| Pages:
1
2 |
bajateresa
Junior Nomad
Posts: 25
Registered: 11-16-2007
Member Is Offline
|
|
environmentally sound food waste disposal
Hi all,
Here at Posada Concepcion, a camp of about 60 homes south of Mulege, a group of us is hoping to introduce basic recycling and raw-vegetable waste
composting this year. As for other things we eat, many of us who fish either put out the fish-cleaning residue parts, shrimp shells, etc on a deserted
part of our beach for the seagulls to eat OR take that waste out to sea and dump it overboard.
Some are now wondering if the inedible parts of cooked chicken or meat can be disposed of in the same way. Wd this food waste decompose in the sea or
be beneficial in any way to the organisms and creatures that live there? Obviously we do not want to use Bahia Concepcion as a dump; we are looking
only for ways to divert food waste, which constitutes about 25% of all trash, from the open-air garbage mound across the highway.
We welcome advice from all you marine biologists and composters out there and will not do anything until and unless we hear sound arguments in favor
of this approach. All suggestions for alternative methods of disposing of raw and cooked food waste is welcome. (Note: So far we haven't found any pig
farmers in our area who want our scraps.) Thank you!
|
|
|
Diver
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4729
Registered: 11-15-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
Most of our food scraps go to our chickens.
Fence the area and build a layer and your scraps will turn to eggs ! 
|
|
|
mtgoat666
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 20371
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
Mood: Hot n spicy
|
|
don't throw your waste in the bay, it just floats back up on somebodies beach.
compost your green waste.
recycle what you can.
quit the burning/open pit disposal of trash. step into 21st century and learn how to bury your wastes. modern sanitary fill should have daily
covering of waste so vectors are not eating it, wind is not distributing it.
|
|
|
toneart
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4901
Registered: 7-23-2006
Member Is Offline
Mood: Skeptical
|
|
Chicken wastes and other animal and fish parts are consumed by vultures, seagull and even dogs. They are also biodegradable. It's all organic! That is
only a dirty concept to wingnuts and we all know the intelligence or lack thereof, therein.
|
|
|
vgabndo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3461
Registered: 12-8-2003
Location: Mt. Shasta, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Checking-off my bucket list.
|
|
Compost is beautiful! You can put almost anything but meat into it. In the working side of my two bins each shovel full must have 30-50 big healthy
worms. I layer-in some cow manure and occasional chicken manure to keep it working. If it cools down I sometimes hype it up with enough manure tea to
soak it good.
By the last frost next year I'll have another 500 pounds of rich organic fertilizer. Free.
I had more, bigger, and earlier tomatoes than anyone on the block this year. ZERO chemicals. When I can the Early Girls, I get about 8 pints of sauce
from 15 lbs. I've already canned three times and there have to be 30 pounds on the vines right now. The cherry tomatoes we cut in half and dehydrate.
Thats a 12' x 15' patch. COMPOST!
We recycle "religiously". Each week we have one 13 gallon bag of waste for the landfill, and each month we have one 30 gallon bag of tin, aluminum,
and plastic for pick-up by the sheltered workshop crew.
I wish I had a source of seaweed! You guys are lucky.
Good luck with your worthy project.
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
|
|
|
toneart
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4901
Registered: 7-23-2006
Member Is Offline
Mood: Skeptical
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by vgabndo
Compost is beautiful! You can put almost anything but meat into it. In the working side of my two bins each shovel full must have 30-50 big healthy
worms. I layer-in some cow manure and occasional chicken manure to keep it working. If it cools down I sometimes hype it up with enough manure tea to
soak it good.
By the last frost next year I'll have another 500 pounds of rich organic fertilizer. Free.
I had more, bigger, and earlier tomatoes than anyone on the block this year. ZERO chemicals. When I can the Early Girls, I get about 8 pints of sauce
from 15 lbs. I've already canned three times and there have to be 30 pounds on the vines right now. The cherry tomatoes we cut in half and dehydrate.
