Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Way
Criterion A: Learning Goal (Strand i)
Transforming organic food residues into manure, which helps foster the growth of the plants and
vegetables through providing essential nutrients is something I have grown up seeing. Hence, as my
personal project journey commenced, I knew that organic composting sparked my interest the most,
it has an impact on everyone on a global scale. Inorganically grown vegetables impact our health
severely and the manufacturing of it causes gigatons of pollution which is leading to an irreversible
chain reaction. It is my goal for the society to consume pesticide and chemical free organically
grown vegetables and I want to start this journey by taking the initiative to feed those who are
less fortunate to get good.
Personal Interest: Since a very young age, I was always interested in growing organically grown
vegetables as it was always a part of my family values due to the health purposes. Moreover, I
always saw my maternal grandmother often donating food to the needy which imbedded the values
of always thinking for the society's welfare. I have always believed that if you cannot change the
world then change the world for a few people as it is worth supporting.
Inspiration: Once I read about the impacts of inorganically grown vegetables on our health which
shocked me and made me think of taking an action as it can lead to health issues with some extreme
cases of cancer and neurological disorder. More than 7,000 people die annually due to hunger. This
data pushed me to take an action. The opportunity that the personal project provided me to take an
action is unmatched. Lastly, the quote of Mother Teresa deeply inspired me that, “if you cannot feed
a hundred people then feed just one.”
Prior Knowledge: As my cousins live in Chandigarh, we used to visit them twice a year where my
uncle, Mr. Muneesh Narula, used to take us to the large agricultural farms and tell us about organic
composting and agriculture. He has worked under “Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare,
Government of India,” at a senior position for more than three-decades. His vast expanse of
experience gave me a lot of knowledge and insight about organic vegetables, and he founded
FreshVille, a start-up offering farm fresh organic strawberry harvest, supplying it throughout
Chandigarh for both business to consumer and business to business categories.
Real-Life Connection: The inquiry focuses on first convincing people in my colony to keep wooden
boxes where the waste like banana peels, eggshells, dead leaves etc would be kept, as no one wants
to spoil the look of their home with dustbin. The homes wasted materials will be picked up every day
from the wooden boxes for which I would charge a monthly fee of 89 Rs from each home as a
cleaning fee. With the help of this I can use this money to purchase the seeds for growing organically
grown vegetables which would be donated to the old age home for free & extra capital gains would
be donated for their medical support.
Product Goal (Strand ii)
Product Goal -> To make an ideal organic compost that fosters the growth of the
organically grown vegetable.
How does my product goal link to my learning goal?
My learning goal aims to understand how organic vegetables foster a healthier alternative for us and via this
homeless people can be fed. Whereas, my product aims to apply the learning goal to grow organic vegetables
and feed the homeless people healthily hence, product goal links to my learning goal.
Gantt Chart
Stage Step Requirements Start Finish
Stage 1: Step 1: Researching on credible Credible secondary 5th June 8th June
Primary & websites about the best ingredients to sources like:
secondary make organic compost. ‘Investopedia’ and
research. ‘Britannica.’
Step 2: Interviewing my experienced Verbal communication 8th June 10th
uncle in this field to tell proliferate me through voice call. June
about the most ideal ingredients to
make an organic compost.
Stage 2: Step 1: Collecting raw materials like: Convincing colony 10th 14th
Execution banana peels, eggs shells etc for members for giving June June
making organic compost. their home waste
materials.
Step 2: Convert the raw materials into Using my uncles 14th 16th
an ideal organic compost for experience to make an June August
organically growing vegetables. ideal organic compost.
Step 3: Purchase seeds to organically Charging 89 Rs monthly 16th 17th
grow the vegetables. as cleaning fees from August August
42 homes to buy the
seeds.
Step 4: After two-months when the I found an old age 17th 19th
vegetables are grown it will be cooked home where my August Octobe
and donated for free & extra monetary grandmother donated r
support would be given from the extra regularly; it has
capital gains from the cleaning fees. credible track record &
I am honoured working
in her footsteps to
carry her legacy.
