COURSE IN MUMBAI ECOLOGY

For the last 10 years or so, I have really wished there was something....like an adult learners' program or a short course where I could get authoritative knowledge and training about ecology. From these thoughts, I came up with the following outline for a certificate course.

If I get a good number of applicants, I can send across a formal proposal to someone.

MUMBAI  URBAN ECOLOGY

With the expansion of cities, erstwhile rural and forest areas are getting urbanised. This phenomenon is happening in all parts of the world and in Mumbai also. Secondly, within well established urban areas in Mumbai, there are unique ecosystems with their own flora and fauna (even if limited). Examples are kingfishers in gaothans, Coucals spread all over Mumbai and numerous sightings of snakes. Inspite of being a megalopolis, in Mumbai all is not lost. In other words, we still have a lot to lose if we do not protect Mumbai’s ecology now.

In addition, there is nothing to suggest that urbanisation should necessarily lead to environment destruction. Maybe the quality of the environment will not be anywhere near when it was in a pristine state. But we can ensure some greenery and mitigate the process of destruction. This is in our own interests as environment protection helps to preserve local resources, improves local ambience and has been clearly associated with good health outcomes for communities.

 Mumbaikars need to learn about ecology and simple methods of preservation as applicable to Mumbai. This will promote environment- mindedness and enhance knowledge and agency where it already exists. We should aim to gift our coming generations the remaining jewels of nature, natural resources (water) and a pollution-free Mumbai.

To achieve this we need to do following two things-

1. Bring together like-minded Mumbaikars and Mumbai- lovers under the ‘Mumbai Urban Ecology’ group. This is already happening due to self motivated, well informed persons and by ngos and activists.  

2. Provide know- how and training to those seeking to learn and be instrumental in the study and protection of ‘Mumbai Urban Ecology’. This is required by persons who have a strong desire to participate but lack the confidence or knowledge or both.

For understanding and protecting Mumbai urban ecology, hi-fi expert knowledge like environment engineering or PhD are not needed. An accurate knowledge and orientation to the thought process are needed. This can be achieved by a short course on a part-time basis with exposure to relevant topics.

Hence, with respect to the second point, I propose to have a ‘Mumbai Urban Ecology’ course.

The course should be a distance- education or online course. I propose it should be a year long course with following curriculum:

MODULE 1- INTRODUCTION ‘MUMBAI URBAN ECOLOGY’

What is ecology? What is Urban Ecology? Methods of study and documentation. Historical perspectives. Present ecology. Distribution of dissertation topics

MODULE 2- INTERFACE

Urbanisation and environment- effect and impact. Concept of environmental impact assessment. Rules and laws. Review of Movements, campaigns and ngo work- occurred in Mumbai or with relevance to Mumbai.

MODULE 3- PROBLEMS OF URBAN ECOLOGY 1

Habitat destruction. Resource depletion. And their mitigation.  

MODULE 4- PROBLEMS OF URBAN ECOLOGY-2

Pollution and its mitigation. Include studies on ‘green’ architecture and ‘green/ sustainable’ living, green designs

MODULE 5- APPROACHES TO URBAN ECOLOGY

Study and documentation. Adverse impacts mitigation. Education. Advocacy and activism.  This module should be designed to cause reflection in the student about what should be their role, what do they want to do with the learning in the course

ASSESSMENT

1. Group discussion

2. Dissertation presentation

METHOD OF IMPLEMENTATION OF COURSE

Course can have two coordinators and we can have a first trial batch with nominal fee or sponsored by some environment- minded organisation. We will have to organise experts from relevant fields to take respective topics. Some experts will also be needed to guide the students and/ or assess the dissertations. Many field trips will have to be organised.

The expenses will arise from

1. Faculty remuneration

2. classroom and other incidentals

3. Field visits

4. Study material

5. administrative costs 

MY EXPERIENCE OF HOME COMPOSTING 2

Around 2009, I read somewhere that composting is a natural process and ‘happens all the time”. The thought stayed with me and I thought I should try it out. So I began to collect all the kitchen waste in gardening containers with a layer of soil in between two days’ stuff. It looked ok for a few days and then it started leaking- so I loaded the whole thing onto another container with soil and it was ok. A few weeks later, I got the shock of my life when I discovered my unit had been attacked by rodents and what a revolting mess it was! I wished I never should have got into it. Gathering my wits by me, I tidied it- with more containers and fortified it with mesh. Still the rodents were not discouraged. So I shifted the unit to under my kitchen sink.