Thats a 12' x 15' patch. COMPOST!
We recycle "religiously". Each week we have one 13 gallon bag of waste for the landfill, and each month we have one 30 gallon bag of tin, aluminum,
and plastic for pick-up by the sheltered workshop crew.
I wish I had a source of seaweed! You guys are lucky.
Good luck with your worthy project. |
That's good, Vgabndo! I tried to have a compost up here in No. California, in the mountains. It attracted bears and raccoons and bad neighbors' dogs.
Even a fence around it wouldn't keep the bears from it.
|
|
|
vgabndo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3461
Registered: 12-8-2003
Location: Mt. Shasta, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Checking-off my bucket list.
|
|
This guy was through the back yard so many times this summer that you can clearly see the path! He walked through the fence so many times I just left
the boards on the ground. He never bothered the compost, and preferred the blackberries over the raspberries which was fine with me. The neighborhood
named him Henry! The racoons stir stuff up a little, but their big irritation is their dining at the Koi pond!
My attack cat, Tillie, keeps the dogs on the run...really.
Gardening and grand daughters...life is sweet.
[Edited on 10-18-2010 by vgabndo]
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
|
|
|
capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sling time!
|
|
"covering of waste so vectors are not eating it"
WTF is a vector? it eats trash?
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
|
|
Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
Member Is Offline
Mood: undecided
|
|
'Vectors" is the last name of their next door neighbors.
|
|
|
vgabndo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3461
Registered: 12-8-2003
Location: Mt. Shasta, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Checking-off my bucket list.
|
|
Vector
In pathology. An organism, such as a mosquito or tick, that carries disease-causing microorganisms from one host to another.
There you go flyboy. Probably used incorrectly as originally posted.
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
|
|
|
DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
|
|
WOW....A pilot asking, "What is a vector." 
|
|
|
Martyman
Super Nomad
Posts: 1904
Registered: 9-10-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
I think cooked chicken or meat can be thrown overboard. Fishermen use it for bait in crab traps. As long as it is small amounts. Dump it at
different places-shouldn't be a problem.
|
|
|
bajabass
Super Nomad
Posts: 2016
Registered: 10-4-2006
Location: La Paz,BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: Want to fish!!!
|
|
Possibly vermin? Vector Control is for skeeters and such pests. Rats, possums,
racoons, mice are vermin.
Keep your eyes on the road, and your hands upon the wheel!
|
|
|
BajaDanD
Senior Nomad
Posts: 745
Registered: 8-30-2003
Member Is Offline
|
|
Whats your Vector Victor
|
|
|
bajateresa
Junior Nomad
Posts: 25
Registered: 11-16-2007
Member Is Offline
|
|
environmentally sound food waste disposal
thanks for the responses -- they've helped to inititate more discussions internally on the topic.
re our dump, we are constrained by the fact that the Mexican family who owns our camp is in charge of garbage disposal. some of us are now talking
about offering to pay an add'l premium to encourage burying the waste. our primary plan is to reduce what is going over to the dump via recycling and
composting.
also, while the idea of chickens is appealing, it wd be difficult to maintain a coop when the residents of our camp come and go a great deal, and few
people are here during the summer. it wd also be challenging to identify a space within our camp that no one wd object to for various reasons.
thanks again for the ideas and comments. pls keep 'em coming as you think of them!
|
|
|
Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
Member Is Offline
Mood: undecided
|
|
Someone in the area that raises hogs would probably take it all off your hands to feed their hogs.
|
|
|
ecomujeres
Nomad
Posts: 299
Registered: 9-10-2006
Location: Mulege, BCS & Oakland, CA
Member Is Offline
|
|
OK, I have way more than my 2 pesos worth to add. It comes in two parts too!
1. Look into buying or creating a composting bin(s) that can be made from a 50 gallon drum with lid, turned on its side, mounted on a stand and with
a mechanism to rotate it. Look on the internet for ideas. The drum can be plastic or metal and has aeration holes cut into it covered with coarse
mesh. Regular turning of the compost is easy on all the backs (young or old) involved.
