Day 25 Update

Last night I realized something that perhaps is obvious - I rarely have to take out the trash anymore.

Composting has reduced the sheer quantity of matter that goes into the trash can, of course, but the main reason I make very few trips to the dumpster nowadays is because there is no offensive, rotting trash that must be removed from my home.

In the past, if I threw a single banana peel in the trash can under my kitchen sink, I would have to take out the trash within a day or so - even if the can was barely full. Otherwise, the entire apartment would smell musty, and fruit flies and ants would appear. Now, with all my food scraps contained in the Bokashi bucket or the freezer, I haven't seen any pests for weeks.

As far as non-food trash goes, I save most sturdy plastic tubs for storing food scraps in the freezer, and save most glass containers as well. I empty a single paper grocery bag of recycling about once a week, which contains a mix of paper and various containers (the city does not require us to separate out different types of recyclables).

The remaining trash now contains little else besides dental floss and facial tissue*, and I can't even remember the last time I had to take a bag out to the dumpster!

* I have made several strides toward moving away from using disposables in my personal care routine. I have fairly bad allergies, and have tried using washable handkerchiefs instead of disposable facial tissue, but have not been able to fully convert away from disposables. Minimizing the use of facial tissue is something I'm still working on. And I'm not planning to do anything kooky regarding dental floss - yet!

Day 16 Update

Since last weekend I've drained the Bokashi juice twice, and added a new layer of frozen food scraps.

The juice was much lighter in color than the first time I drained it. I remembered to save some, and diluted it to water my houseplants (although I think the concentration was higher than the recommended 1%).


Everything still smells just fine, and the mold growing on the fermenting food is still white. Also, the contents of the bucket continue to settle (since I'm throwing it in frozen and bulky), so I think it's going to be quite a while until I have a finished batch to bury.

I've been dreaming of a little planter garden. I'm planning to get some used planters or tubs from craigslist or freecycle. Since the climate here is pretty mild in the winter, I'm excited to see what kinds of vegetables I can grow in a container. I'm hoping for tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, and mint.

Day 8 Update

A full week has passed since I started my Bokashi project. Today there was finally enough juice to drain from the spigot (I would estimate a pint or less).

I directed the spigot at my bathroom sink, which has been known to drain very slowly. It had gotten so bad recently, my landlord had to call a plumber. I had already tried home remedies, including baking soda and vinegar chased by boiling water, as well as a small hand plunger, to no avail. The drain was like this when I moved in a couple months ago, and I'm hoping that now that it's been cleared by a pro, I can use Bokashi juice to help prevent another clog.

As I started draining the juice into my sink, I got so carried away I forgot to save a little of the liquid to dilute and feed to my potted plants! Oh well, maybe next week.

The Bokashi juice was dark reddish brown, and slightly viscous. The closest analogy I can think of for the smell is soy sauce.

Additionally, I added another 2 layers of frozen food scraps to the bucket, and when I opened the lid, I was pleased to find that the smell inside the container was also inoffensive.

There was a fuzzy layer of white mold growing on the surface of last week's scraps, but I have been reassured this is normal. So far so good!

The bucket is still less than half full, and that's with 3 weeks worth of scraps. This means it will probably take about 6 weeks to fill it to the top - and I've read that the retail Bokashi buckets hold about 2 weeks' worth of scraps.

I'm not sure if my homemade bucket is just way larger than those, or if I just have less food scraps than what is "typical". That would be remarkable, considering we were just marveling at how MUCH food waste it seemed like was accumulating! One week's worth of food scraps takes up more than a quarter of the space in my freezer.

And yes, when I have food scraps from meals and snacks eaten at work, I do pack them up in plastic tubs and take them home! My coworkers already know I'm a nutty re-user/recycler (I'm the only one in my department who doesn't buy cases of bottled water to drink at my desk), so I haven't gotten any weird comments yet.

Day 5 Update

So, theoretically you are supposed to drain the juice from your Bokashi bucket every couple days.

My Bokashi pile has produced only a very tiny layer of juice in the bottom of the bucket that I can see through the side - probably 1/4" or so - not enough to drain through the spigot.

I'm not too concerned, because my friend had mentioned that her Bokashi system also produced less liquid when she began storing her food scraps in the freezer.

Another thing to note is that there has indeed been NO odor!

If I put my face very close to the bucket, I get a faint whiff of bananas, but that's about it. I saw a fruit fly hovering over a pear core that was laying in the sink the other day - but none near the Bokashi bucket, which is out in the open just a few feet away.

Bokashi Bucket DIY - Part III

Over the weekend I finally got my Bokashi bucket up and running!

First we drilled holes in the bottom of the inner bucket for drainage. We made the holes fairly small so that bits of food don't fall through. The bucket with holes fits snugly inside the other bucket with the spigot, so I think the set-up with be relatively air-tight.