(5th-8th) June (8th-10th) (10th-14th) June 14th – (16th-17th) August 17th-
June June August 16th August October 19th
I included stage, step, requirements for each step and the date for starting and finishing helping me
to execute my plan. A wise person once said, “if you fail to plan then you are planning to fail.”
Therefore, I have planned the steps categorically.
After creating a Gantt chart helping me to achieve my goals methodically and organized with timely
goals, I made short-term and long-term goals to make the personal project journey more specific
helping to gain a further clarity. Not only this but also, I embedded the success criteria and the actual
time of completion, all of it in a tabular form.
Long-Term Goal+ Short-Term Goals (Step-by- Associated Success Criteria Time of
Skills Step) completion
Researched by Step 1: On Britannica I got This stage is crucial as the quality & On time
primary & nuances on the ideal growth of the vegetables is dependent
secondary sources components to make an ideal on the fertility of the organic compost. (5th June - 8th
to gain an overall organic compost in terms of The two main branches to achieve this June)
understanding on the raw materials required. is the ideal ingredients and the
the ideal proportion of the ingredients. Primary
components to & secondary sources helped me to do
make an organic Step 2: From my uncles so. On time
compost. experience I learnt, ideal
proportions of raw materials & (8th June –
Skill: Research Skills tips like using coffee & 10th June)
sugarcane remains.
Convince colony Step 1: Convincing colony Schools budget is to spend maximum of (10th June –
members to members to provide raw 10,000 Rs on the personal project. I am 14th June)
provide me with materials, saying that we burn humbled to use know money and make
the wasted raw these raw materials causing a monetary gains which are being used
materials like lot of pollution in our city and for the welfare of the society. As
17th June
banana peels, colony. Manufacuring chemical fertilisers
eggshells, vegetable Step 2: Charged 89 Rs per causes pollution which would reduce. (Delayed)
remains etc. month from 42 homes as In addition to this, people burn these
cleaning fee. I convinced that raw materials which causes greenhouse
Skills: Dealmaking my capital gains via fee will be gases. These raw materials would be no
and negotiation, used to buy seeds which will more burnt in my colony and will be
communication be organically grown and used to feed the needy.
donated to old age home.
Their funds were used for good
& the fee was reasonable, they
agreed.
Growing the Step 1: Using the organic A wise man once said, “you need time On time
seeds organically compost to grow the seeds. and timing to do great things.” Hence, I
The vegetables will be grown was sincerely ready to give time for (17th August
Skills: Execution according to the season and making the compost and growing the to 19th
weather, this will work as a vegetables. The timing is that I am
and critical October)
catalyst to foster the growth of growing seasonal vegetables.
thinking the vegetables.
Finding a credible Step 1: My maternal She once said that they have been On time
old age home. grandmother always donated running it for over a century. She is a
at an old age home called very well read and researched person (19th
Skills: ‘Vridh Ashram.’ I wish to carry who told that they have a credible October)
her legacy as she always record of accomplishment and are
Communication
inspired me by helping people trustworthy.
in need.
Justification for the missed deadline: I could not fulfil the deadline of convincing the colony members to provide
raw materials. The reason to this is that there is a team of people in the colony who are collecting the trash of the
colony for years and they were my competition. Hence, I politely explained that these group of people take the
trash and burn them contributing to harmful greenhouse gases.
I told the colony members that Delhi is already the most polluted city hence, we should be the one who should
take action. I told them I would use the raw materials to make an organic compost. Moreover, the competition
where charging 5 Rs a day translating to 149 rs. I was charging 89 Rs a month as the cleaning fees while saying
that the money would be used to buy seeds for organic farming. The organically grown vegetables will be used to
donate to the old age home. The colony members were happy that their resources are being used for charitable
purpose and 42 homes agreed to be a part of the mission.