Now rodents had no access. Next problem was- even after 2 months everything was looking as I had put it and there was no sign of any process of composting. (This was before the internet compost coaching was common or maybe I had not yet taken to it.) Plus I needed soil and containers. I was accumulating stuff at such pace that I was running out of space and time to be able to deal with it. I thought I should add some microbes to hurry the process so I began to add curds or buttermilk. It helped somewhat by slightly hurrying the process. But still it took 3-4 months to get processed and considering that much of it was soil, the net amount of compost generated was miniscule. Sol I could manage only part of the waste generated and rest of it went to the dump.

Then I met Aniruddha and stumbled on Bokashi. Bokashi is quite elegant and incredible method of composting. First I tried with simple homemade system. It consisted of two sets of a pair of cheap plastic bins nesting into one another (total 4). It turned out to be much easier than what I was doing and I was able to process much more waste than earlier and it did not need day to day inputs. The problem was I still had logistical issues managing the leachate and burying the bokashi. In the early phase, I used to be very unpopular with folks at home who had to put up with the strong smells twice a week. Even my 5 year old son began to resent ‘compost’. Plus I was still not able to manage full volume. This was around 2012. After 6 months of struggling with this, I ordered the ‘Ecobin’ kit. I will say, I am a satisfied customer of this product and my composting journey reached destination with this final move.

It took me almost a year and a half to perfect the method...mainly because I was really not too sincere initially. Now a single scrap of organic waste does not leave my house. I have extended it use to my workplace- where it works fine 90pc of the time. It goes bad when staff change or some misunderstanding occurs...otherwise its going fine. The bin sits imperceptibly in the reception area doing its work quietly.

So folks, I have spent close to a decade perfecting the composting solution for my home. It need not actually take so much time. For the first 7-8 years I was like a rolling stone, constantly changing track. With bokashi, I stuck around and learned rapidly. I am somewhat curious by nature and continue to explore composting methods because I am totally fascinated by composting. My next challenge is going to be scaling up and I am hoping that my participation in the swacch parle abhiyaan gives me a chance to learn this bit.

VERMICOMPOSTING IN PARLE

Vermicomposting is particularly suitable for those Parlekars with a passion for gardening. Vermicompost is the best nutrition for plants, even better than commercial fertilizer. Plus being natural and organic, it has other benefits also.

One can do vermicomposting in one of the ready commercial kits. Following can be availed by Parlekars

Kalpataru Goldbox

1. 3- tier kit- from Mr Koustubh Yadre who operates with the company MYCO- COMPOST.

 www.myco-compost.com/ org

2. Kalpataru Goldbox- from Mr Prakash Dandekar, details easily on the internet

3. HPDE material system provided by one mr Mahadik operating from his office at Mahim...unfortunately not having details with me.

4. Inora composter container in which one can directly grow plants

5. Mr Shrotriya’s vermicomposting basket available at Goregaon near the office of the water department of bmc.

Alternatively one can start vermicomposting in any plastic or earthen vessel. Plastic vessel will need to have lots of holes and be of a dark colour. Worms need air and darkness. A layer of brick pieces, should be followed by a layer of sugarcane fibre or coconut husk and then a layer of fine soil or sand. All these should be thoroughly watered and the water should drain easily through holes at the bottom. On top of this one should add worms, vermiculture or even a bag of vermicompost which often has worms and cocoons. Worms can be had from Mr Shrotriya of water department of BMC. He has kept some demo systems at Goregaon. Otherwise one can have vermiculture from Inora farms at Pune or from Mr Prakash Dandekar. Many years ago I also collected loads of worms from roadside soil where I identified them by presence of vermicasts. But this is possible only in the Monsoon. And best place to collect castings is actually Aarey colony or National Park. One small 200g curds dabba full is enough to start the composting. Ideally one must put a mug of cow dung to vitalise the worms- but this is optional. This whole set up should be covered with moist gunny sack and kept in cool shade with good access and air circulation.

Also available from NEW PARK SUN GARDENS, C- 505, Shree Ganasiddivinayak CHS, Lt Dilip Gupte Marg, RBI Qtrs, Mahim, Mumbai- 16. Ph- 9322296887

One should start adding the peels and unedible parts of raw vegetables and fruit. Except garlic, onion, lemon and similar strong and sour ones. Give a light stir about two times a week. After about a month stop adding material for 2-3 days. Shift the coarse material on one side and harvest compost from other side. Put back the coarse material and continue use.

Composters with two or three compartments make harvesting very easy and do not involve much handling of worms. They also reduce worm mortality because fresh matter is not in close proximity to them.

