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Article
Delhi Times Saturday 12, December 2009
RADHIKA'S POINTS
Planting trees give out more oxygen like peepal, banyan and jamun
It would mean one step ahead to a healthier environment
Trees like bamboo and tamarind eliminate sulphur dioxide from the air
You don’t need to live in bungalows and have a vast expanse of a garden to recycle your kitchen waste. That is what Radhika Anand, who lives in Charmwood village, would have us believe. “It is easy to pin the blame on the administration and grumble that ours is a dirty country. But each one of us can contribute towards taking a small step which would make a big difference,” says this lady who id converting her kitchen waste into manure on the balconies of her apartment.
“Managing waste is slowly but surely becoming a big environmental problem and if it isn’t tackled now it will go out of control”, says the environmentalist. Radhika believes in practice before she can preach and thus has invested in four huge earthen pots that she has placed on her two balconies. All one needs to do, she says, is fill the bottom of the earthen ports which have drainage holes, with two-inch layer of rocks or stones, add another 1-2 inches of sand and then another 1-2 inches of soil. “Bio-degradable waste from our kitchen is available every single day,” she says.
From tea leaves to egg shells, vegetable and fruit peels: all of this is what you need to dump into the earthen pots. Cover these with another pot which holds another plant. “Water the plant everyday and while you are doing so, you are supplying water to the accumulating waste in the earthen pot,” she explains. Once the earthen pot is three-fourths full and covered and receives moisture from time to time, the waste turns into manure in a time period which varies from 3-4 months depending on the direction of sunlight.
Her tow balconies on the fifth floor have four such earthen pots and Radhika has timed it in such way that one pot matures every month and “the outcome is that I do not have to buy manure form the market. This not only ensures that my plants get quality manure but directly or indirectly I ensure a healthier life for my family members, because I depend on my herbs, because I depend on my herbs and plants for our daily needs,” she says confidently.
While speaking about herbs that can be grown even in balconies of apartments, the lady asks, “Why can’t we convert our first-aid boxes into herb-aid boxes?” Simple plants like aloe vera, tulsi, neem, lemon grass – all these go a long way to cure daily ailments. “If only we can pread the knowledge, for example, aloe vera can cure 220 diseases from headache to cancer,” she stresses.
Radhika is in love with nature and she has taken her passion one step forward by speaking about environment , indoor and outdoor pollution to children in various schools.
“It is the younger generation which should be addressed. I believe in working at the grassroots level and what better way than passing the message of a clean environment than speak to children?” she questions. Pollution, as she has been explaining to children, is everywhere: it could be outdoors and indoors but planting trees which give out more oxygen like peepal, banyan and jamun would mean one step ahead to a healthier environment.
She also explains there are some trees which are able to take in dust which is washed away with rain and trees like bamboo and tamarind also help in eliminating sulphur dioxide from the air. Keep indoor plants like money plant and breathe a cleaner air inside your homes, she advises.
Simple ways but long term gains is what Radhika Anand is keen to achieve.
502, Royale Retreat, Charmwood Village, Eros Gardens,
Suraj Kund, Haryana, Tel:
91-11-41638091-95, Mobile: 9811073996
E-mail:plantology@rediffmail.com
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