Organically Yours led by Mr. David De Souza aims to keep residual food out of landfills and put it to good use by growing new food. The details of this first-ever venture in what promises to be a new era of waste reduction. Organically Yours invites people to deposit their food residue at stores set up across the state. The goal is to ensure that this residual food comprising unconsumed and leftover scraps goes back into nature as fertilizer to grow more food.

Organically Yours, an offshoot of the SEED (Social Economical Environmental Developing) Foundation led by me and the Don Bosco College of Agriculture, Sulcorna, began as an initiative aimed at creating a self-sufficient and healthy Goa. Alongside organic farming and animal husbandry, Organically Yours is now involved in the process of waste collection. 

 “Take an orange, for example. Oranges contain Vitamin C. Now, imagine that the fruit is rotten and not consumable, does that mean that the Vitamin C content is lost? No. If you put that fruit back into nature, you’ll be feeding natural nutrients to your plants, and will probably be able to produce a better yield,”  Mr. De Souza explains.

Residual food might seem inconsequential in the vast stream of garbage but it constitutes nearly 80 percent of the contents of a garbage truck, says De Souza. And when it enters the landfills it not only takes up space but also releases greenhouse gasses. Their process will thus eliminate potent greenhouse gases, unpleasant smells, and reduce pollution.

In the six last months, Organically Yours has successfully managed to divert about six and half a tonne of residual food from reaching landfills and towards natural farming. “We take great pride in saying that as a store we have not contributed anything – not even a leaf – towards pollution. All residual food has been used to generate more manure and more nutrients to make more food.” To do this, Organically Yours has teamed up with local farmers. And through this approach, Organically Yours is also pushing across the concept of Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), a form of agriculture that eliminates the use of chemicals.

So far stores have been set up in Panaji, Margao,  Porvorim, Anjuna, Calangute, and Candolim. At the stores, one can purchase vegetables, fruits, honey, jaggery, flour, pulses, grains, and more sourced directly from the farmers. In turn, one can deposit organic rejects such as fruit and vegetable peels, stems, eggshells, and more. Based on the amount of residual food donated, as an added incentive green points worth ₹5 and ₹10 will be awarded to customers. The same can be redeemed at the store when purchasing groceries.

Today the state and country are facing a major problem of waste management. But it’s all about the mindset, “If we eliminate the concept of waste from our lives and treat everything as a resource then there wouldn’t be a problem. Similarly, it is very easy to litter. It is very easy to expect someone else to clean up after you. But if you tweak this concept, you can be part of the solution” added Mr. De Souza.

Of course, diverting and changing the waste stream takes a lot of cooperation and I emphasize that “this is an initiative for the people and by the people. And through WhatsApp messages, tele-calling, SMS-es, Organically Yours has already connected with a large number of Goans, and are now hoping to further increase their footprint in the state. “We hope to reach out to a lot of people and lead the way towards change. It doesn’t take rocket science to create to resolve this problem, just a change of mindset, with ‘I litter I Clean’ approach, remember food is food irrespective whether it is consumed or not”.