by Elsie Parker

Created on: May 07, 2008   Last Updated: May 20, 2008

Have you ever thought that composting in the garden is fine as far it goes, but that there is a lot more that could be done? Have you ever felt guilty that you are wasting the uneaten cooked food, meat, fish and even cheese that gets put out with the household rubbish every day, but are unable to add it to the outside compost?

This situation can be resolved by a using a system that has steadily increased in popularity since it was developed by Professor Higa from the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa. The system is called the Bokashi system that treats this waste so it can be used safely as compostable material. The system uses effective micro organisms found in bacteria, fungi and yeasts mixed into a substance called Bokashi bran. This is sprinkled on top of the food waste to help it break down and prevent pathogens in the finished compost.

Bokashi bins are made of a special plastic to produce the right conditions for the micro organisms to work effectively. They come with an airtight lid and a sump with a tap which allows excess liquid to be drained off. This liquid is apparently good to use diluted on plants or to pour down drains to clear organic material from pipes powerful and useful stuff.

The waste placed in the bin should be compressed thoroughly as you add it and you continue adding and sprinkling with bran until the bin is full. After two weeks, the mixture is ready to be emptied out. The contents do not look like they have decomposed very much but when the mixture is added to your compost heap in the garden it will speed up the composting process and help to release micro organisms, nourishing the soil. The waste is also safe to add to a wormery (the worms seem to love it), to be dug directly into a hole in the garden to use as fertilizer or if you don't have a garden it can be put into the household refuse for collection as it will decompose more effectively in the landfill sites.

Although the system is advertised as odorless, reviews of the system have said that the bins can smell at times but this may be they have not been filled correctly, there is still some experimenting going on. Where all reviews agree is that once the Bokashi mixture is added to the garden compost bin the compost is ready to use earlier and is of much better quality than previously.

The only other alternative to placing this waste in the household refuse is to place the meat and fish scraps into the dog or cat unit for disposal still smells a bit though.

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