“The totally natural way to reduce, reuse and recycle organic waste”

Children from Hong Kong in the Bokashi 140litre Bin Trial

Hong Kong produces in excess of 3000 tonnes of waste per day of which 36% is food waste.

Primary schools are wasting around 10 tonnes per day and a pilot scheme has been implemented by Greeners Action, in conjunction with Good Council Catholic Primary School to encourage children to value food and reduce and reduce food waste from their school lunches.

Children have been using bokashi to process their food waste and have been trialling 140 litre bins as part of a pilot scheme. Children are learning hands on composting and are using the material in their school gardens.

To date feedback has been excellent and other schools are showing interest.

The bins and CompostZing food waste inoculant are supplied from New Zealand by ZingBokashi.

There was a local Hong Kong TV news feature about the Bokashi Food Waste Recycling System (140L) and this was broadcasted on 5th April. You can have a look from the following link:  Hong Kong TV News Feature

Last week I attended a council meeting to speak about the use of CompostZing for large scale food waste processing

When I mentioned about utilising greenwaste as a suitable material for mixing with food waste I was questioned ‘What is Green Waste’

This was an excellent question as this can be confusing as greenwaste, in reality is high in carbon and these materials in composting terms are called ‘browns’.

Materials high in nitrogen are referred to as ‘greens’ and one can easily become confused with these terms.

Examples of ‘Greens’ (Nitrogen containing) are lawn clippings / food waste/ coffee grounds/ animal manures/seaweed / fur and hair / feathers and green leaves.

The ‘Browns’ (Carbon rich) are dry leaves, green weeds/sawdust/bark/newspaper / tree branches and plant foliage.

Generally greens and browns are mixed together to make compost.

Any mould growing in your bucket should be white in colour and this is an indicator that the process is good. Any green or black coloured mould is not so good and this in a indicator that something has gone wrong.

This can be a result of one of the following:

1. Spoiled food added (fresh food should be added daily)
2. Wet food waste added drained foods best
3. Not enough CompostZing added -especially if protein foods such as dairy or meat products are added
4. Excess air in your bucket (pushing down onto any food waste added to expel any trapped air will assist the fermentation process)
5. ‘Juice’ left in the bucket bottom for too long a period
6. Lid not on correctly or left off for a period

Read more about white mould in my previous post

The juice extract, which results from the fermentation process and collects in the base bucket is a versatile product and has a number of uses. A lessor known use is that it can be useful for the prevention of some plant diseases.

The juice can be sprayed on plant leaf surfaces to form what is known as a biofilm and will act shield to prevent the infection of plant leaves with some diseases.

The juice should be applied on a regular basis (at least weekly) in order to maintain an active leaf coverage. Spray solutions should be made up of one part juice to one part water and sprayed onto leaf surfaces. Wet till run off and ensure good coverage of all leaf surfaces, both top and undersides.

The best time to do this is just prior to expectation of disease occurring and this will vary from place to place and also be relative to weather conditions.

NOTE: ‘Juice’ should normally be a light golden colour and have a slight fruity odour. Do not use of plant foliage if dark in colour or it has a strong odour.

Good quality ‘Juice‘ being collected

Composta in garden corner

There will be times when your garden area is in full production and space to bury your fermented waste is limited or non-existent.

A simple proven method when this looks likely is to ‘store’ your waste in a ‘Composta’

Start by locating the Composta in an area close to or in the garden.

This will make for easy dispersal of the resulting compost material when ready for use.

Start by:

1. Adding a layer of fermented waste into the base of the Composta
2. Add a layer of dry ‘browns over the top
3. Mix the food waste layer with the brown layer below [a fork is ideal for this]
4. Add a further layer of ‘browns over the top and leave ready for the next lot of food waste.
5. Repeat this process till the Composta is full.
6. Ensure the lid of the Composta is secure between additions of material

Note:

Brown material can be either of sawdust/ spent potting media/mulchings /bark or soil.

It is important that these material be DRY when added and it is advisable to keep a stock on hand.

When your Composta is full or you are ready to use the material – lift the composta off and you will have a neat pile of great compost ready for the garden.