Saraswathi, additionally sporting the work badges of an IT skilled and yoga teacher, has skilled the misadventures pre-destined from each greenhorn compost fanatic. Despite her bins producing underwhelming composts — one bin even obtained swept right into a burglar’s heist bag — she stayed resiliently on the composting put up and in time, turned a composting evangelist. And similar to that, she found compost could possibly be a canvas. And that #compostart can deliver the lacking visibility to the inexperienced observe, in her eyes in no way non-compulsory however each family’s bounden responsibility.
Saraswathi Shanmugasundaram
She recollects the invention: “People often sieve compost after the cycle finishes to take away small plastics like apple stickers or threads from puja flowers and to catch chunky particles for the following cycle. When I sieved compost, I’d unfold newspaper and sieve it out. It unfold like a flat mattress and seemed like a black slate the place you can write or place one thing, like scribbling on mud or sand. Touching and feeling the compost led me to consider drawing and creating artwork from it.”
Compost artwork from @onelittlepalette
The first sketches had been easy smileys, however they progressively grew elaborate, competition motifs and seasonal designs coming into the image. “To add colors, I exploit pure supplies like fallen leaves, vegetable peels, flowers from the backyard, generally recent fruits or vegetable colors, every thing that’s compostable. Once the artwork is completed, the compost goes to the vegetation and the supplies used for color return into the compost bin or are washed if wanted.”
During one Vinayaka Chaturthi , she experimented with moist compost. “I added water, nevertheless it crumbled and that’s how compost texture ought to be, crumbly however moist nevertheless it was not adequate to carry as an object. So I unfold it out on newspaper or outdated calendar sheets, unfold the sieved compost, and used my palms and fingers to attract the image.”
Saraswathi frequently posts movies of her #compostart on her YouTube channel (additionally “onelittlepallete) and in Instagram reels. Her documented artworks and #compostart monitor report embody Nature Cake produced from compost for Forest & Bird, a New Zealand-based organisation, for its a centesimal yr celebration, compost artwork stalls at Solitude Farm the place folks create their very own designs and vibrant installations at Rosary Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Mylapore, for its Seventy fifth-year celebrations. Her private favourites embody Malar, crafted fully from composted puja flowers, and the straightforward Sunflower.
Her observe has additionally developed into compost-art diaries, which she suggests make superb presents for anybody eco-conscious, artistically inclined, or inquisitive about local weather motion. Each diary combines art work with suggestions, snippets, and options about composting. Even in casual workshops, she encourages contributors to “play” with compost, feeling its texture and realising it’s neither smelly nor soiled — merely soil in formation.
A place to begin
Nilayaan, a community-focused environmental initiative that works to advertise sustainable waste administration, and composting practices takes compost artwork to boardrooms and lecture rooms, since 2022. Deepesh Bhaskar, founding father of Nilayaan, believes compost artwork could be a highly effective stating level in atmosphere and local weather schooling for kids.
“The entire thought is to make kids conscious of composting in a unified and nature-centric means,” says Deepesh.
The journey begins with a nature stroll, the place youngsters from Play-KG to eighth commonplace gather fallen leaves and twigs. “We don’t allow them to pluck something,” says Deepesh, “however they do get a handful of compost to work their magic.” Then, divided into teams and given themes impressed by the weather — air, water, fireplace, earth and area — they create artwork that actually grows from the bottom up.
And right here is the twist: most children don’t even realise they’re working with compost. “Towards the top, we reveal that the supplies got here from kitchen waste, and all of the sudden they’re touching, smelling, and studying all about it,” Deepesh explains. It’s not nearly making artwork; it’s about making the invisible world of microorganisms seen and enjoyable.
In company wellness programmes, Nilayaan provides classes in composting neatly wrapped in compost artwork. The total theme of those periods is “Composting Against Climate”.
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