Once in about a year or two you will have to empty the full bin to remake the layers, Particularly the sugarcane fibre or coconut husks. These being organic materials, they get degraded. Changing the layers also helps to check the health of worms and it is better to add few worms from a different source than last time- to provide ‘new gene pool’. (I think)

MY EXPERIENCE OF HOME COMPOSTING 1

When I was a kid, in the Pune Indian Express, some lady called Mrs Usha Coundinya used to write articles about vermicomposting and I used to be very fascinated by her write- ups. Though the fascination never transformed into action.

Cut to 2004, I met Mr Prakash Dandekar and the whole fascination got re-ignited. I bought the single unit vermicomposting unit ‘Kalpataru’ Goldbox from him and started. We kept it in the West- facing balcony grille. I happily harvested compost after 2- 3 mts but not a single worm was to be seen. They may have died sometime. In retrospect, I feel what I harvested may not have been true compost either. I gave off the wire cage because I had no patience to set it up again. But I met Mr Dandekar again- and bought another cage from him. This time there was a brief time when it smelled badly a great deal and I had to consult Dandekar who told me not to add- cooked food, dairy products, citrus, onion and garlic- and things settled down. But hubby noticed some white creatures and concluded they must be THE WHITE ANTS (TERMITES). In a moment the whole unit went to garbage! (Actually the white dots are mites which are seen when the moisture content is excessive and can be addressed by adding some dry leaves or cardboard or allowing aeration and mixing thoroughly later to adjust the mositure) The third time around, I was able to manage the cage for a few months till it was attacked by squirrels and rats who seemed to have developed a taste for worms. It was too much for me to actually witness the squirrel slurping down a worm from the cage. That was the last Kalpataru unit I bought. Though Mr Dandekar remained a good friend and I maintained the desire to compost.

MY VERDICT

Vermicomposting- 

it is the ideal home composting method only if you are keen on organic gardening because no organic compost comes even close to vermicompost in quality. Considering that vermicompost is difficult to source consistently, it would be wise to make it yourself to have a steady supply.

But worms need careful handling which is tricky for beginners especially in an artificial setting like a bin or cage- which is the only option in Mumbai. Soil- based beds and pits are a rare luxury here. Worms cannot process all wet waste which is disappointing if your aim in composting is to have a zero waste home. And worms being sensitive are prone to die off due to subtle changes in weather or moisture- one has to really get a hang of it. General recommendation is to add cow dung to get best results. But if you are a home composter you cannot practically do it. Cow dung is difficult to get, transport and put in the unit. It gives off a strong smell for at least 2 days and worst of all it attracts flies...after one attempt I never went anywhere near cow dung in my life. The Jain community does not accept vermicomposting due to religious beliefs.

Kalpataru Gold Box- 

The product is quite unique in being easily available and replicable. Materials are cheap and easily available. So you are better off buying a unit from Mr Dandekar. It takes some learning to manage and is by no means as easy as claimed. Firstly, you must keep the unit in a shaded area at waist height in easily accessible spot. Keeping in sunny balcony grille, under kitchen sink or on top of AC will not work. It should be kept in a dark, airy accessible spot where temperature remains more or less stable. My observation is that the home foyer where we keep footwear is the most ideal place, if available. To the small, nuclear family sized unit you can add only about two fist-fulls of material daily. So if you plan to shell kilos of peas in winter, then you will have to store the peels and add them to the cage at the rate of two fist fulls daily. Always stir the material lightly- only the top 2-3 inches layer after adding. And preferably cover with a piece of gunny sac. You will have to add a layer of fine metal mesh all around to protect from squirrels if that is a risk. As mentioned above you can add only flowers and vegetable trimmings; nothing else. Periodically you have to spray water from the sides as it tends to dry out at the edges. Take care not to empty the whole cage while harvesting. Just remove from top half and then continue using. This cage will last about 3-4 years as the metal is prone to rust. In the 2- compartment variation, a mesh is added in the middle. The idea is to fill one side and earthworms move in to process it while you add to other side. This is a good advancement as you can add material without worrying about quantity- and earthworms can move in when it is partially decomposed and ready for their consumption. Harvesting can be done without practically encountering any worms because they have moved to other side. The worm mortality is likely to be lower in this system. Only it needs slightly bigger place.