The advantages of this type of system in the desert environment includes:
* It keeps it up and away from rodents, those vectors everyone has been joking about.
* It keeps it out of the salt pan that is what makes up most of the yards at Posada C. Salt inhibits organisms that aid in decomp. When we composted
at Playa Punta Arena for more than 10 years, we did it back away from the salt flats on sandy, well-drained soil. Unfortunately, we didn't have the
spinning drum, though we would have loved to have had one.
* It can easily be watered and turned.
You might also want to look into some other designs, especially medium-sized ones if a large number of people want to be involved, though you can
start with small "units" and add as you go and succeed.
Talk to people at NOLS at Coyote Beach. They have a commercial composting toilet, but I believe they also deal with a large amount of food waste.
2. Use graywater from the kitchen or other sources for watering the pile. Watering is an important component of successful decomp in a dry, desert
environment. Gray water also adds bacteria and organisms that can help with decomp. You can also add some sargassum sea weed to the mix. Diluted
urine too. Lots of books and online resources on these topics.
3. We always found it challenging to find sources of dried organic matter, like leaves, to add to our mix. Use garden debris, such as palm coire,
bougainvillea and other ornamental leaves (avoid any with milky, toxic saps like oleander or euphorbias). Collect it from your neighbors. Straw is
good but avoid sawdust, as this can take years to fully decompose.
4. Manure is available in the valley from a number of ranchers, such as the dairy. We never were able to find manure worms in the horse manure
though. Always too dry by the time we got to it. But they must be around somewhere! A few worms certainly do aid in composting and will multiply in
temperate weather. You can also collect damp or dried cowpats from the desert (break up and soak if needed before adding).
There is not as wide a variety of insect decomposers in the desert, where termites and ants are the principal workers. If you can stand ants, let
them be in the pile. A properly moist and moved pile though, is less attractive to ants taking up residence and laying eggs there, which is when they
can become problematic. We saw mostly sow bugs, which are consumers of dead and decaying vegetable matter, and ants in our piles. Never saw
scorpions, centipedes, rodents or snakes, but…
5. Meat, bones and cheese CAN be composted, but it takes more time and has to be done in small amounts. Citrus is also not good as it tends to start
to ferment and get unpleasantly smelly really fast. We dried peels in the sun and burned them in the campfire.
If the pile smells bad, then it’s too much of something wet/meaty etc and not enough material to absorb and keep the pile aerated. That goes for
anything added in excess, where anaerobic conditions can set in. Add more dry organic material and wait to add more of the meat/bones/cheese/offending
items.
Composting these items is usually discouraged in cities because it can attract rodents (mice, rats, racoons). However, the above type of compost bin,
or one completely made of about ¼” sized hardware cloth (sides AND bottom) will keep out desert rodents. Needs a good lid/cover to keep it from
drying out and animals getting into it. Again, just don’t have it right on the salt pan, or the bottom will be rusted out shortly and no beneficial
insects will want to be there.
6. Turkey vultures prefer freshly dead animals and will likely ignore bones and such once they’ve dried out a bit or get too ripe. How many people
have seen piles of dead fish or animal parts out in the dumps that just smell bad and are untouched? Bones that have been well-cooked, like when
making broth, that get softened, are much easier on the compost pile.
OK. More to add on the recycling issue next post.
|
|
|
ecomujeres
Nomad
Posts: 299
Registered: 9-10-2006
Location: Mulege, BCS & Oakland, CA
Member Is Offline
|
|
(P)recycling
Precycling should be at the heart of any good recycling and composting plan. It is, unfortunately one that most people don’t really want to think
about since we want all of our cherished amenities right here while we are in Baja.
Precycling entails thought. Thought about what you buy and about what the product comes packaged in. And if the packaging is recyclable, biodegradable
or reuseable. And thought about whether you really need it if it is not environmentally friendly.
