Centro Ecológico

Ecocentro

2005-08-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

Rubbish dumps and the poor seem to go hand in hand, and so often it is the poor who are blamed for the state of the environment in which they live. The management of household waste is certainly a problem around the Parish of Nuestra Señora de la Paz, and to an extent, the local community is responsible for the piles of rubbish that continually build up around the area. To place all the blame on the poor of this area is unjust. The local Municipality (or Shire) simply doesn't supply the infrastructure necessary for the regular removal of household waste. So the question has to be asked: What are the local people supposed to do?

Besides the disagreeable smells and the ugly site of waste rotting in public places, there exists the more urgent problem of the spread of disease and sickness. So the issue is two fold: Care for the local environment, and hygiene. But when the reality is that people live from day to day struggling just to bring enough food into the home to survive, unfortunately the environmental issue remains a long way down the list of family priorities. It is easier just to dump your waste on the pile knowing that eventually, when the situation gets too bad, the Municipality will be forced to send a truck to remove it. Besides, everyone else does it.

In the early 1990s, a group of concerned neighbours from the Community of "First of May" in Motupe, on the edge of Lima, decided that something had to be done about the huge rubbish dump that had grown up on the edge of their settlement. With help from Lay Missionaries from Germany working in the area, they researched the possibility of setting up a Recycling Centre to separate and process household waste and make compost. They would identify biodegradable matter, separating it from matter that could be recycled. They could find a market for the bits and pieces of steel, plastic bottles etc, and use the biodegradable matter for the cultivation of worms and the creation of compost and fertilizer.

These neighbours formed themsleves into a co operative, entering into an agreement with the local community of First of May and the Parish of Nuestra Señora de La Paz to work together to develop the Centre. Since then the Centre has been operating, cultivating worms, and producing fertilizer which provides enough income to maintain the Centre. Whilst part of the dream was also to provide a small income for the workers and the local community, the Centre was never established simply as a money making enterprise. It's main aim is care for the local environment, including the health, both physical and spiritual, of those who live there.

For this reason, as a Parish we are seeking assistance for the development of the Centre as a means of providing ongoing education for the local people, especially the children. In an environment that is so harsh both from the point of view of landscape as well as lifestyle, we want the children of this area to experience the hope that is provided through the beauty of nature. We hope to build a simple Nursery in which children and young people can help to propagate plants, and experience the joy of making things grow. We want to plant more trees and flowers and create a small Park where people can enjoy creation, and we hope to be able to construct a small Gathering Space where we can organise workshops to better educate adults, young people and children about care of the earth in partnership with God.

For more information, contact Fr. Michael McKinnon: mickmckinnon@yahoo.com

Centro Ecol�gico

2005-08-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Centro Ecol�gico: "lombricultura"

2005-06-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

The location of the Ecocentre

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Entrance to the Ecocentre

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Local people leave their waste beside the piles of decomposing organic waste.

2005-06-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

The organic waste is seperated from any non organic waste. The waste is layered based on the type of material as certain organic waste decomposes faster than other waste.

2005-06-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

Garlic husk is put on the piles to speed up the decomposition of the organic waste.

2005-06-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

The compost is allowed to decompose for 4 months and is turned on a regular basis to ensure an even decomposition

2005-06-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

The compost is moved from the original piles to the compost beds

2005-06-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

The worms take over the work in the second phase, working for three months to create a rich compost

2005-06-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

The four month old compost is then put into a compost bed where the worms will work to convert it into a finer and richer compost

2005-06-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

The compost is then raked to spread it over the existing layers in the compost bed

2005-06-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

The compost has to be watered every two days

2005-06-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

Each compost bed contains about a tonne of compost. They are protected from the sun to ensure that the compost does not dry out.

2005-06-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

When a compost bed is full and the worms have been allowed to work for three months the compost is ready for use

2005-06-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

Compost is placed on a sive and the worms are removed and returned to the compost bed

2005-06-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

The compost is moved over the sive to seperate the larger pieces for further decomposition

2005-06-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

Compost is seperated from the larger pieces and captured underneat the sive in sacks

2005-06-24T20:02:00.000-07:00

The extracted compost

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The compost storing and packaging building

2005-06-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

Storing the compost

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The finished product, fresh natural compost.

2005-06-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

The final product is put into bags

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The compost is then weighed

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1kg of compost

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The compost bag is sealed by passing it over the flame of a candle

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Sealing the bag

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Sealed bag of compost

2005-06-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

The packaged compost

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The compost is used to grow plants, flowers and vegetables

2005-06-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

Plants grown with the compost

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Plants grown with Abono

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Plants grown using the Abono are sold in the nursery to locals and vistors to the ecological centre.