Below you can see the containers of food scraps I had been saving in the freezer for about two weeks, as well as one of the 1-KG bags of Bokashi mix I had ordered.

As I had outlined previously in a post about basic Bokashi how-tos, the first step was to sprinkle a layer of Bokashi powder in the bottom of the inner bucket.

I then began adding food scraps and more Bokashi powder in layers. In total, we had three layers of frozen food scraps with a handful or two of Bokashi powder covering each layer.

Then, I used a plastic grocery bag to compress and cover the top of the pile before putting on the lid.

In case you decide to build your own Bokashi bucket using the same components I did, just know that the lid is very tight. It took a lot of effort to pry off the lid and push it back on, so I will probably continue to save food scraps in the freezer and add to my bucket weekly, not daily.

Lastly, I transferred the unused Bokashi powder to an empty plastic container, which is easier to use and keep airtight than the original ziplock bag. Below is the finished set up - ta da!

Bokashi Bucket DIY - Part II

My buckets arrived on Tuesday, but I've been so busy I didn't open the package until last night (and haven't had a chance to research any of the topics I outlined last week - but will, I promise!).

When nested, the inner bucket indeed rests above the spigot, as I had hoped. However, the end of the spigot itself is level with the bottom of the bucket. I decided to twist it so it's angled to the side instead of straight up and down, or else it will be touching the floor.

Here are some photos of the preliminary set-up. A friend lent me a drill, so I am going to put holes in the bottom of the inner bucket tonight.

I've been storing food scraps (mostly banana peels and egg shells) in the freezer for about a week, and it's getting surprisingly crowded in there! When my Bokashi mix arrives, I'll have plenty of material to start composting.

By the way, I heard a rumor that Whole Foods carries Bokashi mix. I went to the Glendale location and spoke with associates in both the house cleaning and gardening departments - no one had any idea what Bokashi was.

In the Meantime

While I wait for my Bokashi equipment to arrive, I've been saving my food scraps in a container in the freezer.

I'll be researching and writing about the following topics in the meantime until I begin my own Bokashi project.

1. Why should anyone compost, anyway? Why shouldn't food scraps go to the dump? Don't they just break down and disappear anyway?
2. Why do we care about the end product - what does compost do to enrich the soil? What if I don't have a yard or garden?
3. What exactly is "EM" - how does it work?
4. How do you make your own Bokashi mix?
5. Why do you want Bokashi to "pickle" your food, anyway? (What does "pickling" really mean?
6. Similarly, why don't we just bury plain food scraps in the yard - why does it need to be fermented by Bokashi first?
7. Does composting attract pests?
8. Related topic - septic systems.

Bokashi Bucket DIY - Part I

Okay, the parts for my DIY Bokashi composting system have been ordered!

I had a glimmer of doubt about not ordering the prefab Bokashi bucket, but after pricing out everything including shipping, I found that the most cost-effective combination was to order the bucket components from "More Beer!" (a home beer-making supplier), and the Bokashi mix from Gaiam.

The complete Bokashi starter kit is $65.99 from SCD, but including standard UPS Ground shipping, it's $81.03, since SCD calculates shipping rates by weight.

The same starter kit is $75.00 from Gaiam, and with standard UPS Ground shipping (charged by order value instead of weight), it's $86.99.

Even though Gaiam's price per 1-gallon bag of Bokashi is $3.00 more than it is from SCD, Gaiam charges shipping rates based on your order value, and not the weight. Plus, they ship from Colorado instead of Missouri, saving my Bokashi mix 600 miles of travel (in addition, the beer-making equipment ships from the San Francisco Bay Area, which is only 300 miles from Los Angeles).

• 6-gallon bucket with spigot - $11.45
• Plain 6-gallon bucket - $7.95
• Lid - $1.75
• Shipping (UPS Ground from Concord, CA) - $9.26
• CA State Tax - $1.74
• Two 1-gallon bags of Bokashi mix - $12.00 each
• Shipping (UPS Ground from Louisville, CO) - $5.99
• Project Total - $62.14

With this combination, I was able to save about $20 and get an extra bag of Bokashi mix in the process! (Well, I had to order at least one more bag since it was $5.99 for shipping whether I ordered 1 bag or 2). Not bad at all!

Bokashi Buckets

Online retailers offer pre-made plastic Bokashi buckets that are cute-looking and handy. These buckets have a false floor inside that allows liquid to drip down and stay separate from the fermenting matter, as well as a little spigot on the outside so you can drain away the juice.

• Sustainable Community Development (SCD) offers the "Happy Farmer Kitchen Composter" by itself for $59.99, or as a complete starter kit with a 1-gallon bag of Bokashi mix (normally $9.99 by itself) for $65.99. It's offered in tan with a green lid, all black, or "marble" (all white).


