Food and Garden Organics recycling at Home and Work

Tips for minimising smells in Organic Food waste bins

1. Keep the food organics bins in a shady spot or well ventilated bin store
2. A mix of garden, food waste & paper/cardboard (such as shredded cereal boxes, toilet rolls) helps keep bin odours under control
3. Sprinkle vinegar, baking soda, charcoal or eucalyptus oil in your organics bin to combat odours
4. Purchase a Bin Kill tag that can be attached to the inside of your organics bin. The tag emits a vapour that kills flies and maggots. The product is available from Bunnings, Coles or Woolworths supermarkets.
5. Double wrap meat, bones and unwanted pet food (with newspaper or paper towel) before placing in your caddy
6. Wrap fish and seafood waste (in newspaper or paper towel) and place in your freezer until your next collection is due
7. Line the organics bin with newspaper to aid cleaning

Composting in apartments or buildings without gardens

1. Bokashi bins http://www.bokashi.com.au/ are an effective way of breaking down food waste and reducing waste volumes. They are ideal for reducing waste for apartment dwellers and use in buildings where there is no garden to locate a compost bin. Food scraps are placed in bokashi bins with an accelerator mix added. The volume of waste food is reduced, and the waste in the bin is already on the path to being composted. Bokashi bins can be emptied into compost bins. Community gardens in partnership with councils may accept the partly composted volume reduced waste from bokashi bins. Alternatively check out the ShareWaste network to find local residents who are happy to accept compostable food in their compost heaps. See www.ShareWaste.com or the app.
2. Subpod’s Modbed inserts a Subpod onto a mobile garden bed suitable for composting and growing healthy plants in apartments.
3. Hungry Bin worm farms are a proven worm farm system that have been used by many private and commercial organisations & businesses to process food waste. The number of bins can be scaled up and down depending on the volume of waste being generated on site. https://www.wormlovers.com.au

Composting where there is a garden– Private or Communal

1. Aerobic green cone bio-digester designer compost is a landscape option for some households, including multi-unit developments to divert a larger range of food waste (including bread, dairy, meat and small bones). Refer to https://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/green-cone-solar-food-digester-will-reduce-90-food-waste-your-backyard.html for more info.
2. Subpod in-ground composting/worm farm unit subpod/com that composts fast, and ensures worms don’t die off as they can often can in unshaded above-ground worm farms. These units can also be located in raised planters and act as seats in common areas. At capacity, 15L of food waste can be processed each month.