Criterion B
Achieving the learning goal (Stand i) - ATL Skills: Research: Primary
& Secondary
My learning goal is to understand how organic composting can save pollution in my colony;
how using it as a substitute to chemical/inorganic fertiliser contribute to lesser
environmental impact. Last but the most important according to my learning goal, organic
farming, I can feed the needy.
To achieve the goal of feeding to the needy the application of primary research skills helped
me at a very large extent and secondary research skills helped me moving in the further
stages. I researched in detail from both primary and secondary sources for the ideal
components and the proportions to make an organic compost.
My primary source is my uncle named, Mr. ‘Muneesh Narula.’ He has worked in the Ministry
of Agriculture under the government of India for more than three-decades. He has a senior
role in maintaining the quality checks of the organic compost and vegetables and supplies
the organically grown vegetables across Haryana.
Below are the insightful takeaways from the interview done with him.
During the secondary research phase I read in depth about the ideal components, secret tips
and the proportions to put in the compost to have a prior knowledge before interviewing
and understanding the tried and tested method. I research from the website, “University of
Missouri,” and imbibed that grass clippings release a lot of nitrogen in the compost helping
it to decompose faster and more healthily. Not all my ingredients came from primary
research, but many came from the primary sources too.
From my first primary source I inquired the https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-
ideal components that fosters the growth of home
the organic compost and the use of red worms
for better and faster making of compost.
From planet natural I got an insightful https://www.planetnatural.com/composting-
information that old red wine fosters the 101/making/what-to-use/
quality of the compost very positively. The
reasoning to this is from the 2nd source that https://www.abcfws.com/help-your-plants-
when the wine gets old in the process it grow-with-wine#:~:text=The%20trick%20is
releases nitrogen, activating good bacteria this %20to%20save,it%20to%20your%20compost
takes the compost quality to another level. %20base.
Distribution and proportion of the raw https://compost.css.cornell.edu/
materials are essential as access of anything is chemistry.html#:~:text=The%20ideal%20C
not good. The image for the ideal proportion of %2FN%20ratio,ammonia%20gas%2C
ingredients is presented below taken from the %20causing%20undesirable%20odors.
given website.
Not only this but also, I required a lot of raw materials to make the organic
compost, for which collaboration was required. To do this I used my
dealmaking and negotiation skills through effective use of communication. I
wrote a message in the colonies group to convince the people. Below are the
two-simple but detailed steps. Furthermore, one of the replies from colonies
member is presented below.
Convince colony Step 1: Convincing colony members to provide raw materials, saying
members to that we burn these raw materials causing a lot of pollution in our city
provide me with and colony.
the wasted raw Step 2: Charged 89 Rs per month from 42 homes as cleaning fee. I
materials like
convinced that my capital gains via fee will be used to buy seeds which
banana peels,
will be organically grown and donated to old age home. Their funds
eggshells,
vegetable remains were used for good & the fee was reasonable, they agreed.
etc.
Skills: Dealmaking
and negotiation,
communication
Execution Step 1: Collecting raw materials Convincing colony members for giving
like: banana peels, eggs shells etc their home waste materials.
for making organic compost.
Step 2: Convert the raw materials Using my uncles experience to make an
into an ideal organic compost for ideal organic compost.
organically growing vegetables.
Step 3: Purchase seeds to Charging 89 Rs monthly as cleaning fees
organically grow the vegetables. from 42 homes to buy the seeds.
Step 4: After two-months when the I found an old age home where my
vegetables are grown it will be grandmother donated regularly; it has
cooked and donated for free & credible track record & I am honoured
extra monetary support would be working in her footsteps to carry her
given from the extra capital gains legacy.
from the cleaning fees.
As soon as I had the opportunity to choose the topic for my personal project, I
knew it was organic farming. I researched about organic farming and
composting in depth as that sparked interest in me the most.
I read on the news that inorganic fertilisers are leading to cancer and even
neurological disorders. The moment I heard this, I knew I could not stay quiet
and had to take actions. Honestly speaking, I was a little sceptical of how I
would be able to take action and whether I would be able to succeed in it or
not. The quote, “you don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be
great,” immensely inspired me. It gave me a newfound motivation to start,
which fortunately I could do during my personal project journey.
