turning2green.co.uk money-saving ideas that help the environment too

Bokashi bins are used to process kitchen waste, including meat, fish, dairy products and cooked food, into a useful garden soil conditioner. The system uses a  bran mixture infused with micro-organisms which is combined with the organic waste materials in a sealed container, and the contents are then fermented anaerobically. (See Composting food waste and Bokashi)

The easiest way to begin bokashi composting is to buy a pair of purpose-made bins. These are usually made from recycled plastic and work really well (see the turning2green shop  or visit The Recycle Works), but cheaper home-made solutions can often work too. Catering size food containers are ideal and should be available at recycling centres, or suitable bins and taps can be purchased from home-brew supplies shops and home improvement stores.

It’s vital that containers have a good air-tight lid for the process to work properly. Also, the fermenting waste needs to be separated from any liquid draining through. A layer of absorbent material in the base will do this, but ideally there should be a reservoir in the bottom of the container below a drainage grid, plus a tap to draw off the liquid.

The most basic DIY option is simply an air-tight lidded bucket with no tap. It will do the job of fermenting the food waste, but will need 1-2 inches of shredded paper or sawdust in the bottom to soak up any liquid produced during the fermentation process, and all the waste added will need to be as dry as possible.

A better solution is to use two tightly nesting buckets.  Drill 20 to 30 small holes in the base of the inside bucket so liquid can drain through into the bottom bucket. Place a tight-fitting lid on the top bucket. This system has no tap, but the top bucket can be lifted off and any liquid that has collected in the bottom bucket can be poured off into a separate container.

Adding a tap makes the best system – these can be purchased from home-brewing suppliers or garden centres. You will need to drill a hole in the bucket to fit the tap. Alternatively, use something like a home-brew fermenting bucket already fitted with a tap. An upturned plastic garden sieve would probably do the job as a drainage grid. Whatever you use, bear in mind it has to be retrieved from the gunk in the bucket each time it’s emptied, and it needs to be easily cleaned!

Happy fermenting!

See also:  DIY bokashi bran; Bokashi; DIY worm bins; Composting food waste.

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Posted under compost, food, money saving ideas, waste

The problem

There are millions of dogs in the UK, producing an estimated 1,000 tonnes of waste every day.  Dog mess is unpleasant and can spread the Toxocara worm. Obviously we can’t leave all this poo lying around, but what is the most eco-friendly way to dispose of it all?

In the UK most dog owners collect their dog waste in plastic bags then dispose of it in the nearest bin. This is great – but what happens to the waste once it leaves the bin? Well, generally, the bags end up buried in a landfill site where they and their contents will remain for many years – plastic bags can take 100 years or more to degrade.

If the dog waste is going into a household bin this too can cause a problem, as it will start to ferment in the plastic bag. Many councils now only collect wheelie bins on alternate weeks, so the dog poop could potentially be sitting festering in the bin for up to two weeks before being transported off to the landfill site.

The solutions

• Use compostable biodegradable dog waste bags such as Biobags, or Poop Scoops made of recycled cardboard. Try to train your dog to go in the garden before you leave home, or walk him before meals so that there is nothing to pick up while you are out.  Ecoutlet sell compostable bags.

• You can now buy flushable bags so dog mess can simply be put down the toilet and flushed away.  The bags break down quickly and harmlessly in the water, and the waste goes to the sewage plant to be safely treated. See Flushable Poo Bags for more details.

• You can put small amounts of dog poo into your compost heap – it’s not advisable if you’ve got either a small heap or a large dog! The heap needs to be layered correctly and turned regularly to keep the temperature high. Never use compost containing dog waste on food crops.

• Use a worm farm. This works in exactly the same way as a normal wormery used for kitchen waste, but should only be used for animal waste. The worms must be fed exclusively on pet waste as they will not tolerate a mixed diet – if you want to recycle kitchen scraps you will need a separate wormery.  Again, the compost and liquid fertiliser produced should not be used on food crops.  Original Organics say their Pet Poo Loo will treat the waste from up to two medium sized dogs.

• If you have a garden with free-draining soil you can dig a large hole, say 50cm x 50cm x 1 metre deep. It must have a lid which will keep children out. The dog waste is simply put in the hole, watered, then sprinkled over with sawdust, soil or sand to prevent it from smelling and to keep flies away. Compostable disposal bags can be put down the hole as well.  Septic tank activator,  compost accelerator or a purpose made spray such as Pet Poo Magic can be added to help the waste break down quickly.  Or if you have a bokashi bucket you can use the liquid drained off from that. The waste breaks down into the soil leaving very little residue. When the hole eventually becomes full, simply cover over with soil then move to another spot and dig the next one. For more information see Sharon’s Dog Waste Disposal Unit at YouTube.

• Buy a Doggybog – this is designed to fit onto your outdoor soil pipe.  You just put the dog waste down the pipe then flush the waste away into the mains sewage system. Flushable disposable bags can be used with this system too. More details from Doggybog.

• Buy a Dog Loo – these generally consist of a two part bucket which is sunk into the ground with large stones beneath to ensure good drainage. A bioactivator is added weekly to help break down the waste naturally. Correct installation is absolutely vital because if the drainage is insufficient you end up with two buckets full of a nasty stinking mess.   See the Staywell Dog Waste System and the CLEAN GREEN DOG LOO


• DIY Dog Waste Composter. You might prefer to build your own system, especially if you have several dogs.  City Farmer say they have devised a method of composting dog waste by adapting an old plastic dustbin to slowly decompose the waste in a way that is environmentally safe. See  DIY Dog Waste Composter step-by-step for pictures of the method of construction. They begin by drilling holes in the side of the bin, then cut out the base. A hole is dug in the ground slightly deeper than the bin, and the bottom of the hole is filled with rocks or gravel. The bin is then installed into the hole with the top just a little above soil level, and the lid placed on top. Dog waste is dropped into the bin and sprinkled with a little septic tank starter or Pet Poo Magic and some water. The system takes about 48 hours to begin working, after which they say all the waste biodegrades and flows out into the subsoil.  Again, this system needs to be covered over to keep children out, and any compost produced should not be used on food crops.

Most of the items above are also available through the turning2green shop.

I hope this has given you some useable ideas for eco-friendly alternatives to sending your dog’s waste to a landfill site for the next hundred years!

Posted under compost, educational resources, waste