HOME VERMICOMPOSTING TODAY

Many methods of vermicomposting are put on the net. I am not so sure if the 3- bin method works in Mumbai, because we are never sure which worms we are going to get. For all we know we might have to do with bottom feeders or local ‘desi’ worms then they don’t migrate upwards. I do vermicomposting because I need the compost for my garden and also because I really love rearing worms. I have taken the practical approach of vermicomposting in two drums (about 40l capacity, used with lids). I have made the 3- tier bed- brickbats, followed by thick bedding of sugarcane fibre or coconut husk covered by layer of fine soil and sand. This covers about lower one third of my drum with drainage holes at the bottom. Plus I have made many holes at the top for aeration. On top of this I added the vermiculture which has baby worms. I got the vermiculture from Inora farms at Pune. Parlekars can get worms from Mr Shrotriya of the water Dept of MCGM (He is a master vermicomposter- it’s his hobby) or from Devangini society. Then I just went on adding the green materials. I stir them two times a week. When the drum fills up, I stop adding and start the second drum. After 45 days the compost from first drum is ready for harvesting. I have kept my drums in balcomy in the shade of a huge tamarind tree. I have to cover it with gunny bags for warmth in winter and wet gunny bags to provide cooling in summer.

 I think vermicomposting is one of the good options, provided you realise that worms are living beings and you need to raise them as pets.

MY ECO- FRIENDLY BIRTHDAY PARTY

·         

This week we had a Birthday Party at home. I was thinking Vile Parle has a population of is approximately one and half lakh persons. About 10 percent of this being children under 6 years. So, about 15000 birthdays are celebrated every year. The cost of birthday party in a restaurant or party hall works out to be about 25000 rupees (minimum, it can go upto 75000) per birthday. That is parlekars spend about 3.75 crores on birthdays of under 6s every year.

Now if these parties are done at home, to save money, then the major environment impact is through the use of plates and cutlery. If household steel stuff is used, the water used to wash them will be phenomenal 3.7 lakh litres to wash the plates alone. (I am not going into the comparative carbon and water foot print of paper vs steel plates now, more about that in another post later.) The other option is disposables. Each party consisting of at least 25 people- it means about 30 plates, 30 spoons and 60 glasses. This means 4.5 lakh plates, 4.5 lakh spoons and 9 lakh glasses or cups. All these will be sent to landfill if the material is neither recyclable nor compostable. Another source of trash (non recyclable noncompostible material) is cheap decorations...made of plastic, shiny foil, thermocoal (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU TORANS) and Styrofoam. All these will go to landfill.

 I did not want to add to this dismal statistic while I enjoyed myself. After all Birthday Party is for ‘Tum Jiyo Hazaro Saal’ and I don’t want to condemn that life as a life on a polluted planet. So I made sure that my party was eco- friendly- means both economically and environmentally. This is what I did-

1. Economics- Had birthday party at home and invited only those who meant something to the Birthday boy. No parents, none of my friends or relatives (just to earn social brownie points). SAVED on Hotel charges, travel, taxes, DJ. I was the party ‘host’ and that money was saved.

2. Menu- the aim was to have a process with least impacts and leftovers. I chose to order in- cooking in larger batches saves fuel. I ordered kid’s favourites....so they eat well. I discussed quantities with the caterer to make sure we did not order extra. I got large 2 l bottles of soft drink.....bottles will be used in gardening later.

3. Invitees- Sent personal invites and got confirmed RSVPs so that exact numbers of attendees could be determined....again to avoid wastage

4. Decorations- I used only paper decorations—that went to recycling or compost. Pure latex balloons are luckily easily available in Parle East and they will get into compost bin. Music played with closed windows at moderate volumes to avoid noise pollution. And used natural vapouriser to keep mosquitoes away

5. Cutlery- I got sugarcane and wheat fibre plates....these are easier to home compost than the areca plates which need shredding. But areca leaf spoons as edible spoons are not available in Parle now. Paper cups for juice and water. Half went to recycling and half I retained for making seed starting cups in my garden. Tissues could go into compost bin. I was thinking of labelling the glasses with the kids’ names to facilitate reuse, but I forgot about it. The cost was only about 10 pc higher than the Styrofoam cutlery...already I had saved that much. I used ordinary corelle bowls for serving.

6. Games and activities- We looked up the net and chose group games requiring no props. The kids were very sporting and joined in heartily....lots of fun.

7. Return gifts- Got plastic water bottles that can be cleaned with hot water...much more eco friendly than soap. Wrapped them in kite paper....easily compostable.

8. Gifts- I was happy to discover that invitees turned out to be as thought ful...no duplications. And all gifts were exciting, usable...no cheap china stuff. And that made them eco- friendly

9. Cleaning up- We had minimal left overs. We cleaned up immediately after party in half hour’s time. It was 10 mins job to cut up the cutlery with scissors and put them into my bokashi bin and compost pile. Food containers went into recycling, Ballons into bokashi bin.

No sign of yesterday’s party except for the Happy Faces! Money saved- 75%. Environment impact- minimal. Effort- Minimal. Enjoyment- Full.

