Science Expo 2014Scientific report

Which kitchen waste is the best for decomposing using the

Bokashi bran?

Jenna UnsworthGrade 8v

Final decomposed buckets

Question/Problem:

Which kitchen waste is the best for decomposing using the Bokashi bran?

I am investigating whether all types of kitchen waste will fully decompose and form mould.

Hypothesis:My hypothesis is that the fruit and vegetable matter will decompose the fastest. The carbohydrates group (bread, rice and cereals etc. will be second best followed by the poultry and meat group and lastly the dairy group.

Hypothesis diagram:

A. FruitAnd

Vegetables

B. BreadAnd Rice

C. Meat And

Bacon

D. Cheese And

Yoghurt

Introduction:

In this project I am trying to see which kitchen waste decomposes the fastest and/or the most. I wanted to do this project as I did not know much about how food waste decomposes. Kitchen waste is very big problem that appears everyday! People do not know what to do with their kitchen waste and it just ends up rotting in their dustbins! It then goes from their dustbin to landfills and causes more problems.One of my mom’s friends, Gareth Sparg, sells the Bokashi bran product.

Aim:

My aim is to see if you can decompose all types of kitchen waste

and which one can decomposes the fastest.

Bokashi Bran Product

Compost Information

(This information was collected from Wikipedia) .

Composting above groundAs mentioned Bokashi Boost is optimal if buried under the soil in your garden. However your Bokashi mix also works really well in an above ground or traditional system. Simply place your fermented Bokashi Boost food mix directly into your compost bin - this will speed up your composting process by about 50%.

Why not just bury it?•You may have run out of room in your garden to bury your Bokashi Boost.•You may be short on time or motivation and just want to toss your Bokashi Boost mix onto a compost heap.

CarbonThis provides heat and comes from matter that is often dry and brown such as dead leaves, straw, bush trimmings etc. The trick is not to use too much of this stuff or it will take years to break down.

OxygenRemember that Bokashi Boost is an anaerobic process which is why we use a sealed bucket. However if you are creating an above ground system you will need to turn your compost heap regularly to get some oxygen into the mix.

Apparatus:Equipment:•8 Bokashi buckets/ ice-cream buckets work too.•3x700g Bokashi mix.•3x even amounts of mixed fruit and vegetables.•3x even amounts of carbohydrates (brown and white bread cereal).•3x even amounts of protein (beef and bacon)•3x dairy (cheese and yoghurt).•200ml before you add waste and 200mlk after you add waste.

There are no numeral measurements.

Leftover fruit and vegetable

What has to be added to the waste?

Only the Bokashi mix was added to help the waste decompose.

A1; A2; A3: fruit and vegetables B1; B2; B3: bread and cerealC1; C2; C3: beef and chickenD1; D2; D3: cheese and yoghurt \/

Group A: fruit and vegetables

Group B: bread and cereal

Group C: meat and bacon

Group D: cheese and yoghurt

Method: To prepare: •Get 12 ice cream tubs.•Clean and rinse the buckets.•Label them accordingly (A1;A2;A3_B1;B2;B3_C1;C2;C3_D1;D2;D3).•Add 200ml of Bokashi Bran to each of the 12 buckets.•Separate each group of kitchen waste.•Add the waste.•Add 200ml of Bokashi Bran on the top of the waste.•Put the lids on and make sure that they are correctly closed.•Take notes every Sunday on: temperature; date; day; time; the number of weeks it has been fermenting and the changes to the waste. Repeat for 4 weeks.

Before added into buckets

Variables:

Adding Bokashi bran

Boxes

Science Expo: startSunday 23-03-14

26 Degrees Celsius3:35pm

Fruit and vegetable

Bread and cereal

Beef and bacon

Cheese and yoghurt

A1 B1 C1 D1A2 B2 C2 D2A3 B3 C3 D3

Group C

Group B

Buckets Results A: fruit and vegetable

A small amount of decomposing (1/4). White mould has appeared. Very slight smell has come.

B: bread and cereal

A very small amount of decomposing. No smell.

C: meat and bacon

Small amount of decomposing. White mould (1/4). No smell.

D: cheese and yoghurt

No decomposing. Pungent smells.

Science Expo: 1Sunday 02-03-1426 Degrees Celsius5:45

Buckets ResultsA: fruit and vegetable

Very much white decomposing mould. Slight smell.

B:bread and cereal Varies in size of mould from almost not to almost everything covered. No smell.

C: meat and bacon Yellow and white fluffy mould. No smell. Some condensation.

D:cheese and yoghurt

Very small amounts of strange coloured mould. Maggots! Pungent smell.

Science Expo: 2Sunday9-03-1422 Degrees Celsius19:00

Buckets Results A: fruit and vegetable

Fully covered with white mould. Very slight smell.

B: bread and cereal Very much decomposing. No smell.

C: meat and bacon White and brown mould. Everything is covered. Slight smell.

D: cheese and yoghurt

Half decomposed. Very weird colours (green, blue, red). Pungent smell. Maggots!

Science Expo: 3Sunday16-03-1426 Degrees Celsius11:40 am

Buckets Results A: fruit and vegetable

Everything is decomposed. No smell.

B: bread and cereal Almost everything is decomposed. B1 is the best buckets in the whole experiment. No smell.

C: meat and bacon Light brown and white mould. Some smell.

D: cheese and yoghurt

Different colours of decomposing matter. Maggots. Bad smell.

Science Expo: 4 and finalSunday23-03-1424 Degrees Celsius8:40 am

Bucket (in order)

Comments

B: bread and cereal

The bread and cereal group decomposed the most and the best as well as forming the most condensation.

A: fruit and vegetable

The fruit and vegetable was very close but not all of the 3 buckets decomposed fully.

C: meat and bacon

Even though the mould was a very strange colour, there was a large amount of mould.

D: cheese and yoghurt

There was quite a bit of decomposing which I thought was quite surprising, but 2 of the 3 buckets had maggots so that means it did not work.

.

Bibliography:The information that I got of the internet was from:•Wikipedia•www.palmtrees.com•What is Bokashi?

I also received a large amount of general information from my mom’s friend, Gareth Sparg.

Acknowledgments: I would like to thank:•My mom and dad for helping me collect kitchen waste.•My mom’s friend, Clare Gaze, for kindly asking the Waffle House, Ramsgate to supply me with ice cream tubs.•My mom for helping me take and upload photos and for buying me all my stationary and Bokashi bran buckets.

084 581 2682.

The final Bokashi bran buckets