Bokashi vs Composting

[somanypenpals]

Bokashi seems like an interesting composting method, and it's clear we should be trying to reduce the CO2 we add to the air, but this advertisement makes both of those views look crazy. The natural decomposition of plants typically involves aerobic reactions and the release of CO2, and this is nothing to worry about.

[TBI888]

this is just marketing. he just wants to sell his products

[Blinkation]

this guy just want to sell you he's product, half of what he say is just not true...

composting happens in nature all the time just a lot slower and produce the exact same amount of co2..

bokashi is cool, but way too much high maintenance for something that supposed to be simple.

and it has no nutrient advantage over compost.

[highskilledsibby]

Turning the compostpile only makes the compost ready faster. When you have enough brown stuff for gas exchange in your pile you don't need to turn it. People need to understand that this guy wants to sell microbes to people who don't need them...

[uNcOOleBS]

FYI zobcity01, trees don't "omit" CO2, they convert CO2 to O2, which is the oxygen that we breathe smart guy.

[zobcity01]

what a mindless meloncoly puppet that decievs ppl. co2 is a worldwide Natural element in all compostings and fermenting. always has been since the plant elements were created. so you logic is a lie at its best spin! trees omit co2 when the sun rays leave them, so you have NO answer for the trillions of trees and plants that cause this Supposed greenhousr gas. you are absolutley unbelievable!

[JXZjeremy]

@zobcity01

Thats not entirely true. Many natural elements emit c02 yes,and decaying organic matter is one one them. but plants do not, plants absorb c02 and emit o2. This is how oxygen can to be on our planet hundreds of millions of years ago. The air was muuuch more made of c02 and planets began to absorb that and emit o2.

[SpencahD]

Argue that making soil is pollution ay? Did you figure in the 'carbon offset' of any greenie that grows in this evil compost?

[gotmegud]

By my understanding, the bokashi process requires an air tight container so that no other contaminants may enter. This said, it is impossible for the bokashi cycle to happen under wet leaves.Throwing your question back at you, where can we find this in nature? As for composting, this process happens under wet leaves, dead matter, etc. Furthermore, turning the pile does not make it a man made process. In nature, walking animals and critters do the turning by walking through the piles of leaves.

[gotmegud]

how can you say that composting is not a natural process?? please check your information before you share them. btw, if you don't want to produce CO2 then stop breathing.

[mmuchnick]

@gotmegud

Many people get very emotional about this issue but does not change the fact that composting is a man-made process that simply does not occur naturally in nature. By piling up, oxidizing, and continuously turning a pile with the proper mix of C:N it is possible to decompose organic matter. Find one example except for man where this occurs naturally. Anaerobic fermentation in the lake bottoms, under wet leaves, etc. is the norm.

[SpencahD]

@mmuchnick Composting Occurs in nature, or did someone genetically engineer the guys that do it? As for CO2, Have you no idea what photosynthesis is? and fermentation produces co2 (a lie at 1:20) or have you never heard of Alcohol?

You lie, and your lab coat doesn't hide the lobbiest who paid your grant.

Compost is a synthetic phenomena? CO2 produced by rotten food is pollution? Call me emotional if you wish, CO2 keeps you alive.

Fool.

[SpencahD]

One more thing, Regolith - did you pass geology? All good soil, all soil for that matter, contains water and air. The lack of turning simply extends the phenomenon. Turning by a human facilitates the process, kind of like husbandry, man did not invent compost, he discovered it and perfected an environment for this natural occurance.

Anerobic fermentation produces CO2, and so do you.

[pawnjp]

@mmuchnick

Here's two.

" The mound builders are fowl-sized birds named for the nests of huge compost heaps of leaf litter (these mounds can be in use for more than 40 years), which they build for their eggs. Pairs form life-long bonds and work feverishly to maintain the correct, almost exact, incubation temperature, by adding and removing leaves from the compost pile."

"A female crocodile will build a big compost nest, which can be quite large, a metre or two high."

[pawnjp]

@mmuchnick

Oh yeah, and anaerobic fermentation ie. lake bottoms and saturated leaves produces enormous amounts of methane, which is approximately 21 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.

I'm not against bokashi fermenting at all, it's just that you discredit yourself when you use incorrect information.

[pierewiet200]

@mmuchnick

I compost by putting everything compostable on a pile. I don't turn or anything and after a year I put it where I need it. Also, I just throw foodscraps in between my plants. If you wat to call that 'Bokashi; that is fine

[Forckbeard]

@mmuchnick

Say this Crocodiles they ust compost to breed their eggs in it

[musiceuphony]

@mmuchnick This is based on a narrow definition of composting - only hot composting. A large pile of leaves can achieve hot composting by itself and in time what was not hot composted (the outsides) will also decompose into a compost.

I am interested in the claims of no gas emissions and this method has me intrigued, though the claim about compost being unnatural made me cringe a bit.

