THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Until six months ago, Chandra of Attakulangara was just another terracotta vendor, selling mud stoves, pots and pans. This was before she sold her huge clay pots for an experiment in composting to a city-based NGO.The experiment turned successful, her pots were found porous enough to facilitate composting and with Vilappilsala closing down, the demand for Chandra’s pots grew by leaps and bounds. So much so that she has had to place extra orders with the potters in Thaalakkudi and Cheriyakurichi on the Tamil Nadu border. An apartment complex in the city is waiting for 50 pots from her for clean odourless composting on the terrace.Along with the pots, Chandra also plans to distribute booklets on composting in mud pots written Shibu K Nair of the NGO, Thanal. Chandra, of course, explains to everyone how to operate the composting mud pots, but thinks it would be better for customers to have the booklet for ready reference."You need at least two pots for effective composting. I drill holes right at the bottom for the leachate to flow out. This is collected in a tray kept beneath the pot, that has to be kept on a metal stand or three bricks. You can dilute the leachate and use it as manure for the garden," explains Chandra.Once one pot is full, it is covered tightly and kept aside. Then you use the second pot for dumping bio-waste. If the volume of waste is large, a third pot might be needed. If not, by the time the second pot fills up, the waste in the first one would be converted to manure, that can be used in the kitchen garden. The pots can thus be used alternatively for easy waste management at home."The big pots I sell cost Rs 175 per piece, while the small ones cost Rs 125. If you need the metal tripod frame for the base, it should be purchased separately from Chalai. That would come to approximately Rs 125,’’ says Chandra.Thanal has come up with practical solutions to the problems that may arise while composting with mud pots. ‘If you see houseflies buzzing around the pots, just dissolve two pieces of camphor in kerosene and apply on the neck and base of the pots with a brush,’ explains Shibu in the booklet.For ants, he recommends sprinkling a mix of chilli powder and turmeric powder around the pots. He says spraying the pots once a week with leftover and fermented curd, ‘rasam’ and ‘sambar’ will actually prevent odour and improve composting as well.The maximum cost for the whole composting unit including the pots, lids, base, and a spatula will be less than Rs 500 for a household.Wonder what these large pots were used for, before people started using them for composting and waste management? "To heat up medicinal bathing water for new mothers,’’ says Chandra with a smile.
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