BANGALORE: Green living. The idea has taken new heights, thanks to a few Bangaloreans who've shown it can work in day-to-day living. Some have ventured beyond tapping naturally available solar energy and rain water that fall on their terraces to trying their hands on production of biogas.
Like Ramesh and Sunitha R Nayak. The Nayaks, in their 60s, are
residents of Tata Silk Farm, South Bangalore. One day, they decided to
tap the rotting vegetables in their backyard to generate energy. Two
years, their dependence on LPG cyclinders is minimal. A biogas plant
occupying an area of 5ftx5ft does the job for them.
The plant
was installed in their house in November 2012. About 2.5 kg of vegetable
and non-vegetarian waste collected everyday in their kitchen generates
cooking gas that lasts 90 minutes.
"It takes about 6-7 hours
for the formation of the gas, from the tine the organic waste is fed to
the plant. We spent about Rs 30,000 for the unit and the maintenance is
done completely by us. We have one stove to which the biogas is
connected. I have framed a scale that shows the level of gas accumulated
in the chamber. So far we have not received any complaints from
neighbours about any bad odour. The slurry is used for the garden," says
Ramesh, a retired engineer.
According to Ramesh, methanos
bacteria performs actively in the presence of sunlight. The plant has
also reduced the quantity of waste generated by the household.
The couple has installed CCTV cameras to keep track of the functioning
of the plant. Their daughter Shilpa, working in the US, is also able to
watch the happenings in the backyard of the house via internet. "If
every household gears up for this, our dependence on LPG will reduce,"
says Shilpa.
"It is possible to make use of the biogas plant for three hours a day but for that we need expert advice," says Sunitha.
The couple next dreams of tapping solar energy to end their dependence on Bescom.
Waste manager shows the way
Twelve years back when Bangalore showed little interest in the
indiscriminate littering and mixing of waste, Wilma Rodrigues carried
the flag for solid waste management.
She quit her high-profile job to emerge as social entrepreneur in solid waste management and founded Saahas in Koramanagala.
"It was a passion because I truly detest seeing garbage on our streets.
I started Saahas out of an interest in waste management. This is now my
full-time work." Corporate giants have collaborated with Saahas in
waste management. "People need to realize that recycling is something
cool, and that dropping off a bag of segregated waste is not too much
effort." Wilma has also tied up with supermarkets to provide dry, wet
and e-waste collection points at 5 locations across the city.
Saahas works extensively to provide all waste generators solutions to
managing waste at source. This includes composting of all organic waste
and recycling of dry waste and e-waste.
Watershed moment for cars
Even as the BWSSB cries foul on water wastage in car washes,
Bangaloreans continue to use bucketsful for the same with impunity.
Maruti Suzuki's waterless awareness drive comes as some relief. It
includes 47 environment-friendly ingredients. The process includes
combination of car wash, polish and protective shield. A positively
charged paint surface repels dust and additional UV coating enhances it.
The company says it saves 10 million litres of water a month and the
technology is being implemented in 204 "green" workshops across India.
that give a waterless wash for cars. Automatic car washing system,
automated oil management system and paintless dent repair system to.
In automatic car wash system, the workshops are being equipped with
automatic car washing and underbody car washing systems leading to
better washing quality, faster washing of vehicles and lower consumption
of water. This results in 20% reduction in water usage.
With inputs by Apurva Ashok and Lasya Nagaraj
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