Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Can Bokashi be used for animal manure?
Can this system be used for animal manure? My cats use a litter called sweet wheat and I have been composting it with leaves and other organic material for use strictly in inedible flower beds. This has worked in conventional big plastic compost bins with the usual drawbacks of occasional odors and the big issue of rat infestation. So I would love to resolve these problems particularly since I live in an urban location. I am also very concerned that every thing I purchase is made of recycled material and is recyclable or I would rather not buy it. Does your product and all of it's packaging meet this criteria? Thank you for your time and good works and let me know if you have small scale biodigester plans or ideas. Thank you, Email question from Anonymous
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Thank you for your interesting inquiry. Let me address both parts of your question.
ReplyDeleteUse for Animal manure:
Yes, it will indeed work. We don't encourage people to use the cyclettes in this way but the facts are that the microbes will digest anything that is organic and that includes manure. The reason we don't encourage people to process manure is because we don't know where they will put the fermented end product. And we can't be certain they will do it consistently and properly so that the microbes in the manure will be destroyed. If we were to advise them to use it in this manner, then we might rarely but certainly possibly come across situations where someone has a sick animal and the microbes from that animal are spread in their garden to either other animals or possibly to humans. Although that is unlikely, it is conceivable.
The fact that you are currently using it with litter and other organic materials like leaves makes it even more efficient in fermenting and if you are only going to use it in inedible flower beds it will do just fine. Your flowers should benefit as well. The one thing you would want to do is add some moisture to the litter before you start the fermentation. Otherwise because the litter can be so drying it could cause some interference and slow things down. I would recommend if you choose to do this to add enough water to the litter so that if you squeeze the litter in your hand, it should just form a ball that almost sticks together but then crumbles. You would then sprinkle the bokashi culture mix and build up layers just as we recommend for the processing of table scraps. If you scoop up some of the liter with the droppings and put in the fermenter with the bokashi you will certainly not attract rats or vermin. There should be no odors to properly handled materials other then a slight fermented or pickled odor. You will still have to put the end product in the ground to let the soil microbes finish the job. I've attached an instruction sheet (pdf file) to this email.
Recycled Materials:
This is certainly an important question and we strive to do everything possible to minimize damage to the planet and make it a safer place. Having said that, the fermenters and the packaging that hold the bokashi culture mix are made of polypropylene. If those containers were easily digested, we just simply could not process the great organic waste that we want to reduce. We want to get the organic material out of the landfills and we don't want to pollute the planet in the process. We think the greater good we bring by providing a most efficient process that may be used again and again with good results is justified. We are even trying to work with a supplier of recycled shipping cartons as we know these materials should be used several times before they are discarded. The substrate for the culture media is wheat bran with molasses, so with the exception of the dispensers, and containers that have to be moderately inert we are trying to meet those concerns that we all have about recycling.
Small scale biodegester plans:
We don't currently have a plan for smaller digesters (fermenters). The current size will accumulate up to 5 gallons of waste material before it has to be emptied. Of course it could be emptied before it is full. An important point is that the fermentation of one cyclette should be kept indoors and in process while a second cyclette is started so that there is at least an additional week in the anaerobic condition before it is taken to be placed in the soil. This is why we have two cyclettes working...........one finishing up the process while the other is started to fill.
I hope I've answered your questions.
Very Best Regards,
Larry Green, Bokashicycle.com