Bokashi – and the Art of Apartment Waste Composting

So you are living in one of the many apartments that have been thrown up by builders across Ireland

Like me

You recycle the paper and plastic, but you also want to reduce the amount you are adding to the landfill.

Like me  

Builders should have put in some compost heap with the bin sheds – but of course they didn’t.

So I bought a Bokashi composting system.  Two 17 litre buckets designed to be used in rotation – two weeks worth of kitchen waste – cooked and uncooked, layered with some wheatgerm infused with some bacteria to accelerate the fermentation process.

Yes the wheatgerm did seem to keep down the smells and all was well.  My problem is what to do with it after its spent two weeks being filled up and then two weeks sitting.  The pamphlet suggests digging it into the soil.  Problem is the no garden which inspired me to buy it in the first place.

I rang Wicklow Country Council,  (I’m based in Bray).  Unfortunately they have no where one could bring this ‘brown waste’.

So the question is – does anyone know if Dublin County Council have a spot for this?

Or does anyone have any bright suggestions ?

– aside from going into the Woods and digging it in – risking suspicion of body burying or something

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 References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokashihttp://www.ecoshop.ie/proddetail.asp?prod=1106051658 

Carbon friendly European travel – to fly or to drive?

We’re heading towards Rome next July (from Bray).  We are thinking about driving there with two toddlers in the back seat.  Aside from perhaps it being daft to consign the kids to hours and hours in the car, and us along with them – I’m wondering is it the ‘green’ thing to do?

So I googled Carbon Calculators and came across the one noted below (a)

Its saying 4.5 tonnes for the return trip for the flights.

It is roughly 1890 kilometres
from Dublin (Ireland) to Rome (Italy).
Estimated CO₂e = 4.5 tonnes.

Comparing it to the driving of 4000 km with a 12Litre/100km petrol 1.4 l car, this other calculator site (b) comes up with 1.1 tonnes.  Now that doesn’t include the ferry footprint. Anyone know where that would come in?    Is it better to landbridge over England from Ireland to France, or ferry to France? 

My litre/100km calculation is based on the figures on my car display (which actually averages my consumption to date on the car at 8L/100km average – I’m just erring on the side of caution)

Is it better to stick to motorways from a carbon point of view? 

Any advise from anyone who has made such a trip before?

Geez, its all questions from me.

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(a)http://www.carbonplanet.com/home/shop_flight_emissions_calculator.php?gclid=CLrpj6GU2JECFQltMAod_GSMag 

(b)http://www.btplc.com/ClimateChange/CarbonCalculator/road.cfm