Garbage in and Garbage out (Part - 2)

 Garbage in and Garbage out (Part - 2)

Q.7. What is Composting? How can it be done?

Ans. The process of rotting and conversion of biodegradable waste into manure is called Composting. This waste contains some nutrients for plants which return back to the soil and increase the soil fertility.

Composting can be done as follows:

    i)  Take a big container.

   ii) Put all the animal waste, food waste, dry wood chips, dry leaves etc in the container. Avoid meat, fish and dairy products as they attract animals and work of micro organism is interrupted.

    iii)  Now, mix the ingredients properly.

    iv)  Add some water to the waste in order to create some moisture.

    v)  Now, cover it with soil.

    vi)  Then, take care of this compost pile.

   vii)  After some days you will notice the dark soil that smells like earth is your final product which is known as manure.

    viii)   Now, you can mix it in the soil where you sow your plants.

 Q.8. What are redworms and how do they make vermicompost?

Ans. Redworms are a type of earthworm. They do not have teeth but they have a structure called ‘gizzard’, which helps them in grinding their food.  A redworm can eat food equal to its own weight, in a day. The excretion of redworms keeps on collecting and making vermicompost.

 Redworms do not survive in very hot or very cold surroundings. They also need moisture around them. If you take good care of your worms, in a month’s time their number will double.

Q.9. What is Vermicomposting? How can it be done?

Ans. Vermicomposting is a process where decomposition of biodegradable waste is done by using redworms. As this type of composting is done by worms so we create the environment which is suitable for redworms for their survival.

Vermicomposting can be done as follows:

    i)      Take a big container.

    ii)     Make sure temperature of the container should be moderate.

    iii)   Add a layer of sand in order to create a home for redworms.

    iv)    Now, add little amount of water in sand to create some moisture.

    v)   Then, add vegetable waste, animal waste, dry leaves etc in the container. Avoid adding salt, oil, pickle, milk products etc in it as they can harm redworms.

    vi)    Add some redworms.

    vii)  Now, keep adding and mixing the ingredients at regular intervals.

    viii) Now, you will notice within a month redworms will be doubled.

    ix)  Then, place some vegetable waste in the corner of pit and as a result the entire earthworm will shift to the vegetable waste.

    x)  Remove the compost from the vacated corner.

    xi) Dark soil like vermicompost is ready to use.

 Q.10. Burning of dry leaves and agricultural waste should be avoided. Give reason.

Ans. Burning of dry leaves and agricultural waste produces smoke and gases that are harmful to our health. So, we should try to stop such practices. These wastes could be converted into useful compost.

Q.11. Differentiate between compost and vermicompost?

Ans.

	Compost	Vermicompost
1.	It is prepared from all types of organic wastes like sewage, animal refuse, farm waste etc and takes 3-6 months to prepare.	It is prepared from domestic waste, vegetable waste and takes 1-2 months to prepare.
2.	Organic remains are decomposed by microbes.	Organic remains are pulverized by redworms.
3.	These are not so nutritive in comparison to vermicompost.	These are better in nutritive values in comparison to normal compost.

Q.12. Differentiate between Manure and Fertiliser?

Ans.

	Manure	Fertiliser
1.	These are made from natural substances (decomposition of plant and animal waste)	These are made from chemical substances in industries.
2.	These are organic.	These are inorganic.
3.	These do not harm the soil because these are natural.	These can kill the micro-organism present in soil as these are made from chemicals.
4.	These get slowly absorbed by plants.	These get quickly absorbed by plants.

Q.13. What is Landfill?

Ans. Landfill is a low lying area of ground where the garbage collected from our city is disposed off.  The part of garbage which can't be disposed of by other methods is loaded in trucks and dumped in low lying open area (landfill) inside or outside the city.

This garbage is spread over landfill and covered with a layer of soil to balance the uneven ground.  Once the landfill is completely full, it is usually converted into a park or a play ground. For the next 20 years or so, no building is constructed on it. 

Q.14. What is incineration method?

Ans. Incineration is the high-temperature burning (rapid oxidation) of a waste in a special kind of furace called incinerator. Three types of waste to which incineration is applied extensively are municipal solid waste, hazardous waste, and medical waste. It is a technology that destroys organic constituents in waste materials. It reduces volume of waste by 20-30% of original volume.