How to Bokashi!

We decided we'd collect all our scrap food in a 'Bokashi Day Bucket'. You can put just about any food you like in a bokashi as long as there is no liquid like orange juice or left over coffee etc. It also won't compost bones.





Each afternoon our Bokashi Boys sprinkle some magic zing into the bokashi bucket.








They cut up the food so that it is in smaller pieces and add that to the bucket.







Then they use their hands to push the food down - this takes the air out.


Pop the lid back on tightly and wait until the next day's food is added.



When the bucket is full, you keep the lid on for two weeks and then your compost should be ready. We will leave ours over the holidays and see what happens.

KNZB

Yesterday we took part in Keep New Zealand Beautiful clean up week. Some people brought gum boots to school so they could jump the fence and collected rubbish from the swampy creek in the paddock next door. Some of our rubbish blows through the fence and into neighbours paddock so we thought we'd better pick it up for him. After that the rest of the class went down Bradford Street collecting rubbish. We collected three bags full of rubbish, not much from the street though.

Blogged by Gabby & Elliot

Our Compost Journey

How exciting! Look at this big long box that has just arrived. We can't wait to see what's inside so Nikita, Troi and Christina are opening it.







We've found some buckets and some bags of sawdust stuff.







And some instructions.
These guys will have us all up and working in no time.

Our Compost Journey

WOW! Look at the amazing pile of food that we throw in our rubbish bin each day. There must be a better way to deal with all this unwanted food.

We decided that composting would be the best solution but we had some questions / concerns as to whether an outside compost bin would be best:
1. Where do we put it? Too close to school and it may smell or attract unwanted animals. Too far away and it would become a problem to add each days food.
2. Who would be responsible for it? As well as adding the food each day, who is going to be responsible for turning the compost to keep the air in it?
3. Do we have enough other materials to make really 'good' compost? We learnt that a compost system needs 3 layers - a green layer (which could be grass), a brown layer (which could be twigs and bits from trees) and a food layer. We'll definitely have enough food but would we have enough of the others?

So ... we were thinking that it may not be the best idea after all when Mrs Tobin said - 'Bokashi'.

What's bokashi? Connor looked it up on the internet when he got home and found out that it was a composting system that could be kept inside and that uses ONLY food. That sounded perfect so we ordered one.

Now we'll have to wait and see what we get.

Getting rid of Rubbish

We were amazed at the landfill to learn of all the different ways we SHOULD dispose of our rubbish. Here's what we found out:


If you have a lot of tree branches, hedge clippings or garden waste, ask Connor or Amy what to do with it. They'll say that if you take it to the landfill it will be shredded and put onto the compost heap. The compost starts to steam as all the waste decomposes. People can buy the compost for their gardens - you never know, you may get your own tree branches back!

Mitchell and Chelsey had to think hard about what to do with the cardboard boxes that tomato sauce and some juices come in. They found out that the boxes have a lining on tin-foil on the inside and the cardboard has a plastic coating so it can't be recycled. It must go into the landfill to be compacted and covered with clean fill.

Batteries is another item that had us wondering. Elliot and Charmaine thought that you should just throw them in with the rest of the rubbish but that's not right. Batteries have acid in them and if thrown in the landfill, the acid may leak out and get into the soil, stream etc. There is a special bin over at the Dangerous Goods part of the landfill that all batteries should go in.

And did you know that any furniture, books, toys or anything else that you don't want but is too good to be thrown away can be given to the Recovery Store at the landfill. Angel and Darian found lots of interesting items that people could buy for a very cheap price.

The Green Island Landfill really is a very interesting place and it's doing a lot to recycle, reuse, reduce, repair and rethink how we dispose of our rubbish.

Landfill / Tip / Dump

We're not supposed to use the words 'tip' or 'dump' any more as today's places are a lot more environmentally friendly.

Most of us hadn't been to the Green Island landfill before and we were amazed at what could be reclycled and reused from our everyday rubbish. There were places to put cardboard, glass, tin cans and aluminium cans, all of which can be recycled. Then there was a huge area to put stuff that you didn't want anymore, like chairs, books, toys, old bikes etc, but was too good to throw away. People could come and buy all sorts of bits and pieces. Connor said that when he and his dad went to the landfill, they would come home with more stuff than they had taken!

The bus took us right up to the tip face where all the big machines were working and the trucks were dumping the rubbish. There was a huge machine that compacted all the rubbish and then they covered it with dirt. The dirt was to help keep the scavanging animals like cats, rats and mice out of the landfill.

We expected the landfill to be really smelly but it wasn't at all. They had pipes that took a special fragrance out to the edges of the pit and a fine mist was sprayed into the air.

Darian wanted to go to the sludge pit so Jenny, our guide, took us there and BOY! DID IT STINK!!! They cover the pit each day with coffee bean husks and this helps keep the smell down (a bit). We couldn't wait to get back on the bus & get out of there.

We were all quite impressed with the Green Island landfill.

3 Minutes Silence

Yesterday our class joined in a nation wide (New Zealand) initiative to remember all the children who have been abused. The recent death of a little girl from child abuse prompted the country to have a silent protest about child abuse. At 12 minutes past 12, we stopped what we were doing and joined others in silent thought. Why 12? Because, on average, 12 children a year die from child abuse.

Here are some of our thoughts:
"I feel very sad that people can do these things to little children."
"It makes me so angry - these little kids can't look after themselves."
"It makes me want to cry."

Miss Dillon, our principal, read us this poem

A People Place

If this is not a place where tears are understood,
Where do I go to cry?
If this is not a place where my spirits can take wing,
Where do I go to fly?
If this is not a place where my questions can be asked,
Where do I go to seek?
If this is not a place where my feelings are heard,
Where do I go to speak?
If this is not a place where you'll accept me as I am,
Where can I go to be?
If this is not a place where I can try to learn and grow,
Where can I just be me?

William J Crocker

Recycling

We are learning to recycle in our school this year.
We are seeing if our lunch boxes are destroying the planet.
So we are collecting all our rubbish up and then sorting them out. We are learning that even one piece of rubbish could make a difference. It could hurt an animal in the sea, it could suffocate a land animal, it could hurt a person if they stand on some glass. We can all make a difference by putting our own rubbish in the bin and recycling. We have learnt that you don't put gassy things in the rubbish as they might explode.