You've Got to See How We Returned Our EcoNest #TrashtoNature using the Bokashi Composting Method

Help the planet thrive again one bucket at a time by returning your EcoNest #TrashtoNature using the Bokashi Composting Method.

The urgency to stop climate change and restore our ecosystems has never been more apparent than right now with the world facing harsh weathers and natural disasters, all in the midst of an animal disease induced pandemic. With this, UN calls on every individual to reimagine how and what we consume, recreate our relationship with the environment, and restore the health of our ecosystems by being a part of the #GenerationRestoration. One big problem this tries to address is the death of soil and possibly farming itself. Soil grows 95% of our food but our consumerism and constant resource processing has led to carbon emissions which reduce the productivity of soil to sustain healthy plants and crops. EcoNest Philippines is doing their part by inviting you to reimagine how and what we consume by choosing eco-friendly products, and Bokashi Pinoy steps up by restoring the health of soil by composting wastes and even our eco-friendly packaging into healthy, nutritious fertilizer.

The EcoNest Academy in partnership with Bokashi Pinoy Composting aims to educate the community and foster change to protect our environment.

Nowadays, eco-friendly solutions don’t only mean finding ways to source organic raw materials sustainably but (ideally) should also address the problem of waste products littering the oceans or ending up in one of the thousands of landfills contributing to the deterioration of an already endangered environment. That’s why last July, EcoNest PH once again joined forces with Bokashi Pinoy to close the loop by turning our #TrashtoNature. EcoNest PH packaging are made of biodegradable materials which means after they are used they can be completely broken down by microorganisms. But in addition to being biodegradable, these products are also compostable, which means that when your cassava bag or bagasse container is placed in a compost it can be degraded into natural elements which have no toxic residue and are nutrient-rich and beneficial to plants. To show you how the process takes place, Bokashi Pinoy mentors tested some EcoNest compostables using the Bokashi Pinoy method.

EcoNest compostables can be used for composting in a variety of ways.

What is Bokashi?

Bokashi is a Japanese term referring to an organic waste fermentation process. Bokashi composting is an anaerobic (oxygen-free) process that accomplishes fermentation thanks to a special bran called bokashi ipa These ipa are made of the byproducts obtained from the rice milling process and contain microorganisms which help break down the wastes into nutrient-rich compounds safe for soil fertilization.

Michael Poblete from the Bokashi Pinoy Team demonstrated how the EcoNest PH bagasse food containers disappeared completely after just 44 days using their composting method. The tests were done at a Compost Hub where Stage 3 ready Bokashi Pinoy buckets are dropped off in hopes of the food wastes regaining new life as fertilizers after completing the fermentation process. Here, the bagasse food container was chopped up and added to a composting pile made of Bokashi Pinoy starter bran, activated liquid EM, egg shells, and the contents of a donated Bokashi bucket; this particular batch had passion fruit peelings, carrot juice pulp fibres, pomelo rinds, kangkong offcuts, and other veggie and food scraps. At the halfway mark, the pile already looked deep into the decaying stage and the naked eye could barely find any of the chopped up pieces of packaging. It may have been too early to tell if the container had truly broken down but after 22 more days it was made clear. After about a month and a half, no trace of the once sturdy bagasse container was left even after thorough filtering. 

No traces were left on the Sugarcane Containers used as carbon content for this compost pile after 44 days.

Seeing the results (or in this case not seeing anything) really got us excited and hopeful that the bokashi method could help our eco-friendly products not only disappear but become nutritious compounds to help our plant-mangkins grow healthy and strong.

You, too, may be excited to try this method out but may not have enough garden space or a nearby Compost Hub to help you out. This is where the beauty of Bokashi composting comes in because it was developed by the Japanese exactly for the reason you may be hesitant to try composting: small spaces. Bokashi composting can be done in the comfort of one’s own home and all you really need is the ipa and a bucket. Our enthusiastic team members brought out the environmental warriors within them to try out different home ideas using EcoNest PH products.

Roy Pajela tried composting the bagasse food containers in his own home. He scaled down the giant composting pile at the Compost Hub in Pasay to his very own home-friendly worm container. After about the same amount of days (45), he saw no trace of the bagasse container and all his worm friends were satisfied. Win-win! If you are wary of worms you could always add bokashi ipa and use the good microorganisms in that to help break down the compostable food packaging.

EcoNest Sugarcane Clambox used as carbon content for compost microorganisms.

Karen Pascua represented all the plantitos and plantitas out there by using the used bagasse container as a seed germination tray for her mini Arugula garden. She also tried out the cassava bags as seed germination mix and it worked out great as a seedling bag for her avocado.

EcoNest Sugarcane Rectangular Boxes used as a seed germination tray.

In addition to this initiative under the Sustainability Alliance, Bokashi Pinoy Composting and representatives from the Material Science Engineer Dept. of UP Diliman will continue composting using EcoNest Philippines’ complete product lineup including the the cassava biobags, PLA cups & films, bamboo fibre straws, birchwood cutleries and bagasse food containers using the Bokashi Pinoy method as part of their commitment to provide the community complete solutions in addressing our environmental problems. So grab your buckets and together, we can achieve far greater impact for the betterment of our planet. 💚

Ready to start your composting journey? Shop truly eco-friendly packaging items here or use the code BOKA0202 to order your Bokashi Compost for the Future Kit here!

Written by Wynona Magnaye, Illustration by Joanne Arnante