Picture
Sunday 22 June 2008
The Glebe | Glebe Local News
GREENTHUMB and local resident Maree O'Malley has helped to release an innovative composting bucket to Australia and she hopes it leads to more recycling.
Bokashi buckets are air-tight and use a combination of bran and rice husks infused with microbes to break down kitchen waste into rich compost and liquid.
Ms O'Malley said any effort to reduce our environmental footprint was worthwhile: "A large percentage of what goes into landfill is domestic organic waste, which is a pretty easy thing to recycle."
In fact, organic material buried in landfills causes over three per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.
Ms O'Malley said the reaction from residents, local councils and businesses has been very positive in today's eco-friendly climate.
"In the last couple of years, we've become a lot more aware of the importance of looking after our environment," Ms O'Malley said. "It's become quite a topic at the moment, it's quite in vogue to be green."
The passionate environmentalist has been to local events to spread the word, including regular appearances at the Orange Grove Public School markets.
Ms O'Malley has been working on the project for the past three years and hopes to expand within the eco industry: "Most people know what a worm farm is or what a compost bin is (but) most wouldn't know what a Bokashi bucket was."
The Marrickville resident has 22 outlets across Australia, including in Glebe, Rozelle and Newtown.
Details: http://www.bokashi.com.au/.
Monday 16 June 2008
ZERO YOUR CARBON
The Bokashi Bucket product information from online "Zero Your Carbon" http://www.zeroyourcarbon.com.au/
QLD Home and Garden WaterWise Rebate Schemes
Rebate available: 50% of total purchase cost up to $50
Perfect for purchase of The Green Frog Bokashi Bucket http://www.bokashi.com.au/ . Easy Kitchen Composting.
Application Pack (download here)http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/water/saverscheme/pdf/rebate_information_pack.pdf
Perfect for purchase of The Green Frog Bokashi Bucket http://www.bokashi.com.au/ . Easy Kitchen Composting.
Application Pack (download here)http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/water/saverscheme/pdf/rebate_information_pack.pdf
Map & brochure - community gardens in Leichhardt local government area
Leichhardt Council has produced a brochure and map locating community gardens in the Leichhardt local government area.
Correction to brochure:
1. The contact phone number and email for the Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network notified on the brochure is out of date. The Network can be contacted through this website.
2. The UNSW Permaculture Community Garden noted on the brochure no longer exists.
Format: pdf
http://www.communitygarden.org.au/index.html
Correction to brochure:
1. The contact phone number and email for the Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network notified on the brochure is out of date. The Network can be contacted through this website.
2. The UNSW Permaculture Community Garden noted on the brochure no longer exists.
Format: pdf
http://www.communitygarden.org.au/index.html
Map: City of Sydney Community Garden Map
Download a map of the City of Sydney community gardens.
Format: pdf
Format: pdf
Saturday 7 June 2008
The Wilderness Society - World Environment Day 2004 - Sydney
This is an archive from 2004, please do not travel to this location today, Sat 7th June , 2008.
A Global
Treasure
A National
Responsibility
Take Action for
World Environment Day
see http://www.wilderness.org.au/
Free Concert Sydney
Sat 5 June @ 3:30pm,
Sydney Town Hall
With Jimmy Barnes, Diesel and Family,
award-winning author Richard Flanagan,
Vince Jones,
Triple J's Adam Spencer,
a classical ensemble of voice, trumpet and organ,
the presentation of the Environment Award
for Children's Literature, and more.
We need your help with postering
and handing out pamphlets this week
and we need help on the day
contact Aymon on 02 9282 9553 or
sydney@wilderness.org.au
The Wilderness Society - World Environment Day 2004 - Sydney
Dirt: Bokashi
Archive Blog address from one of the leading Gardening Blogs in the world (Dirt by Amy) . Even though Amy blogs from a different address now, it's good to go back and see whats been said already (comments, specifically). Bokashi is not new.