[steamboat28]

@mmuchnick I disagree completely. The turning and fine-tuning of compost piles are man-made additions, but composting itself is a very natural process. If one does not turn a compost pile, it essentially undergoes the same degradation and decomposition processes that one would find on a forest floor.

[daikaiju20]

@gotmegud my favorite fermentation involves producing lots of ethanol and especially lots of co² (º_º ) simply yeast and sugar.... guess that has been occuring since fungi were created....

[zobcity01]

your message is about lost in bias of issues that are ingermane to reality. Just look at ALL the volcanoes spewing billions of tons of the things you are worried about that supposedly hurt your mother earth. Planet earh i is slated to be incinerated because of sins, so your earthly concerns are futile in scope outside of basic manipulation of elements for the short waltz you have on it..

[MichaelEAConn]

I'm keen to understand more about the environmental impact of my home Bokashi (fermenting) vs my mother's outdoor composting.

As I understand it, I'll have less of an environmental impact with my Bokashi at home as the gases it produces will be less due to a different breaking down process.

utubebokashicyclellc and HomeworkHelper1, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.

[utubebokashicyclellc]

Hi Michael,

Unfortunately HomeworkHelper1 needs to do more homework and persists in spreading a myth regarding methane production. Acidic anaerobic fermentation which is bokashi fermenting produces ZERO methane. You are putting nearly 100% of the carbon back to soil compared to 50% or less by composting and by anaerobically under acidic conditions you are not producing but a trace of carbon dioxide (formed transiently with aerobic microbes with each opening of the system). No heat either!

[utubebokashicyclellc]

@MichaelEAConn

You are correct. Bokashi fermenting is far more better relative to composting. It is technically an acidic anaerobic fermentation process as opposed to composting which is an oxidizing process. No methane is produced. Carbon dioxide and other green house gas emissions are eliminated and there is no heat produced. It also conserves water and returns to the soil 2x the carbon relative to composting.

[HomeworkHelper1]

Fermentation causes the release of methane, though but the CO2 released through proper composting is readily absorbed by vegetation.

[utubebokashicyclellc]

HomeworkHelper1

You should do your homework. Methane gas is only produced at neutral pH by methanogens which can not produce any methane with bokashi fermentation. The bokashi fermentation occurs at pH 4 - 5 and methanogens can not produce any gas. The argument about CO2 absorbed by vegetation is silly. It is a rate of production issue far exceeding photosynthetic uptake that is heating up the planet. I hope people know a little more chemistry than you have shown.

[HomeworkHelper1]

There has still to be any irrefutable proof that any climate change occurring now is the result of human activities, and these scientists have conflicting data. And it has been documented for decades, if not centuries that plants breathe in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. That is how they go through their cellular respiration, and we obtain oxygen as their waste product, and as far as this thing about exceeding photosynthesis, a yard produces enough oxygen for several people.

[utubebokashicyclellc]

It appears you are missing the point and failing to grasp the basics in chemistry. It really doesn't matter who you want to blame for carbon dioxide's effect on climate. It is just a simple fact that increasing amounts of carbon dioxide will increase temperature effects. This will have a great impact on all living things and on the weather. Produce less and things are better. The rate of carbon dioxide production is the problem. If you ferment, it all goes to the ground as carbon.

[HomeworkHelper1]

Not true, with fermentation, as I have looked up, lactic acid is formed, and it can not be used by organisms, and leaks CO2 into the air, believe it or not the ground releases gases. Proper composting also increases microbiological activity in the soil. And seeing as all life on Earth is carbon based, that means a lot of the carbon is put into the soil in the form of bacteria and fungi. And these global warming scammers said in the 90s how CFCs caused global warming. Now they claim they don't.

[utubebokashicyclellc]

HomeworkHelper1

Sorry...your statements carry no weight. Please talk to someone who understands a little more chemistry. You demonstrate true ignorance on the subject. I have 40 years research experience, a PhD in Chemistry, and have worked with microbes extensively. I wish I knew how to motivate you to become more knowledgeable about this subject. It is impossible to have an intelligent conversation as you don't understand the subject. You need to let go and move forward.

[zxsyjean]

@utubebokashicyclellc Hi, thanks for the comment. though you didnt explain why you refuted the claim,your degree speaks in itself. I have made aware of bokashi method just today and its good thing that I can weigh things out before trying to experiment or swallow things that I see and hear. Jean from Phil.

[brjones125]

First the temperature rises, then the CO2 emmisions increase. Not the other way around. The "other way around" is the lie of man made "global warming."

[1too3fore]

If you add a cover to the compost pile, you get no CO2 off of it.  Composting allows you to harvest the energy produced, too. Fermentation doesn't produce free energy. Think about cows, they produce much more gas than all the compost piles in the world. you produce gases, too, my friend. think about 6 billion of us producing methane gases. your compost argument doesn't add anything to the conversation.