I read and inquired deeply about the ideal components required to make an
organic compost from multiple secondary sources and a credible primary
source as well. This gave me an in-depth knowledge from multiple
perspectives, helping me reach to my learning goal with proper efficiency.
With the help of clear understanding of learning goal, I was able to learn about
my field of interest deeply. This provided me insightful knowledge and helped
me to reach to my product goal successfully with multiple challenges to
overcome.
The tool that I came up with to do an overall deep analysis research is called
the PESTLE analysis method, which provided me with a chance to research
from various stand points and perspectives. This severely upgraded my
knowledge about the field.
Economical If the target audience are the affluent society, then organic farming is
ideal if seen according to the purchasing power parity. Hence, it is a
profitable venture as the wealthy are ready to pay higher costs for a
higher quality product
During the process my self-management skills improved too as I conducted the entire personal
project journey independently. Moreover, time-management is an essential branch of self-
management hence, that improved too.
Beyond this I wish to inquire in the field of organic farming much deeper by reading experts research
report papers. This would help me to gain a more consolidated information through the previous
professor's research papers. I wish to one day right articles and make a YouTube channel on organic
composting to spread more awareness as a career.
The ATL skills of research and collaboration immensely helped me during the process. My secondary
research gave me a global point of view of using organic composting through “PESTLE analysis” and
the secondary information also helped to understand the components used to do so. The drawback I
faced was that I could find the ideal proportions of putting those raw materials together. Therefore,
my primary researched helped me in that, as he had decades of experience and could guide me from
it. I took the opportunity of having a knowledgeable uncle in this field by extracting as much
information I could from him.
Challenges faced during the process and how I overcame them?
(Strand iii)
Challenge Problem Solution Skills
(number) implemented
1) The first challenge that I I convinced them by saying Convincing and
faced was that I had to that we are the ones persuasion
convince the busy colony staying in the colony and
members to go their extra the cause of Delhi being
mile to provide me with the the most polluted city as
raw materials. people in the colony send
the waste collected to the
landfill & some burn them.
Then I added we have to
“be the change you wish to
see in the world.”
I further elaborated that
their support will be used
as a charitable purpose.
2) The second problem that I I told the colony members Negotiation and
faced was that there were that their waste is dealmaking skills
already a group of people collected and disposed to
involved in the work of landfills leading to more
collecting the waste of the pollutions.
colony for 5 Rs a day which On the other hand, I will be
is 149 Rs a month. Hence, I using the waste and
had to fight the transform it to an organic
competition and make my compost.
wake through. I would be charging 89 Rs
cleaning fees per month,
lesser than the competition
and the purpose was
better too. Therefore, they
agreed. Moreover, the
money would be used to
buy seeds and be grown,
which would be donated to
the old age homes.
3) The colony members didn’t Hence, I had kept wooden Creative and
want trash container out of boxes out the home which design thinking
their home where they looked find aesthetically
would dispose their waste. and could be covered from
This would cause foul smell the top to stop the foul
and disturb the décor of the smell. Therefore, they
home agreed with the solution.
Product Evaluation based on Success Criteria (Strand iv)
Category Self-Evaluation Expert Evaluation/Uncle
Form: The form of the I will use the best ingredients to I am happy Vedant you are a
product would be make an ideal organic compost good listener and noted
organic compost which suggested by my uncle who has a down the ingredients
would help to grow vast expanse of experience in the correctly. The image of the
organic vegetables for field. Eg: red worms, eggshells, compost you made had
the underprivileged. banana peels, coffee, cow dunk, almost the correct colour
grass clippings etc. composition.
