Bokashi Composting: 5 Tips to Help You Start Your Home Composting Program

As of the year 2000, the United States led the world in municipal waste generation per person per year with 760 kgs. That’s 10.14% higher than the runner up, Australia, but of course Australia has roughly 300 million less people than the United States. This is not a good statistic to lead the world in.

A large part of our municipal waste generation is food scraps, and one way that each of us can contribute to lowering the overall MWG is by starting a home composting program. But, home composting is hard and takes a long time, right? No, it doesn’t have to be a difficult or lengthy process. By using the bokashi composting method, anyone can compost their food scraps. It’s fast, it’s easy, and there are no odors so you can break down your food scraps indoors.

In this post, we’ll cover 5 ways you can ensure a smooth transition into bokashi composting.

1. Use a high quality bokashi.

Not all bokashi products are created equal. If you use a low quality, low active brand, it could take a month or longer before your food scraps break down. Then you’ll either have to buy and manage more buckets or have a ridiculous amount of food scraps piling up in your fridge.

BierKashi BoKashi from SD Microbes is a super active bokashi that will break down a full bucket of food scraps in two weeks.

2. Press down after every layer of food scraps.

Use a paper plate and press down after you add every 2-3 inch layer of food scraps with ½ - 1 cup of bokashi for every layer. This will compact the food scraps down and break them down faster.

3. Use a Gamma Seal Lid to seal your bucket.

A Gamma Seal Lid is a 2 piece lid system that turns your bucket into an airtight container. This is helpful to your bokashi composting program because it is an anaerobic process. Using a Gamma Seal Lid will ensure that your food scraps break down quickly and without odors.

4. Annotate your buckets.

Like with anything, the more organized you are, the easier it’s going to go. ID the bucket and write down the date every time you fill and seal it. This way you won’t have to guess when the two weeks are up. Now, if you’re using your bokashi food scraps as an amendment to your raised bed garden or native soil, you may want to try different combinations of food scraps, annotate what’s in each particular bucket, and test the soil before and after to see how each combination performed.

5. Plan out what to do with your broken down food scraps.

You should have a plan for what you’d like to do with your broken down food scraps before you start your bokashi composting program. If you don’t have a plan before you start, especially if this is your first time using the bokashi composting method, you might get stuck buying and managing more bucket systems than you need.