Poonam Bir Kasturi, Daily Dump

Hi all, I am Ramjee Ganti, let me give you a sneak preview of Daily Dump, a company which we are going to feature under Cleantech.

I have always maintained a corner for non-it startups (Pixelninc, ion, easylifeservices, brewhaha) in this blog. And design is my passion. What can be better than a startup which combines these two. In this post I will be introducing you to one such startup .

"Oh! Man, I have to throw that stinking waste basket from the kitchen", said a friend of mine when I visited him. He's just married and as with most of the people find it difficult to keep the kitchen clean. I am sure most of you can identify with this situation. I for one am lucky that the maid cleans up the waste basket in kitchen daily.(If she does not come for a day, my kitchen is in for a toss).

One more thing that concerns me most of the time is that all this waste is thrown in the overflowing dustbins on the road (mind you not road side). All the waste degenerates on the roads and makes the best of the best roads stinking fowl. This is not just a problem in Bangalore but across the country.

An old saying goes like this "Win at home, before you conquer the world". One more "Little drops maketh an Ocean". Same here, before we get to clean the roads of Bangalore let us clean our houses first (without dirtying the roads) .

You might ask, what do we do about it? Ok, I might have a solution up my sleeve. I came across this old-new startup from Bangalore which precisely helps you in doing this. I am referring to DailyDump, trying to make good of the waste.

[tHe sTory bEhind?]
Most of the waste generated in an Indian home is organic in nature. We all know that organic waste makes an excellent ingredient for compost. This compost is made using organic waste like dead leaves, cooked food, vegetable peels etc. It makes good supplement and nutrient for the crops, gardens etc. Composting is a time taking and tedious process(Ask me, I was on a project with AID Bangalore). What DailyDump tried to do is make composting in your house a decently simple and clean process.

[wHat tHey dO]
"Our products are designed to make your environment better - both aesthetically and ecologically " is the line from DailyDump. Check out the photos in this blog, that should speak of what good job these folks are doing. Though at this point I am not very sure on how all this stuff works (exact mechanics), I feel it should be a bit straight forward.(I don't guarantee it at this point). Check out the names of the products, simple vernacular !!.

[cOst]
I know your next question is how much it costs me? (I mean you!).
Depending on the size of the container, it might cost you anywhere between 100rs to 750 rs.

[pItfalls]
No service/product can be without pitfalls. I am so happy that dailydump has openly come up with the problems that people might face and offer workarounds.
"Composting at home could take some getting used to, but Daily Dump’s Service Team is there, anytime, anywhere, to help you. You could either sign up for a Service Plan or call us when you feel the need.

We find that some customers are hesitant to begin by themselves and need some support to fall back on, which is why the service plans are flexible and you can choose from four options." (DailDump)

There is a service option to people who find it difficult to maintain the stuff.

"The daily dump current range needs a bit of maintenance by the urban consumer. A city needs multiple solutions, at the community level and larger scale. The daily dump addresses only the problem of home waste." (Index 2007 Awards)

[aCcolades]
With such a great design can the accolades be far behind. DailyDump has been nominated by the Index 2007 Awards under the Home category (Index is a NPO- focusing on design to improve Life worldwide). There is also a mention on springwise and trendhunters two of the sites that bring out the innovative things across the world.

[fUture]
So what does dailydump see in the future.

" A mechanised composter for homes, which handles the task of having to turn the compost pile by the owner. Composting products for specific needs like big restaurants, cafes, marriage halls, convention centres and larger hotels. “Bangalore has a lot of vegetable, fruit and flower co-operative outlets. These need specific low-cost well-designed solutions,” feels Poonam. On the anvil is composting for large flats that can effectively use ‘In-house composting units’. Products for other urban needs, like rain-water harvesting, organic farming, non-formal sector businesses are also in the plan. " (Deccan Herald)

[pEople bHeind]

This is the brain child Poonam Kasturi, one of the co founders of Srishti Design School. She is an NID Ahmedabad 85 batch alumnus. Check out her paper at design with India conference in 2006. A go through the paper tells you about her deep insights into the design and what kind of design we need in India.
If you think it's a one man show it is not. Check out the page where the team behind dailydump is introduced. I guess every one involved found a place here.

I am planning to have a podcast/videocast with her and the team. Will get to know more details then and let you all know about, one more face who cares for design. Check out this page where she describes why she chose this approach to composting.

[cOol fActor]
The pictures, very impressive. The website has a nice, cool interface. (Somethings can be improved). And the best part is, Poonam says the content and the business model is opensource.
"Also people – lots of them have shaped it in many ways – so this project does not belong to me alone – it belongs to the many that will shape it as time moves on. This project therefore is dedicated to everyone who wishes to do something with it – and all the material is available on this site under a creative commons license." (DailyDump)
That's the zing factor, I bow to her for the vision. She is an inspiration to all of us.

[mY Opinion]
Ok, we come to the last part. I am impressed.
But I do have concerns that you might have. Does it really stand up to the claims. What will happen in rains, if I am away from house, if the pot breaks, so on and so forth. Also I haven't got the exact nature of work on my part if I start using this in my house. As mentioned earlier in this post, I plan to talk to Poonam next.
Drop by all your queries in comments. I will try to get them answered.

[sUbscribe]
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[cRedits]
Photo of Garbage: The Hindu
You Tube video of Daily Dump
Other Photos: Index
Posted Earlier on sodidi as Green Entrepreneur under Innovation.