Function: The function When I asked them on how the The compost has been made
of my product is to foods quality could be better. well therefore, the vegetables
help the They replied to it to be fresh and must have grown fresh and
underprivileged as one of good quality in my native healthy.
man’s trash is another language. I was proud that all the
man’s treasure. hard work finally paid off. Overall: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
User/Audience: The There are 118 colony members You have convinced many
audience would be the out which forty-two people people, but it could have
colony members from provided with the raw materials. been better by convincing
whom I would get the It was more than needed but the more.
supply of the raw convincing skills need to be
materials for making improved to execute this issue at Overall: 4/5
organic compost. a larger scale.
Overall: 3.5/5
Cost: There would be School has given an option to I am happy you have a good
no cost but profit that spend maximum of 10,000 Rs. I business mindset and have
would be distributed used no money but the money utilised absolutely no money
to the underprivileged from the cleaning fees. I had a to do your project, good job.
in the form of organic surplus of 16,690 which too was
vegetables and extra donated to buy them winter Overall: 5/5
monetary support clothes and other necessities.
from the extra capital
gains I get from the Overall: 5/5
cleaning fees.
Impact in the future learning: Beyond this, I wish to inquire in the field of organic farming much deeper
by reading experts research papers. This would help me to gain a more detailed account of information
through the previous professor’s research. I wish to one day write articles and make a YouTube channel
on organic composting to spread more awareness and make it global.
4) https://www.abcfws.com/help-your-plants-grow-with-wine#:~:text=The%20trick
%20is%20to%20save,it%20to%20your%20compost%20base.
5) https://compost.css.cornell.edu/chemistry.html#:~:text=The%20ideal%20C%2FN
%20ratio,ammonia%20gas%2C%20causing%20undesirable%20odors.
6) https://www.canva.com/en_gb/
7) https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/ingredients/can-you-
compost-wine.htm
8) https://extension.umn.edu/lawn-care/what-do-lawn-
clippings#:~:text=Composting%20clippings&text=Grass%20clippings%20are
%20excellent%20additions,bad%20odors%20from%20anaerobic
%20decomposition.
9) https://helpmecompost.com/compost/materials/how-to-compost-grass-
clippings/
10) https://www.impact-innovation.co.uk/pestle-analysis
11) https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/renewable-agriculture-and-food-
systems/article/abs/social-economic-and-environmental-impacts-of-organic-
cotton-production-on-the-livelihood-of-smallholder-farmers-in-odisha-india/
922E6662E3D82E3B34CA119BC43F6F4A
12) Wallquotes.com
13) https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Food-Beverage/India-s-appetite-for-organic-
vegetables-grows-in-COVID-times#:~:text=Only%20a%20fraction%20of
%20the,to%20a%20private%2Dsector%20estimate.
14) https://www.ey.com/en_in/tax/economy-watch/indian-economy-by-twenty-
fifty-in-pursuit-to-achieve-the-thirty-trillion-dollar-mark#:~:text=In%20Market
%20exchange%20rates%20terms,the%20US%2440%20trillion%20mark.
15) https://themindsjournal.com/quotes/you-dont-have-to-be-great-to-start/
16) https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/maintain-the-garden/how-to-
make-compost/#:~:text=To%20make%20good%20compost%2C%20you,the
%20same%20volume%20of%20brown.
17) https://pestleanalysis.com/what-is-pestle-analysis/
18) https://www.earthreminder.com/organic-compost-benefits-examples-how-to-
use-it/
19) https://www.nrdc.org/stories/composting-101#benefits
20) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6538140/
21) https://www.google.com/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjWusyz9NWCAxXzslY
BHVXvCLgQFnoECDMQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net
%2Fprofile%2FAnoop_Srivastava7%2Fpost
%2FWhat_are_the_adverse_effects_of_fertilizer_application_on_crop_utilizati
on%2Fattachment%2F5a0d4b414cde2626891583b4%2FAS
%253A561236735688704%25401510820673436%2Fdownload
%2FEffect_of_chemical_fertilizer.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3OlrhXL2Yv08R4Xh9odIIa&
opi=89978449
22) https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/ingredients/grass-clipping-
composting.htm