished verbatim from Soil Recipes authored by Goa-based organic farmer Isa Alvares and published by The Organic Farming Association of India. Continue reading
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Community composting method-8: Barrel Digester from Sudh-Labh is a big plus for small communities
Five Barrel Digesters being installed at Mars Meadows, Rajarajeshwari Nagar. This apartment has 55 homes.
We have quite a few individual home composting and also several large-scale composting solutions available in the market. But large bulk generators with 50 homes or above grabbed the focus of most of the emerging eco-innovators thus far, leaving the small apartment segment with 10-15 homes, or fewer, crying for attention.
In general, large complexes have many advantages stacked in their favour—mainly financial leeway to an extent and space set aside for processing waste. If not, they can carve out a corner on the terrace or basement to get going. I have seen this happening in several communities. Continue reading
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Soil Recipe-1: Amudham solution, a catalyst for plant growth
War, pestilence, even climate change, are trifles by comparison.
Destroy the soil and we all starve. – George Monbiot.
This is the International Year of Soils. What better way to help the soil heal than going organic and shunning chemical fertilisers and pesticides?
Soil Recipes is a useful how-to-do-it manual of soil nutrition and maintenance authored by Goa-based organic farmer ISA ALVARES and published by The Organic Farming Association of India (OFAI). Endlessly Green is happy to republish these recipes.
The recipes, as the author says, have been “vetted and verified by experienced organic farmers” belonging to OFAI. They not only “enable the soil to re-stock its populations of beneficial soil microbes”, but also help “control disease…” Continue reading
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A classic case of ‘how to mess up a beautiful road’
Thindlu Main Road in north Bangalore. This is the state of affairs almost always.
We all thought “out of sight” meant “out of mind”, right? We were dead wrong! Here’s why.
Here’s this beautiful Thindlu Main Road in north Bangalore with a humungous GKVK campus on the one side and Vidyaranyapura with well-built houses on the other. Continue reading
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The saga of sanitary waste-1: Bangalore alone sends about 91 tonnes of pads to landfills every day
Most of us know where our used sanitary pads land up. But did we know how many of them reach the landfills each day?
“Sanitary Waste, The Whole Picture” is a study conducted in 2014, probably a first-of-its-kind in India, that puts a number on one of the feminine hygiene products (FHPs) used widely in India—sanitary pads. Continue reading
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Bangalore must emulate D K Ravi’s Kolar waste management model
D K Ravi (Pic: Indian Express)
We do not yet know the truth behind the demise one of the finest IAS officers, D K Ravi. But what we do know is his stellar performance that earned him the wrath of his detractors and the love of the people he worked for.
Kolar city, where he served as deputy commissioner between August 2013 and October 2014, underwent a never-seen-before change. Although his contribution to revenue, land and water departments seems to have been well-recognised, his almost fool-proof solid waste management model he implemented for Kolar is yet to get the recognition it truly deserves, especially by the Bangalore civic authorities who have been struggling to put two-plus-two together. Continue reading
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Organic gardening: Walk the green miles with Hariram Pagadala Sreenath
Organic gardener Hariram Pagadala Sreenath with enthusiastic participants at a workshop organised by ‘We Care for Malleswaram’ on last Sunday. (Pic: SH)
Not all gardeners have the ability to grow with the seeds they sow. Bengaluru-based Hariram Pagadala Sreenath is one of those rarest few. Continue reading
