Strategic measures being proposed to help save the environment

Apr 30, 2017 News

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By Sharmain Grainger
City Hall is on the verge of launching a composting drive and the initial targets will be the

28 primary schools spread across the capital city. At least this has been the disclosure of Director of Solid Waste Management at the Georgetown municipality, Mr. Walter Narine.
In a brief demonstration last week, Narine not only revealed how simple it is to make a composting mechanism, but he also showcased the simplicity of the process. He is convinced that once this knowledge is imparted to young primary school children, they will in turn take this knowledge home and are likely to practice it there too.
The idea is not merely to ensure that people can make use of organic fertilisers which composting helps to realise, but, according to Narine, such activities will effectively pave the way to reduce the quantity of waste generated in the city.
Narine explained that in order to make a home-made composing mechanism, all that is required is a base to accommodate a plastic drum that will hold waste that could range from unwanted cooked foods to the peels of fruits and vegetables. The drum is designed in such a way, Narine noted, that it can accommodate regular mixing of its content.
“What happens here is, you take the food waste that you throw away everyday and you mix

it with cow dung and earth and in six weeks after mixing everyday you can get organic fertiliser,” Narine informed.
In his explanation he pointed out that “If you throw out rice, for instance, in an ordinary bin within 24 hours you will see worms; bacteria will start to develop because heat is produced…the same thing happens in this process. If you put the food waste into the composting drum with some amount of moisture, the bacteria will generate and start to breakdown the waste, and it will turn to soil or organic fertiliser which is highly rich in nutrients.” This therefore means, Narine said, that the importation of fertilisers could be reduced if this very simple style of composting is done on a large scale.
“You can use this to plant your vegetables and pretty much anything that you want to be organically grown…that is our aim – to have a farm that will have organically grown produce,” Narine revealed.
He disclosed that City Hall will have to engage the Ministry of Agriculture in order to have this plan materialised in the near future. But this is important, he noted, because Guyana has had some difficulty exporting its perishable items,

since it is sometimes difficult to prove that they are free from pesticides and fertilisers.
“Sometimes there are some large produces on the market, but they are not free of fertilisers and so on…but if we want to tap into that market we have to go organic and that is what we are promoting,” Narine said.
According to Narine, there are plans apace to put one composting mechanism at each of the city’s primary school in the hope of encouraging a national composting drive. He is convinced that with some advice, just about all home owners in the city, and eventually nationally, could easily have in place a composting mechanism on their premises.
Yet another mechanism that is being promoted by the Solid Waste Department of City Hall is a bio-digester. This too is a mechanism made from a plastic drum that is filled with waste matter. But in this case, Narine revealed that it is important that the waste is made into a ‘slurry’ state before it is deposited into the drum. This mechanism, he revealed, is particularly geared towards the interest of farmers, and even those involved in large scale cooking.
“You mix the waste, such as manure, with some water to get it slurry ,and within a week the bacteria will breakdown the waste and produce methane gas,” Narine disclosed. School cafeterias, he noted, could also take advantage of this technique.

The methane gas can be extracted and stored in an old tyre tube and then connected to a gas cooker that can cook a meal, effectively reducing the need for propane or liquefied petroleum gas. “These are very simple measures,” said Narine, as he disclosed the age-old environmentally-friendly measures he has proposed to the City Council to hopefully assist in improving the environment.
But there are other measures that he has been promoting too in this regard. Among these have been the making of toilet paper from newspaper and the transformation of waste plastic bags into place mats and other decorative pieces for the home.
In making the toilet paper, Narine explained that all that is needed is a quantity of newspaper, a blender and some water. “The same newspapers that people throw away everyday you can take that and blend it with water for about 30 seconds to one minute and then pour it into a sieve and get rid of the water…the paper left in the sieve you take that and spread it unto a sheet and leave it to dry or you can iron it to speed up the process,” explained Narine.
The process is completed by adding some ingredients that Narine has opted to keep secret for now.
Meanwhile, he noted that the use of plastic bags for decorative purposes is a tradition that has been practiced across the globe. It was following some research, he recognised that not only Guyana but the world, has been facing a major problem with the quantity of plastic bags that is generated as waste. Moreover, efforts have been engaged to reverse this trend by finding use for these bags after they would have served their original purpose instead of discarding them.
Plastic bags, according to Narine, are handed out in abundance by supermarkets and other points of sales but can be knitted into mats and other items that can be used in the home. In fact, he sees the knitting initiative as one that could even help to bring employment to single-parent women who are desirous of earning an honest income. This and the other ventures will have to first gain the approval of Council before they are fully implemented. They have, however, gained the endorsement of City Mayor, Ms. Patricia Chase-Green.
“All of these things are out there, but we are capitalising on them, and by doing so we can help to save our environment while helping to reduce cost at the same time,” Narine underscored.

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