Volunteers call for Bokashi Bonanza!

Pat Brace, local Leyton resident and member of the Leyton Neighbourhood Forum, is trying to encourage more people to recycle their household waste. Over the last few months, Pat, accompanied by Steve Williams, Chair of the Leyton and Whipps Cross Community Council and Miranda Grell, local resident and volunteer, has been making weekly trips to the Sorenson and Clewer Courts on the Grange Estate to collect residents’ food waste from special green ‘Bokashi’ composting boxes provided by the Forest Recycling Project.

50 households are already involved in the pilot scheme and this will soon be extended to the Underwood and Hinton courts on the estate as well. The team of volunteers is about to launch a big door knocking campaign to talk to residents about the benefits of joining in and to demonstrate how they can use the boxes. Forest Recycling hopes to eventually extend the scheme to the Lea Bridge and Markhouse areas of the borough as well.

Mrs Brace said:
“More people should be involved in recycling and this wonderful composting scheme. Using the bokashi boxes keeps the rats and the foxes away because they don’t like its vinegary smell. When you use the boxes you get no maggots or creepy crawlies and as a keen gardener the best thing for me is the marvellous compost I get back!”

The volunteers are calling for a local recycling plant to be opened in Leyton as currently the waste they collect has to be transported down to Hackney. An identical scheme on Hackney’s Nightingale estate was recently nominated for a national lottery award.

For more information about the scheme readers can get in touch with Brian Kelly from the Forest Recycling Project on 020 8539 3856

Ends.

Notes to editors:

1. The Science bit – Bokashi is a product developed using EM. Bokashi is made using a combination of sawdust and bran that has been inoculated with EM. The system was discovered by Dr T Higa from Japan. EM stands for Efficient Microbes or Efficient Micro-organisms. It is used to improve the microbial balance of complex living systems by promoting the growth of naturally occurring beneficial microorganisms. This diverse range of microorganisms, which are normally found in the environment, increase plant growth and its resistance to drought, pest and disease. It rebuilds the soil and puts the nutrients back into our food when used to make Bokashi. Activated EM-1 (which is the fermented liquid made with molasses and water) can also be used as a household cleaner, a pro-biotic ingredient for human and animal health (nutritional brews) as an inoculant for kitchen and municipal waste recycling (Bokashi) and a spray to assist with general odour. Activated EM-1 is produced through a completely natural fermentation process. There are no chemicals or GM material. Bokashi is made by fermenting wheat bran with molasses and EM and has been traditionally used by Japanese farmers as a soil amendment to increase the nutrient level and microbial diversity of the soil.

2. The Bokashi Composting System comes with a double bucket kit, a bag of bokashi, and an instruction pamphlet . Kitchen scraps, including vegetables, meat, fish etc. are mixed with bokashi in the bucket. The scraps are squashed down to remove air on every application of kitchen organics as the process works best without air. The composting is a fermentation process, which is like pickling onions in a jar. The organic food does not break down or change whilst it is in the bucket, but breaks down very rapidly when buried.

3. The Grange estate pilot scheme is funded by the Leyton Neighbourhood Forum. In Hackney, the scheme is funded by the local council.

4. For more information about this press release, please contact Miranda Grell on 07957 396 321.

5. Attached photo (l to r) of Steve Williams, Chair of the Leyton & Whipps Cross Community Council; Pat Brace, of the Leyton Neighbourhood Forum and Miranda Grell, Leyton resident and bokashi volunteer.