R3project, composting and more

With my new found interest in gardening and household betterment, I have been on the look out for nice small additions/changes which I can do to make my new place nicer. I have made a list of things which I can do from all the comments I received previously, and I am on my way to get the required stuff to make that happen too.

Today morning on reaching office, and being very happy that my croton seeds have germinated (patting myself on the back), started the look out for gardening tips and came across this article in the NY Times. This article talks about a large scale sustainable living development in a small one bedroom place. I guess it is wonderful to know that one can do quite a bit with something as small as a one bedroom place also. And on reading what all has been done with all the odd problems of this place, it is certainly very motivating! I wonder how one will have all these things if you have a house which does not cater to just adults, but to elders, kids and pets.

The whole set up is certainly very awe-inspiring, and you might think why not do all these options before settling into the same old path of buying fuirniture. I guess I am just into all these ideas now as I would prefer to have recycled stuff in my home now, and then when I am settled someplace, then I would want to buy things which I would like to keep for a longer duration.

Another interesting bit which I really liked was the composting practice which looked very simple and quite very goood if you have a gardening practice. I did a bit of research and saw that there is an option of doign the same in Bangalore too. Daily Dump sounds to me like a wonderful idea but with some limitations when it comes to doing the same within an appartment. They have various containers which can be also doubled as pots for plants, and they have varieties which allows for the pots to be stacked in a vertical, space conserving manner. The entire process looks very clean and easy to manage. And as we anyhow end up throwing the waste outside, without bothering to separate recycle and biodegradable stuff. (I have seen IIT Delhi having two dustbins wherever there are garbage disposal bins, one says biodegradable and the other recyclable), I guess with no space constraints why not just throw all the kitchen waste separately.

As I see it, there needs to be lots of air to be given to the complete process and it can be done in an appartment only when you have balconies and even then you need to be careful of what all will be coming to attack your waste out in the open. Maybe rats and ants and lizards will be a major issue then. I guess this whole system has been designed to a large extend for gardens. And I hope there will be a good upgradation which will be more suited to indoor usage, there are bound to be some issues when we have these gamlas and khambas inside the house. For one, there is going to be less fresh air for the bio waste and we would not want a smelly corner reserved for the composting. More importantly a house gettign infested with ants/maggots/pests should not be a side effect.

Another set up which I came acorss from the R3project blog is the worm composter where they use red worms to help in the composting process and hence this results in faster results by not leaving it to microbes( which are a slower process). Red worms are also said to be very good composters and the most common too.

On a completely different note, I am wondering if I could get my hand on some second hand lamps ( ceiling and floor), that would surely make my weekend (sunday). I have looked around, and the things I've seen are just plain horrible. They are not the lovely colours, and simple kinds, they are all too gaudy and obviously too pricey for my budget. I need to figure out where to get my lamps from too! ( I am planning on having a floor lamp in the living room at the new place)