Re-use, Re-cycle and Reduce; the natural way

Inspired by her multi-talented mother Dr Suvarna Fonseca e Antao, a lecturer for 37 years at Carmel Higher Secondary, Nuvem, environmentalist and a homeopathy doctor who does voluntary service for Red Cross, Zuleika Juliet Antao took up the challenge to keep her backyard clean by using the naturally available products which can biodegrade any form of kitchen garbage. VIKANT SAHAY met with the mother-daughter duo to know how it has been made possible which caught the attention of the President of India.

Published on:

04 Feb 2017, 8:50 pm

It is a great way to downsize the garbage that we see everywhere, play a blame game and complain about it. If garbage is treated in a proper way, the mount of this problem can be dealt with and that too, without a stink. It could possibly solve the problem of our garbage dumps that are ever increasing in size and number and are breeding grounds for various diseases. It can be a game changer for Goa as far as cleanliness is concerned.

With the Swacch Bharat mission underway, a mother-daughter duo in Goa, made waves nationwide. Zuleika Juliet Antao with the help from her mother Dr Suvarna Fonseca e Antao, designed a facility and a unit which gets rid of bio-degradable waste in no time without much fuss. A child prodigy, awarded by the President of India, Dr Pranab Mukherjee on Children’s Day, Zuleika is now a Class 12 science student at Our Lady of the Rosary Higher Secondary School, Dona Paula.

She used an amazing gift from nature, the detrivore Hermetia illucens larvae (BSFL), commonly known as black house fly to increase the efficiency of ecofriendly bio-convertion and composting.

This process of bioconversion already exists in nature but the project which has been undertaken by Zuleika can obtain the value added products that are synthesized and use them to our benefit. “You get the manure and liquid leachate which can be used for plants as fertilizer and protein which can be used as bird animal and fish feed,” said Zuleika.

This unit has the following advantages as it downsizes the garbage pile in an eco-friendly way to 5 percent of its weight and volume with minimum odour and accepts all types of biodegradable waste. It also produces useful value based bye-products like nitrogenous liquid and solid compost, nutrient rich proteins, fats, calcium, amino acids, vitamins and minerals in the form of larvae. The process is easy to execute, cheap and can be used both at micro or at macro level.

Her work in this field was first noticed when she participated in the “Inspire science project and exhibition competition” which was held at the district level in Goa in July 2014 and her project was adjudged the best. Subsequently, the same competition was held at the State level; and she bagged the first prize. Encouraged by these outcomes, she decided to compete at the national level in Delhi amidst 900 participants from all over India and there too, she won the first place to receive a gold medal.

“It was a great and educational experience. I met a lot of people, learnt many new things and made a few friends too. I got a chance to meet the Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari and I presented him with a bouquet of flowers, something which still seems to me as a dream. When I saw the number of participants, I felt that I might not have much of a chance of winning, even though my mother kept saying that I am going to win,” said Zulieka.

Dr Suvarna Fonseca e Antao said that segragation of waste is very important and critical for treatment of garbage. “I advocate the same and teach my students how to segregate the waste so that it can be treated easily. I started a segregation unit and I catch them young. You have to learn to re-use, re-cycle and reduce.”