• Real Goods and Gaiam (same company) offer the same starter kit for $75.00, and the 1-gallon Bokashi mix refills for $12.00. Although they are more expensive, I'm listing them in case you want to check out all their other cool product offerings :)

• Al Pasternak, a dealer of "Biosa" brand EM, sells the above kit for $45.00 - but without a spigot - and only in Canada. His Bokashi refills are $15.00 a bag.
  

You can also make your own Bokashi buckets for a lot less. Click here to see an awesome DIY project by a man named Jay, who made his own Bokashi bucket out of a square tub that some kitty litter came in. Instead of nesting two buckets, he built a false bottom out of a piece of acrylic, and also added a spigot.

I don't have the tools to make such a fancy Bokashi pail, but after a bunch of digging around online, I came up with a very affordable source for buckets with a spigot already installed - from a home beer-brewing hobbyist site!

My plan is to drill holes in the bottom of a plain 6-gallon bucket, then nest it inside a bucket with a spigot.

• 6-gallon bucket with spigot: $11.45
• Plain 6-gallon bucket: $7.95
• Lid (very important!): $1.75
• Total: $21.15 + shipping (although I still have to order a bag of Bokashi mix)

My only worry is that if I nest the plain bucket inside the bucket with the spigot, the bottom of the plain bucket may sit lower than the spigot. I hope that's not the case! From eyeballing the photos, I think I'll be okay.

Bokashi vs. Vermicomposting

Here are the pros and cons of both methods, as I see it for my particular living situation:

1. Space - at first, it seemed like a tie. A worm bin is roughly 2'W x 1.5'D x 1'H. A Bokashi Bucket is roughly 1' in diameter and 1.5' high - but in order to keep your system going (since a full bucket needs to sit for 2 weeks), many people recommended buying two, which would increase the footprint to 2' x 1'. However, both the Burbank recycling coordinator and my friend in Chicago advised that you can store your scraps in the freezer in the meantime - meaning I would only need one Bokashi bucket. Bokashi wins on space constraints.


2. Container Price - The price of a pre-made worm bin ($100+ online, but $5-$50 from local recycle centers), can be lower than a prefab Bokashi bucket ($60+, from retailers only) - especially if you have more than one Bokashi bucket. However, the DIY price for making a worm bin or Bokashi bucket is about the same, so I'd call this one a tie.


3. Organism Price - Once you buy your worms (about $20 for 1 lb.), they will reproduce and you should not have to buy more if you maintain your farm correctly. However, with Bokashi, you will need to buy or make your own Bokashi mix as you run out. If you purchase ready-made Bokashi powder, it's $9-12 for a 1 gallon bag. If you make your own, you will need EM culture and the base ingredients (molasses, wheat bran), as well as room to spread the mix out while it dries. Worm bin wins on the price of keeping your system going.


4. Food Scrap Restrictions - With a worm bin, you cannot include meat, dairy, or anything oily (so no cooked foods). You are also supposed to avoid citrus fruit scraps, as the acidity is unsuitable for the worms. On the other hand, since the worms need fibrous bedding, a worm farm is a convenient way to recycle your newspapers. With a Bokashi system, you can include ALL food waste, including meat, bones, oily scraps, and citrus fruits. Although I eat very little meat, I often cook with oil. Bokashi wins on flexibility.


5. Obtrusiveness - While a worm bin could technically be kept inside your apartment, and not just in a garage or patio, my particular apartment lacked the space. Even when the stairway alcove seemed secure (before my landlord cleaned it out), I was concerned with the possibility of a worm exodus. Apparently, if your worm bin becomes too wet or acidic, your worms will leave in droves to seek out a better environment. Now that could potentially be offensive to the other tenants in my building :) The Bokashi bin can be kept under the kitchen sink, and nothing will escape or bother anyone - Bokashi wins.


6. Odor - Both systems are odorless when the bin is closed. As long as you cover food scraps with the bedding in your worm bin, there will be no noticeable odors. With the Bokashi system, the food scraps produce a sweet & sour, pickled smell, but not the decayed stench of rotting garbage. This one is also a tie.


7. Finished Product - The worm castings are a finished product that will make your plants and the earth happy. The Bokashi product, however, still must be buried for a few weeks before it's done. My building does have a small lawn directly outside my window. Although it's not my own private yard, I can bury my scraps behind the bushes to finish the composting process. Others recommend keeping a tub or planter of soil to bury the pickled scraps. Vermicomposting wins on this front, as that method eliminates an extra step before final compost product.

Overall, although both methods had pros and cons, I decided that Bokashi composting would work better for my current situation, and this is the method I will be trying first.