Bokashi Buckets

This is an easy environmentally friendly, clean and smell free way of getting rid of your house hold food waste and other organic material both in the workplace and at home.  It uses a mix of microorganisms which process the waste living a rich fertiliser for you to reuse on your gardens to grow more and better produce.  And if you really don’t or can’t garden – I bet your friends or neighbours will happily take the bi product.

Below is a definition of Bokashi taken from this link on the Zing Bokashi Website

"What is Bokashi? - Bokashi is a Japanese word, translated means “fermented organic matter” and is made by treating plant-based by-products with EM and then dried for longer shelf life. In this form, the EM microbes, when introduced to an organic matter source such as food waste, go to work.

Bokashi can be successfully used to treat putrescible waste, which results in a higher
decomposition of organic matter and virtually no odour during process. This produces high quality compost, which is contributing to sustainable development across a number of sectors.”

Kitty Litter

This week we are thinking about kitty litter and what you do with the used stuff.  This has implications in the workplace for us and our students but also at home for those of you that have cat toilets inside.

Selection of the kitty litter 

Choose a kitty litter that can go in the compost bin or green waste.  

I am currently using pine pellets for our kittens litter tray which is able to be placed in the green recycling bin or in a home composting system provided the solid waste is removed first.  It is made from the waste of the wood industry so is in effect reducing wastage from that industry and provides a nice clean substrate for kitty litter, that absorbs liquid well.  You can also purchase other biodegradable options.  

Some cats/kittens are fussy about what the use for kitty little so sometimes you may need to trial 2 or 3 options before finding the one best suited for your pet.  

Another very good option is garden soil – this works well and reminds the cat/kitten that soil is a suitable substrate for toileting in (if you are like me and prefer them to go outside in the garden) and can be replaced straight back in the garden after use.  It also means you save money – its free, you don’t have to drive anywhere to purchase it and it hasn’t used resources being made.  The disadvantage of using soil is that once the cats have finished they leave little muddy foot prints everywhere.  

Disposal

Remove solid waste and place in landfill bin.  Pick it out with a piece of newspaper and wrap in this rather than placing in a plastic bag if possible as the plastic will delay breakdown in the ground.  Place the newspaper lining the litter tray (if used) and soiled litter (minus the faeces) into your compost bin (or green waste bin).  It is unsafe to home compost cat faces due to bacterial and parasitic contamination.  They need special treatment.  More on this at another time. 

I am not an expert composter but if you are home or work composting remember that the compost bin will need to be fed with more than just newspaper and biodegradable kitty litter, so especially in a work situation ask staff to bring in food scraps etc to feed the compost bin too. More on home composting in another posting!!

Draft Stoppers

At home and at work, now that winter is upon us, use draft stoppers in front of every door (especially doors that lead to the outside of the house!!) to keep cold air out of the rooms you are heating.

You can make draft stoppers cheaply and easily out of old trousers – therefore reusing them for many years to come!  See below, 2 of our doors – the “leg” draft stoppers have made more than 1 visitor to our house look twice too, which always makes for a laugh.