Thursday 5 June 2008
Dunedin Today - Easy Tips for Reducing Waste
We all know recycling is a good thing. But does the volume of recycling generated in Dunedin and indeed New Zealand, leave a more environmentally friendly footprint than if we simply bury the rubbish in a big hole (or landfill), or using a possibly more expensive method of destruction such as pyrolysis (see Wikipedia - Pyrolysis.
With most of our recyclables shipped first to Christchurch and then overseas, there are concerns that the carbon emissions as well as the man-hours, and various other expenses create as much of a problem as the one we are trying to fix. It is difficult to know where to draw the line as we certainly don’t want to discourage recycling and the active efforts being made to reduce waste going to landfill, but are there other simple ways to make a difference? There most certainly are. Some options include:
* Refusing plastic shopping bags – most stores have ‘sold’ tape that can go on your purchase, negating the need for a plastic or even paper bag or alternatively use a basket or a re-usable bag such as those sold at many supermarkets.
* Composting all your organic waste – this means fruit and vegetable scraps but also newspaper, junk mail, white cat litter and tea and coffee remains. (NO dairy or meat products!) Approximately 25-35% of your household rubbish can be composted.
* A Bokashi is amazing for clearing up ALL your food scraps. It is a two-bucket system that will fit in your kitchen cupboard. The bucket has a tight fitting lid, which contains the pickle smell and allows the effective micro-organisms to work their magic, rapidly decomposing the scraps. They can then be buried directly in your garden, allowing the fertilisation to begin immediately, (although you have to be careful around tender root systems). For more information about effective micro-organisms, go to A Guide to Effective Microorganisms, or simply type ‘effective micro-organisms’ into a search engine. For more information about Bokashi go to Bokashi NZ
* Choose products that have as little packaging material as possible – this can be as easy as choosing to buy individual packets rather than a multi pack (for example two minute noodles) – often cheaper as well. This simply means that you do not have another wrapping around individually wrapped items. Simple - they generally come out of the main wrapper once you have used one or two of them anyway, so why take home the extra in the first place?
* Cultivate a worm farm. If you have children this can be fun and educational as well as environmentally useful. They can be homemade or you can purchase one from most hardware stores, garden centres and even some toy stores. For a guide to worm farming you can contact Jenny Neilson, the DCC’s Education Promotion Officer on 474 3634 or Jenny Neilson
* Avoid buying tinned, pre-packaged and frozen products when similar fresh products are available in season. Packaged items by their very nature create more waste, whereas fresh products generally have little or no packaging, as well as being more nutritious and tastier!
* Consider using the Waste Exchange programme – this is a scheme that enables businesses and industry to donate waste items to community groups – thus allowing you to source usually free items of all sorts from furniture to paper. For more information, contact Carmen Knowler, the DCC’s Waste Exchange Co-Ordinator on 474 3461 or Carmen Knowler.
* Keep an eye out for the Waste-Me-Not website up soon.
In New Zealand, there is little firm pressure on manufacturers to produce environmentally-aware packaging. The Voluntary Packaging Accord signed in August 2004 for a five-year period, (see Voluntary Packaging Accord 2004-2009, is an agreement between the Ministry for the Environment, the Packaging Council of New Zealand (PACNZ), Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), and Recycling Operators of New Zealand (RONZ), to increase both manufacturer responsibility and consumer awareness. The Accord does not, however, set out any penalties or consequences for those manufacturers who do not strive towards this goal, leading for example to production of a plastic bottle with an aluminium lid, which cannot be recycled as the two materials are incompatible. It also means that there is no incentive for a company to make environmentally sound packaging that may more expensive to produce.
Other useful websites include: Reduce your RubbishSustainable LivingSnippETS – Energy and Environmental News Clippings
With most of our recyclables shipped first to Christchurch and then overseas, there are concerns that the carbon emissions as well as the man-hours, and various other expenses create as much of a problem as the one we are trying to fix. It is difficult to know where to draw the line as we certainly don’t want to discourage recycling and the active efforts being made to reduce waste going to landfill, but are there other simple ways to make a difference? There most certainly are. Some options include:
* Refusing plastic shopping bags – most stores have ‘sold’ tape that can go on your purchase, negating the need for a plastic or even paper bag or alternatively use a basket or a re-usable bag such as those sold at many supermarkets.
