Win a Bokashi One Bucket and Mix with Sustainable House Day 2014!

Sustainable House Day 2014 is giving you the opportunity to WIN!! a Bokashi One™ bucket and mix as part of the competition they are running.
For all the details (and to enter) see the Facebook page here

https://www.facebook.com/sustainablehouseday?ref_type=bookmark 

If you don't have Facebook?  No problems, just click on this website link, you can still enter separately from Facebook. http://sustainablehouseday.com/blog/shd-competitions/ 

Can I put my Breakfast Muesli in the Bokashi Bucket?

www.bokashi.com.au  Absolutely you can put your breakfast cereal leftovers in the Bokashi bucket.
 

Spare Parts or Instructions Holding You Up?

Don't let a split lid, missing grate or blocked tap stop you from proceeding with your Bokashi One™ system working!  Contact your local reseller or, message Bokashi One™ direct for parts info and system tips across Australia. 

 

Call the Bokashi Hotline on 1300 902 880 Monday - Friday and Bokashi One™ will post you a full set of instructions/tips/FAQ's free of charge.  Or email info@bokashi.com.au with a request for instructions.

 

Bokashi Bucket Tips & Comments - April '14

In no Particular Order:

1. Don't keep your bucket in direct sunlight or on a Hot Balcony/Porch.  (high temperatures will kill the microbial activity)
2. If the pickled waste smells bad?  Then that may not mean the system has failed, it could be for a number of reasons.  Discard, or bury the waste, wash out bucket and start again with the provided instructions, and use a fresh bag of Bokashi mix.  For instructions that meet Australian conditions, feel free to request a complimentary booklet via info@bokashi.com.au including your *Australian Postal Address.
3. Drain off the Bokashi juice regularly.  If you don't believe you can water it out regularly (Watering Can/Veges/Ornamental's), then you can always use it as a Natural Drain Cleaner around the house pipes.  The Juice is alive with not only microbial activity, but also the nutrients and proteins of the food waste you have been collecting.  As time goes by, the life of these benefits decreases.  You cannot save this juice beyond a few days and expect it to be beneficial.
4. The taps provided with the bucket pictured in this blog are maintainable. If they are blocked, then try and use the tip of a bamboo skewer to clear the blockage.  Alternatively,  they can be disassembled and reassembled.  We recommend you disassemble/re-assemble each year as a service, washing each part and checking for wear.  Replacement taps are available for a small cost in Australia in various colours. Request Parts at your Local Australian Stockist, or request a price from Manufacturer Direct.  Tap Maintenance Video

I hope you find this tip's useful.  I you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the writer via this Blogspace.

First Time Offered in Australia - 30L Stainless Steel Bokashi Composters!

Happy 14 to all followers:

These are the best units I have seen in almost 10 years of being involved with Bokashi Composting practices.  Available from tomorrow (1.1.14) via the www.bokashi.com.au supply chain.  But you will have to email (or call the BCA office on Thursday/Friday 1300 902 880) to purchase until the purchase option becomes live on the website TBC. 

Specifications/Features

• 30L Capacity (largest domestic kitchen only capacity manufactured on market)
• Dimensions, 30L(7.5 Gallon), Inner Dia 34cm, Overall Height 43cm, Weight 4.96kg
• Rubber seal ring in the lid and 3 strap locks (completely airtight/anaerobic environment)
• Pet, Rodent and Pest impenetrable
• Long-lasting and Durable (ready for the all Australian weather elements)
• Easy to clean for the next run of compost 

Buy Price $149.00 incl GST (excl Freight)

 

Pre-tested by me for the last 6 weeks, you will not be disappointed.  Can I say these are not intended to replace the current plastic buckets on offer (which are almost half the buy price), Moreover, It's a welcome new addition to the Bokashi One product range and a premium offering for both Bokashi fanatics and those new to Bokashi Kitchen Composting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Price published does not include Bokashi One™ Mix) (Wholesale enquires welcome for retailers)

Recycle Organic Waste

Great Excerpt from this Councils webpage

Bokashi Buckets

The Bokashi Bucket is another great option for small urban spaces. The Bokashi Bucket ferments layers of chopped kitchen waste overlain with Bokashi mix, a Japanese discovery made up of grains or saw dust with Effective Micro-organisms (EM) to speed up the fermentation process. The bucket is sealed air tight, so there’s no access for bugs or vermin, allowing your meat scraps to be included also! There’s also no worms to care for, so onions and citrus are back on the composting menu.

 

Even better, the air tight seal means no nasties can get in or out of your Bokashi Bucket, thus no smells (or very little smell, mostly just the nice earthy smell of the Bokashi mix). This means you can even keep your Bokashi Bucket in the kitchen cupboard!

 

Where to get it. Bokashi Buckets are available at most hardware stores, and some nurseries. The buckets are most often made of recycled plastic, with a grate at the bottom to allow the juice to collect beneath your scraps, and a tap to release the juice.

 

How it works. Collect your daily organic scraps in a recycled plastic container on the kitchen bench and add them to your Bokashi Bucket in layers. As you add layers, squash the scraps into the bucket with a potato masher and sprinkle on the Bokashi mix to cover lightly. Your bucket will yield lovely ‘bokashi juice’ every few days depending on how much you feed it. Dilute the juice 1:100 for use on the garden or use straight down sinks or toilets to clean drains. Once your bucket is full, bury the fermented organics 20-25cm below the surface of the soil and it will become lovely compost.

