Which is the most suitable way to treat food waste at home?

You, as well as me, might be worried about food waste. Food waste is the primary source of greenhouse gases and leachate at landfills. If we divert food waste from landfills, they could last longer, and most of its pollution issues would be solved.

If you are willing to take action against food waste, you should know that you can do something at your home. However, you need to have a clear idea about what to do with the sub-products from food waste treatment. Three things can be obtained depending on the method used:

1 – Biogas: This can only be produced using a biodigester. It can substitute the natural gas you use at home for cooking.

2 – Liquid fertilizer: This can be generated through vermicomposting, Bokashi composting, biodigesters and lactic fermentation. Liquid fertilizer can be used in the garden to provide nutrients to the soil making your plants look better.

3 – Soil improver: Compost, Bokashi, and humus are soil improvers that increase the quality of your garden soil keeping it healthy.

Depending on your conditions and the sub-product you are most interested in, there is a suitable food waste treatment for you. Take a look at the following diagram!

Click on picture to enlarge

Carbon source: By carbon source I mean green waste high in fibre or dehydrated like dry wild herbs, dry leafs, coffee chaff, wheat bran or even paper.

Lactic fermentation: Probably not available everywhere, at least in Peru it is. Lactobacillus bacteria are used to fermentate liquid waste under anaerobic conditions to create a nutrient-rich digestate with a very sweet aroma (for real!).  I will talk more about in another post.

Vermicomposting: Worm farming.