Bangalore produces close to 4500 tonnes of waste daily. Nearly 65 per cent of this is wet waste. (File photo of a vegetable shop)
In Vani Murthy's house, beetroot peel, carrot peel and coriander waste never make their way into the dustbin. For this homemaker in Malleshwaram in Bangalore, the wet waste is meant to return as vegetables into her kitchen.
It has been five years since Ms Murthy sent any waste from her kitchen to the landfills. Instead, she has been composting the wet waste to grown vegetables from lettuce to fenugreek to spinach - all on her terrace.
"I failed miserably at composting in the early days. But I decided I would not add anymore to the mess that is already there in Bangalore. Composting is so simple that you can do it everyday. Every urban house can," said Ms Murthy.
For composting, add some dry leaves to the day's wet waste from the kitchen in a covered bin. Add a bit of sour buttermilk to this and it will infuse micro organisms. Once this is pickled for two weeks, it begins to break down into compost.
Bangalore produces close to 4500 tonnes of waste daily. Nearly 65 per cent of this is wet waste. Increasing number of women are now joining the compost brigade to ensure urban homes manage their own wet waste.
"You know I have begun composting too because it is just so easy. At the beginning my mother thought that my dad and I had gone crazy. But now in our small balcony, she is the one more vigilant lest we do something wrong," said Shyamala N, a young writer in Bangalore.