Money saved goes into the youngster’s account and awaiting the Birthday compost to get ready!

TREES and COMPOSTING IN AIRPORT COLONY

When we tell people about home composting as part of Swacch Parle Abhiyaan, we tell them to start first with composting of floral offerings (nirmalya). 2- 3 times I was told about larger scale nirmalya composting happening at Airport Colony across the main suburb of Vile Parle East, done by one determined person. This was something! I had to find out who this person is and what is happening!
After careful questioning of a number of flower sellers and particular coconut vendors, I was told that our good Samaritan is owner of a reputed shop in the market. Somehow everytime I went to the shop, he wasn’t there- but identity was confirmed. And one day we met ‘the person’. Mr S is a simple, senior citizen with a heart of Gold and passion for the environment. For the last several years, he has been a regular for morning walks at the AIRPORT COLONY. In his soft and modest way, he told us that he has come to regard the AIRPORT COLONY with great affection and gratitude and also some amount of wonder. That in the midst of a crowded city next to the busy Western Express Highway is a place which is peaceful, pure and provides peace of mind to so many morning walkers, so many of whom are Parlekars. So he decided to show his gratitude by planting trees in the AIRPORT COLONY. He has planted more than 100 trees of different indigenous varieties there. Seeing his zeal, one local person provided him with facility to access water so that he could take proper care of the saplings there.

Soon, Mr G realised that plants also need good manure. He taught a number of flower sellers and coconut vendors from Parle to sort and keep aside their wastes in a gunny. This he would buy from them for a nominal amount and take to AIRPORT COLONY during his walks. He used this material to make compost on site for the 100 trees he planted. This way he facilitated good use of almost 10 sacks of waste per day. Seeing his work, many morning walkers joined him. Helped him in planting, providing saplings, transport of gunny sacks and taking care of plants.

Unfortunately, Mr S had to suspend his activities as some residents of the colony did not take kindly to his activities. But he is not at all bitter about it. His plants are there and they are big enough to take care of themselves. In addition, one person in Parle East has now offered the premises of his bungalow to care out his activities. Associates from SPA who visited this bungalow say the project is really going well. Nirmalya and coconut waste are deposited in pits where microbes and worms do the work. Many pits are used in circulation. Mr S is joined by Mr J in his work here. Mr J is a full time consultant engineer trained at IIT and finds time to do this work inspite of his busy schedule. He has given the concept that waste management project should also look attractive so that people are impressed and join in it. So they have made a fabulous garden around the bungalow. And in Parle itself there are plants giving large variety of flowers, fruits, birds, butterflies- and of course very cool, clean air and beauty to the bungalow.

HATS OFF TO THEM! They are determined to increase the scope of their activities. Mr S says he has decided to give as much time as required for this task- he really believes in serving nature.

A JEWEL IN PARLE

On 27th November, we all members of 'Parle Gardners' Group' had the opportunity to discover a jewel in Vile Parle East.

Mrs Varsha Karambelkar kindly arranged for us to be guided by Dr Lattu the eminent horticullturist. He suggested we meet in 'Sathaye College Garden'. All these years I had associated Sathaye college with scholars, art and culture events and rumbunctious crowd of teenagers, so I kept wondering if the meeting was for a cup of tea and then we would proceed to some place like the University for the actual tour.

We assembled and were introduced to the Sprightly Dr Sharangdhar and I had tough time believing she is several years post- retirement seeing her energy and enthusiasm. After the expected canteen visit....the unexpected part happened right here---just behind the canteen began an amazing collection of botanical specimens. Mrs Renee Vyas, an ardent tree- lover and guiding light to many friends of trees accompanied us. The next 2 hours were spent in seeing a large variety of trees, bushes and herbs. Many of them, I saw for the first time. Time flew by....the collection is really quite incredible.

Any person wishing to know more about trees is welcome here. One has to just take permission (by quite simple process) in office and you are ready for your ramble. A field guide such as 'Trees of Bombay" by BNHS will be an excellent companion- as all may not be lucky like us to get guides like Lattu Sir and Sharangdhar Madam. Even after 3 hours, we had not completed seeing all specimens, which means another visit has to be planned.

A number of rare plants have been nurtured here. Many persons brought up in Konkan, can come and see the common trees of their childhood here- as nowadays trees and shrubs are being removed from native places.

Suppose anyone has a rare plant to donate, this collection will gladly accept and it will be nurtured like a cherished child. Now the institute is planning to have some specialised gardens like butterfly garden. I wish they have a garden with fruit trees as well- so that children can at least see where their favorite fruit comes from.

Parlekars have a jewel in their midst now. All must visit and enjoy its beauty.