Divulging Satisfaction Levels of Residents for Household Waste Management through Vermicomposting at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University: A Cross-sectional Exploration
Uday Kumar *
Department of Environmental Science, The Global Open University, Dimapur, 797115, Nagaland, India and Department of Entomology, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa Samastipur, Bihar-848125, India.
Shankar Jha
Department of Soil Science, Advanced Center of Research on Wealth from Waste, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar-848125, India.
Sudhanand Prasad Lal
Department of Extension Education, Centre for Start-Up Facilitation, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar-848125, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The reduction of household wastes has been a pressing issue and is a key element of waste management programme in India. The goal of present research was to evaluate the ongoing Household Waste Management Practices (HWMPs) of the University in managing the waste generated within it. To realize this goal, researchers conducted survey and investigative study with campus residents on HWMPs being followed in the campus. In this backdrop, the present study was conducted with the following two objectives: To measure the Socio-Personal, Socio-psychological profiles and appraisal of on-site treatment of Household Waste of the Respondents with scientific parsimony and to quantify overall satisfaction level of the respondents as dependent variable. Out of total 750 residential quarters in the university from which 50 household heads of the quarters were selected through ‘probability simple random sampling’. In qualitative methods observation, interviews, open-ended surveys, focus groups and oral history were used. Closely 90 percent of respondents were well acquainted with the fact that collected household wastes are being converted into vermi-compost inside the university campus itself. More than one-fourth of the respondents addressed the problem of throwing garbage around the metallic dustbins. In order to generate statistical information quantitative survey of satisfaction level was done which revealed that more than 80 percent respondent showed their satisfaction for HWMPs. By applying the Pearson chi-square test it was revealed that satisfaction level of the respondents were inclined ‘towards satisfied to fully satisfied’ categories with the chi-square value, i.e. 24.72 was significant at 1% level with P-value of 0.001. So, it can be concluded that residents were satisfied from waste management programme and thus rejecting the framed null hypothesis. So, it can be inferred that this model of waste management may be recommended and replicated throughout the country and abroad.
Keywords: Household waste management (HWM), on-site treatment, organic waste, satisfaction, vermi-composting.