This World Environment Day WED 2017, I harvested the fruits (literally!) of my efforts that started with a project on last WED in 2016. (Please refer this post in continuation of the last 5 posts before this starting with the post Part 1 of 6)

My Harvest

I harvested Radish and Carrots from plants that were grown from waste stubs rooted in water, Potatoes from waste eye buds, Tomatoes grown from rotten tomatoes, Onions shoots grown from waste cut onion heads, Celery and Lemon Grass stems from plants grown from stubs rooted in water. I also grew leafy vegetable and herbs like Mint, Curry leaves, Coriander, Basil and Mustard in my balcony. 

All produce was organically grown without any chemical fertilizers.

In the last 5 posts I shared my project 'Power of Small Scale Upcycling of Urban Household Organic Waste' that I carried out with my classmates.

Positive Outcome of Project

My team and I successfully saved 14 Kg of organic waste going into the landfills over a period of 2 weeks during which we monitored and measured our material. 

We thus concluded that not only can such small scale upcycling (directly at source) help to reduce our overgrowing landfills and reduce methane emissions but it can also cut down pollution levels.

Avenues Explored

Furthermore we explored avenues of using left over organic matter as low cost raw material for agro, food and home decoration industry. One aspect that I would explore further is the possibility of using left over uncooked nutrient rich organic material in kitchen, as cheap raw material to make low cost edibles and food products towards a zero hunger world.

Personal Benefit gained

At a personal level, I want to emphasize that what started as a school project resulted in me adopting 'Gardening' as a new hobby, thoroughly enjoying my time in my 'balcony garden'.

Inorganic Waste Upcycled

I used waste wooden crates collected from vegetable vendors and plastic yogurt containers as pots for my plants

Organic Waste Upcycled

I used plant parts and stubs to grow new plants. dried vegetable peels, egg shells, fish bones and other organic kitchen remains to be powdered and stored for use- some in kitchen as food ingredients and others in garden as plant food. I could see that such dried organic matter can be stored with long shelf life to be used for composted as and when needed. 

I have not come across such 'Dry Compost' during any online research and am planning to work further to study this topic.

Methods employed & DIY Ideas used

I tried supplementing the soil with a layer of dried organic kitchen waste buried about 4-5 inches below the top, to decompose gradually and nourish the soil. I also tried my hand at composting.

I used my science lessons learnt at school to successfully keep the potted soil fertile by alternating one crop of leafy vegetables with another round of legumes like Peas and Grams. The nitrogen fixing bacteria in the root nodules of these plants helped to replenish the soil for better leafy growth of the next harvest.

I made seeding pots with organic waste rich in Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium pureed with paper pulp. Scented candles were made with dried aromatic fruit peels. Fruit and vegetable pulp left over from juice extraction was used to supplement or thicken soups and gravies in kitchen.

Setbacks

Not all my experiments were successful though. I was not able to grow lettuce from the left over stubs. Lemons and oranges grew on the plants but the size was too small! Cucumber and Bitter gourd plants grew well, flowered too, but there were no fruits to be seen. Mealy Bug infestation also gave me a tough time. 

But I consider these setbacks coming from my inexperience as a gardener and I am still going strong with my trials. Overall, it has been an enriching and great experience. 

I encourage all members to consider practicing these simple methods to reduce waste going to landfills by upcycling it at source itself where it is generated.

Being a student, and this being a past time, I cannot afford to invest too much time in this project or its research but I am sure to keep up my efforts and  follow up on this as and when I get an opportunity.

Most details and photos related to the project have been included in the slides in the last 5 posts. I am including with this post few more photos that I consider relevant to the project.