* Composting all your organic waste – this means fruit and vegetable scraps but also newspaper, junk mail, white cat litter and tea and coffee remains. (NO dairy or meat products!) Approximately 25-35% of your household rubbish can be composted.
* A Bokashi is amazing for clearing up ALL your food scraps. It is a two-bucket system that will fit in your kitchen cupboard. The bucket has a tight fitting lid, which contains the pickle smell and allows the effective micro-organisms to work their magic, rapidly decomposing the scraps. They can then be buried directly in your garden, allowing the fertilisation to begin immediately, (although you have to be careful around tender root systems). For more information about effective micro-organisms, go to A Guide to Effective Microorganisms, or simply type ‘effective micro-organisms’ into a search engine. For more information about Bokashi go to Bokashi NZ
* Choose products that have as little packaging material as possible – this can be as easy as choosing to buy individual packets rather than a multi pack (for example two minute noodles) – often cheaper as well. This simply means that you do not have another wrapping around individually wrapped items. Simple - they generally come out of the main wrapper once you have used one or two of them anyway, so why take home the extra in the first place?
* Cultivate a worm farm. If you have children this can be fun and educational as well as environmentally useful. They can be homemade or you can purchase one from most hardware stores, garden centres and even some toy stores. For a guide to worm farming you can contact Jenny Neilson, the DCC’s Education Promotion Officer on 474 3634 or Jenny Neilson
* Avoid buying tinned, pre-packaged and frozen products when similar fresh products are available in season. Packaged items by their very nature create more waste, whereas fresh products generally have little or no packaging, as well as being more nutritious and tastier!
* Consider using the Waste Exchange programme – this is a scheme that enables businesses and industry to donate waste items to community groups – thus allowing you to source usually free items of all sorts from furniture to paper. For more information, contact Carmen Knowler, the DCC’s Waste Exchange Co-Ordinator on 474 3461 or Carmen Knowler.
* Keep an eye out for the Waste-Me-Not website up soon.
In New Zealand, there is little firm pressure on manufacturers to produce environmentally-aware packaging. The Voluntary Packaging Accord signed in August 2004 for a five-year period, (see Voluntary Packaging Accord 2004-2009, is an agreement between the Ministry for the Environment, the Packaging Council of New Zealand (PACNZ), Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), and Recycling Operators of New Zealand (RONZ), to increase both manufacturer responsibility and consumer awareness. The Accord does not, however, set out any penalties or consequences for those manufacturers who do not strive towards this goal, leading for example to production of a plastic bottle with an aluminium lid, which cannot be recycled as the two materials are incompatible. It also means that there is no incentive for a company to make environmentally sound packaging that may more expensive to produce.
Other useful websites include: Reduce your RubbishSustainable LivingSnippETS – Energy and Environmental News Clippings
Wednesday 4 June 2008
If you really wish to make your own
Most of the commercially available EM Bokashi powder in Australia, you can be happy with, and it works. If it doesn't work, it could be for a variety of reasons. (secondary fermentation i the most common problem) There just isn't enough tests at the moment to be able to guarentee shelf life. Ideally, if the EM Bokashi powder has been prepared properly, then it can be fine (kept dry) for storage for 3-12 months. (keep airtight).
You can make your own, or buy from www.bokashi.com.au . Bokashi Composting Australia has been in business for a few years now, so if you are time poor, then it makes sense to buy from their reseller group.
You Tube PODChef guy Neal Foli shows you here how to look at making your own. as a blogger, I cannot say this is the total and guarenteed recipe for EM Bokashi, just a guide to what you may be able to achieve. Neils other videos are unbeatable, I suggest you subscribe and learn, and enjoy.....
Tuesday 3 June 2008
Sunday 1 June 2008
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