It's the main act, so please give it up for ...........
The Bokashi and the Beasties!
Yesterday, I was the warm-up act at Stanton Primary School, where I revealed the contents of my gorgeous rubbish bin to almost 60 children.
I had my volunteer bin sorters ...two very brave children who were happy to delve into the bin. For reassurance I should add, all items were deliberately added that morning.
Bizarrely, both the children's names began with a "kicking K"... which made it very easy to remember, especially as my name begins with the same letter too. (Apologies, but having a six year old, it is so easy to fall into Jolly Phonics).
Then we had my other helpers, who pretended to be the bins for all the sorted contents...
We had a "Curly C" to look after the Recycling
Another "Kicking K" to take care of the Composting
A "S" to sort out my squidgy fruit and veg.
And a "W" to look after the rubbish.
The boys and girls knew about recycling and were enthusiastic to vote on what we should do with each item, while I told the story of The Rubbish Diet and how, during one week in March, all I threw out was one plaster.
There were looks of surprise when the bin sorters delved into the bin and pulled out some dodgy looking fruit and vegetables, but we decided the wrinkled apple wasn't mouldy and could be eaten once peeled. The banana could be used in a banana cake and the tomato or carrots could be used to make soup.
After all the sorting, the boy in charge of the "rubbish" was left with just a piece of film from the Weetabix box.
Result! If this had been a real bin, there would have been hardly anything to have thrown away.
As the bin sorters were hard at work, there were calls of "eurggh" as we revealed the morning's leftover breakfast, which was some Weetabix, still in bowl (but wrapped in a plastic bag for safety)...
And that was the intro to the final act!
The floodlights were lit to reveal the one thing that has helped me to reduce my rubbish....
Yes the Bokashi itself.
I warned that it smelled a little and drained off some of the bokashi juice to a chorus of "what a pong".
It was agreed that it smelled a bit like cider (confirmed by the teachers not the children, I hasten to add).
The children then queued up to take a peek inside the bin, before heading in my direction to have a look at the beasties who eat the bokashi and turn it all into compost.
Yes, the lovely wriggly squiggly worms, all looking dandy in their portable bed of compost.
And there I was, wondering how I would fill a whole hour. As it was, I had nothing to worry about as the hour flew by.
The kids were great, so attentive, friendly and inquisitive and didn't eat me for breakfast after all...which is a good job really, because the next tour-date is this afternoon, this time at my son's school!
So without further ado...let's give another round of applause for The Bokashi and the Beasties as well as the children at Stanton Primary School in Suffolk, especially my wonderful helpers. Also a big "thank you" to Mr Goddard for inviting me along.
Extra notes for teachers or parents that might be looking in: Please note the contents of the Bokashi should not be placed in the brown wheelie bins for collection from the council. It is intended for use in a home compost bin or wormery. Anyone considering a kit would need two bokashi bins, plus a permanent supply of special EMs impregnated bran. Once full, the bokashi bin should be left for two weeks and the liquid drained off every few days, while you use the second bin. More links can be found on yesterday's post, which discusses food waste.
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