Managing food waste and landfills: Bokashicycle offers a safer and more economic alternative
SEATTLE, Wash. — Bokashicycle announces first successful full-scale commercial fermentation process. In the U.S. alone, annually, more than 30 million tons of food waste is sent to landfills. Less than three percent of that waste is diverted from landfills, primarily through composting, producing greenhouse gases and heat. Bokashicycle offers a safer and more economic alternative. “We first introduced our fermentation process on a residential scale, and it was so successful, we took it to the commercial level,” says Dr. Lawrence Green, M.D., Ph.D. and founder of Bokashicycle. “We now offer sustainable solutions to farms, coops and food service operations.”
By implementing the “bokashi cycle,” commercial operations can divert tons of waste away from landfills and compost sites, converting that waste into high-quality fertilizer.
Bokashicycle completed its first full commercial fermentation process on New Earth Farm in Hillsboro, Ore. The farm accepts food waste from several cafeterias managed by Bon Appetit on the Intel campus.
New Earth Farm is also intimately associated with a growing operation, Abundant Harvest, which manages a CSA (consumer-supported agriculture) store.
“These CSAs are common across the U.S. People contract with farmers to provide them with fresh produce, fruits and vegetables that are organically-grown and typically boxed so they can pick up a fresh and healthy supply of food each month,” Green says. “And, adding a Bokashicycle step completes the circle of sustainability.”
So, how does it work? The farm collects organic waste from area restaurants. That food waste is sprinkled with Bokashi culture mix and stays in a barrel for seven to 10 days. The contents (nutrients) are then poured into the farm’s soil and covered with dirt for 14 days.
Subsequently, that soil is used for Abundant Harvest crops. No pesticides or growth hormones are ever necessary making it ideal for organic-certified farms.
“We also shred that waste to eliminate items like pineapple tops and large bones since they take longer to process in the soil,” Green adds. “New Earth Farm will sell its enriched soil to neighboring farms and the general public.”
Bokashicycle provides steep culture mix discounts to New Earth Farm; the average cost per ton of food waste processing is approximately $33.00 which translates into huge savings for local restaurants and cafeterias. They have now diverted that organic waste back to the farm at a cost way below the area’s “standard” garbage disposal programs.
For commercial/industrial use, Bokashi culture mix is available in 25 pound bags accompanied by 55-gallon barrels with lids specially configured to be anaerobic (no oxygen).
For more information, visit: www.BokashiCycle.com .
About Tabitha Berg
ABOUT THE EDITOR: Tabitha Angel Berg is an aspiring author and musician and joined eNewsChannels in Nov. 2006 as an editor and mistress of the content management system. She likes ferrets better than cats and tea better than coffee, and is still waiting on the perfect ebook reading device.
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Related Topics: Agriculture, Environmental, Featured Story 1, Green Products, News: Recycling, Newsdesk, State: Washington.
Tags: Bokashi, Bokashicycle, Dr. Lawrence Green, Seattle
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