Description of the project
The inhabitants and entreprises of Delhi are generating excessive waste and civic authorities have no systematic sustainable waste management in place. A survey conducted in BudhVihar, a colony located in southwest Delhi, reflected that the locality has improper waste & drainage system, water logging, health issues and each household on an average generates around 1 kg of kitchen waste everyday. To address this challenge, AIWC is training women from the locality in waste separation and home based compost system. They produce manure in a cycle of 45 days with ‘Khamba”, with a set of 3 earthen pots kept on top of each other. Layer of waste and cocopeat is filled in the pots on rotation and after decay, the waste turns into organic manure.

Climate impact
Dumping of waste in landfill or burning it releases carbon dioxide and pollutes the environment. According to the Press Information Bureau, India generates 62 million tonnes of mixed waste containing both recyclable and non-recyclable every year, with an average annual growth rate of 4% (PIB 2016). This project aims to mitigate GHG emission at micro level, sensitize the targeted household and support a sustainable waste management system at source.

Gender impact
The women from the Delhi suburb community were informed on various issues relating to waste, including health hazards. They were also trained to package and sell the manure to other households and local markets, either as manure or with sapling planted in a small pot. The project raises women’s technical skills and knowledge, and their capacities in generating income activities, as well as implementing preventive health measures.

Scalability
The project is cost effective and replicable at household level, as well as in other similar communities. It can also be scaled up to a community based waste management system, using the business model of compost pits and lead to a proper waste management system within the area.