Think about all the packing that comes with the stuff we buy at places like Costco, where everything is individually packaged, then packed again into
a larger “lot”. All the plastic drink bottles. The plastic vegetable bags that we get new with each visit to the grocer, use once and throw away. All
the plastic wrapped food items, cans…
Think about if you want to leave all that junk in Baja, to blow out to sea, to end up killing sea turtles, to ensnare marine animals or birds, to get
caught up in cacti and to basically create the unsightly situations that many of us complain about.
Think about where you live in the North and whether you have curbside recycling or any type of recycling. The chances of recycling programs becoming
available in the next 5-10 years to deal with most of the stuff we can recycle in the North, is unlikely. There just isn’t a market for it, at least
not in the central Baja area.
Then think about packing a lot of that recyclable garbage home with you.
Like campers in wilderness areas, we have done this for years in Baja. We are two people, thoughtful about what we buy, use and reuse. After 6 months
in Mulege, each spring we take home our recyclables, crushed and packed into the space of about 1.5 orange boxes. We also take home non-recylable
items that we don’t want to see left out in the desert but that can go out with our trash in the North.
My suggestion for a recycling program would be:
* Think a lot about what you do every day, what you use and how you want to impact positively or negatively the environment. Be creative.
* Precycle, reducing the amount of waste to be generated in the first place. This includes never buying foam or plastic plates and cups. Stick with
paper, which is burnable/biodegradable. Beer and soda in returnable bottles.
* Reuse any plastic bags as many times as you can. Stop getting new ones as much as possible.
* Reuse any other items as possible: glass jars, bottles, cans.
* Avoid any foam plates or containers for take out food. Take your own containers. We have our carnitas box and our pozole/birria jars at hand most
of the time.
* Invest in some cloth shopping bags. You can teach other people by example. If you do end up with plastic shopping bags, it should only be to use
as garbage bags for the little leftover amount that has to go to the basurero for burning/burial. No need to buy garbage bags.
* Burn paper products like TP, boxes, etc in your firepit/place (the impact of air pollution is minimal in comparison to the impact of the waste on
the desert ecosystems). You could also do this with bones and meat.
* Precycle, avoiding excess or non-reusable or biodegradable packaging. Glass, aluminum & metal are OK, plastic is not so good, unless has
long-term reuse capability. Foam bad, bad, bad.
* All kitchen scraps should go to composting. Paper products, those without heavy inking or shiny coated papers can also be used, once shredded, for
dry, organic material in the compost.
* Encourage local recycling of the items that are accepted, like aluminum cans, car/rv batteries or a variety of metals, by recycling locally.
* Throw out in the garbage only those few items that you can’t deal with otherwise. We prefer disposal at the town dump (Las Plumas) as there is less
likelihood that the items will blow right out to sea with the next north wind.
* Take the rest home.
Suerte with your plans. Feel free to contact me via U2U in the future.
|
|
|
avid
Junior Nomad
Posts: 41
Registered: 7-10-2008
Location: SW Oregon
Member Is Offline
Mood: adventurous
|
|
I have been using the Naturemill for almost a year. For a long time I had gotten away with burying all vegetable matter in the garden. The raccoons, opossums and bears
were done being denied. The NatureMill claims to take any kind of kitchen scraps. We really haven't tested it's ability on meat or fish scraps.
Everything else gets turned into great compost, pronto! It's expensive and I was dubious at first but am no longer. They claim it could be used in
the kitchen but mine lives in the garage. In a way, the thing is really scary how fasts it makes kitchen waste disappear.
avid
Ashland, OR
|
|
|
dtbushpilot
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3296
Registered: 1-11-2007
Location: Buena Vista BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: Tranquilo
|
|
Wow ecomu, you must have a lot of time on your hands........great suggestions though....dt
"Life is tough".....It's even tougher if you're stupid.....
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2 |
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