 

No digging space? Bury in a friend’s garden, their soil will love it!

 

The Bokashi Bucket is also a great option for Fly In Fly Out workers or those away from home quite often. With the bucket’s air tight seal in tact you can leave it for several weeks without worrying your compost will go rancid.

 

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Poster: Just a sub note comment, Some sensitive plants,  you may

want to dilute Bokashi juice in your watering can out to 200:1

(Water/Bokashi Juice).

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Where can you buy Bokashi Buckets and Bokashi Mix around Australia?

Loads of places,
see this link for your nearest State, Territory or City Centre.

 

Food & Garden Waste into Resources

Wollongong City Council delves into Household Garbage and how to deal with local landfill issues.

In this web article page, Wollongong Council covers traditional composting, (which some of us are more familiar with)  Top marks that they have a program and calendar for local workshops.  equally important to some is there is an email address that residents can contact (and get added to their newsletter)  sustainability@wollongong.nsw.gov.au

If in the meantime you wish to buy a Bokashi Bucket & Bokashi mix,  you can visit via the web to www.bokashi.com.au (Local Experts). 

When speaking with your local council, don't forget to request that the local service centre stocks the Bokashi Buckets and Bokashi Mix.  For example,  Kiama Council,  stocks and sells this system at a reduced price to ratepayers and you can pick up the products Kiama Council’s Works Depot, Belvedere Street, Kiama .

Food and Garden Waste into Resources

 

Gosford City Council on Recycling Organic Waste

One long informative web page on being sustainable at home and at work.  Composting, Worm Farming, Composting in general...  I have read through, and this is a great synapses to what is available to home owners, wishing to make a change...  Check-out the "Bokashi Bucket's" section at the bottom of the page.  To buy Bokashi Buckets in NSW, head to www.bokashi.com.au or request your local Council or municipality to stock the buckets and Bokashi Mix.  http://www.gosford.nsw.gov.au/environment/sustainability/waste/organic-waste

New "BOKASHI ONE™" Website Launch (AU)

Great New Aussie Website with loads of helpful information on product, product-use and FAQ's.  Purchase online (for Australian customers only) or search Australian City & Regional locations for Authorised Resellers.  View helpful videos.  Purchase Part's or send an Enquiry.

Bokashi Bucket in the Heatwave Cities

Certainly in normal conditions,  then a warm day will not affect the microbial actions that are quietly taking place in your 'Green Frog' Bokashi Bucket. 

But there is a small chance (hence this post),  in the receptical that the live and working micro-organisms may  face an early death if the temperature gets hot enough.  In this case,  then the fermentation process will likely stop and no longer be actively working.

Keep your bucket's out of direct sunlight during these long hot summer days to make the most out of this fantastic system.

If you are in any doubt,  then do the following:

1. Drain away the Bokashi Juice.  Bokashi Juice will form in the bottom of the bucket. This should be drained off as it builds up.   Bokashi Juice can be diluted with water and makes a terrific fertiliser for garden or pot plants.  It can be poured down drains and it is safe to use in septic tanks. When used in drains it will help to clean up our water ways by competing with harmful bacteria.
2. Bury the current waste
3. Clean out the bucket with a hose (over a poor patch of the lawn recommended) and wash out & some biodegradeable detergent  (if necessary) 
4. Start the process again, as per the instructions  http://www.bokashi.com.au/Bokashi-Instructions.htm 

Any questions, please send me a message direct through this blog,  i'll be happy to answer your enquiry.

Prepare for Holidays (Bokashi Bucket)

Its that time of year when a lot of us clear out of town for holidays.  Things to remember:

1. Take the cat to cattery
2. Redivert the postal mail
3. Stop the newspaper
4. Configure your OOF in MS Outlook
5. Turn the hot water cylinder off
6. Put that old set of disco lights on the timer,  so everyone knows your home  (Right!)
7. Etc

Don't forget poor'lil Bokashi Bucket.  He doesn't need to be feed,  he knows you guys need a holiday.  But drain his "Bokashi Juice" before you leave town.

Pour the juice down the sink if you are not going to water out (fertilise).  Certainly you can go away for 3-6 weeks  and the Bokashi waste will just continue to ferment and you can bury it when you get back.  Or bury the waste now, give him a good cleanout and get things started in the garden on your return.

Bokashi Videos http://www.youtube.com/user/billjackjane?feature=mhum

Sustainable Illawarra

http://www.sustainableillawarra.com.au/pdf/SI-Harvest-Festival-Program_11April2010.pdf

Harvest Festival Program 11 April 2010 Osborne Park, Cliff Road Wollongong (opposite Belmore Basin)

Kiama Council World Environment Day

Blogging from Kiama Councils Sustainability Day (includes Car Boot Sale). Kiama Council for today only, have a limited number of 19L Bokashi Buckets on special for AUD$50.00. Includes 1 kg Bokashi Powder. Kiama Residents only.

Finishes 12:30pm. Great Carboot Sale, I have already picked up some great items. Idea being that a lot of this stuff will not end up in landfill.

Farmers market also is very good.