first and foremost, if you haven’t already hit up starbucks for some free drip in your travel mug, GO!!! do it now! and if you have, well…kudos and GO!! do it again! you can never have too much free coffee!
as i mentioned before, chris and i are the recycling/conserving type. be it water or electricity, we like to save. so when we were at the home & garden show in january, we were both intrigued by a composting system called bokashi. last week, when we joined the masses for austin’s shredding day, we headed over the farmer’s market at republic park to finally pick up our bokashi bin.
we’re one week in and i LOVE it!!
basically, you put any food scraps in a bin and cover them with bokashi bran which uses fermentation to break break down the food. the dude told us it wouldn’t stink and he’s right. the scent reminds me of homebrew, or pizza dough (depending on your hobbies) but it’s not bad, just slightly yeasty. as the process is going on, the bin system also produces compost tea you can use to water your plants and/or clean your drains.
after the bin is full, we will transfer it to another bucket for two weeks. then, we can bury it in the yard for a month (at which time the ground will be ready for your plants) or add it to a more traditional composter.
i really love that it gives us a way to use all the food scraps, even meats and oils! that has always felt like such a waste. plus, i hated bagging things each time i cooked to help keep our trash can from stinking too quickly. though we don’t use too many anyhow, we also put paper towels in here and our trash can is filling much more slowly.
which brings me to a side perk. other than doing something positive for the earth, austin will rebate you up to $75 for composting if you watch a video about it online and downgrade your trash bin to 30 gallons. we’re half-way there. look at how cute it is!!
if you’re interested to learn more, here’s a link to the company we got ours from.
Thanks for sharing, Lissie! We compost, too (everything we possibly can)… but I, too, am annoyed by having stinky meat scraps in our garbage.
You may be able to find a local company who offers this as well. And any tips or suggestions you’ve got are welcome! We’re new to this game and have much to learn!
ooh I like this a lot
Thanks; glad you like! This would definitely work with apartment life too. Then, you could donate your bucket scraps to a friend or bury them somewhere in secret. =)
I love this! We compost and always end up with smelly scraps of food in the sink until one of us finally gives in and take it outside to our makeshift compost bin. I’ll have to do some searching to find a bin like that here in Indiana. thanks for sharing!
hopefully you can find something local but if not, maybe you can order one somewhere with cheap shipping. while i was looking around online, i noticed several types of the same thing. surely someone will have a good deal for you guys. =)
also, i try to collect a few days worth before i add it to the container. i have been keeping them in a bowl with a lid that i keep in the fridge if it seems like it’ll be stinky. that works pretty well and is less yucky than having to see/smell/touch in the sink. i’ve been there too. haha
has our bin made any organic pee yet?
No pee yet. I meant to check today before I headed out but forgot.
stinky organic pee!!!
yes, our bin finally “peed” out some compost tea over the weekend and it does, indeed, stink!! the directions say to use it immediately by diluting it and watering plants or, if you need to just dump, putting it down the drain. i think i made the mistake of collecting some and not disposing and the stench got even worse!