Each day, India alone produces 1.43 lakh tonnes of trash. Due to urban migration from humble dwellings to skyscrapers, a lot of waste is generated. And the waste gives rise to Landfills! Public rubbish dump! Burning of waste! Infertile land, infectious diseases, and toxic chemicals in the atmosphere are only a few aftereffects. Due to the size of the waste management problem, only a small number of players have taken it upon themselves to find a solution.
The story is no different for a city like Pune. It would be ridiculous to expect the municipal corporation to collect, transport, sort, and treat over 2500 tonnes of rubbish in a single day from a metropolis like Pune. The daily waste that citizens produce must be handled responsibly. Numerous housing societies are adamant about processing their garbage, but they need more technical know-how to build up waste processing facilities within a fixed budget.
The creator of Green Thumb Compost, Firdosh Roowalla, is concerned about seeing how our ecosystem is buried under a growing mountain of trash. Firdosh used his love for gardening and the outdoors to launch his organization. The work of Firdosh’s Organization involves composting food and garden waste into nutrient-rich soil. In 2011, The Green Thumb was established. The initial goal was to turn wet waste, organic waste, and especially urban wet waste into “Compost,” a rich soil nutrient. The green thumb specializes in consulting and designing new and existing #wastemanagement facilities while operating them for housing societies with adequate capacity planning and budgeting.
The main factor contributing to the rise of municipal solid waste is a lack of segregation. This results from the mindset of those who believe it is beneath their dignity to separate their household waste. As a result of improper segregation at the source, non-biodegradable wastes are placed in landfills, ultimately lowering the quality of the land. This issue can be solved if resellable commodities like glass bottles, metals, and plastic pet bottles are segregated. When resold, these also bring in a reasonable market price.
The 3 Rs of waste management are: reduce, reuse, and recycle. People skip right to the recycling section. Up to 500 grams of kitchen waste per family daily is considered optimum. Today, it exceeds 1 kilogram, and most of it is not wasted. Waste management is not limited to the city’s recycling facilities or landfills. It must begin immediately at our homes. The general public has to be aware of what garbage is. Not all imperfections are a waste of time. Food waste is a severe issue everywhere in the world.
If we start today with small steps, like, having separate trash cans for wet and dry waste, the waste problem can be readily remedied. Sounds rather easy! It helps environmental protectors like Firdosh keep our environment secure and pristine.
For help managing their daily garbage, many urban housing societies turn to Green Thumb. The company currently employs eight people and contracts with 35 societies in Pune, representing more than 5000 families. They handle about 5000 kg of wet waste every day. Each society has its internal waste processing system since the processing is done using a decentralized way.
Firdosh Roowalla is a BE Production and MBA in Marketing graduate. He is currently enrolled at Symbiosis International University in Pune to get his Ph.D. in Solid Waste Management. His research focuses on how private players might take over municipal corporations’ role in managing the city’s solid waste.
With 35 societies as clients, Green Thumb ensures that not a kg of wet waste leaves these organizations. Firdosh adds of his future intentions, “I am creating a waste processing device that will turn wet waste into solid fuel in a single day. I intend to spread this throughout India so that everyone can profit from its simple processing and financial returns.”