"The Last Frontier of Recycling:" Vokashi’s Sustainable Solution to Food Waste

Many food-aficionados will agree that when it comes to sustainability, Brooklyn is paving the way with innovations in a number of important areas.  Rooftop farms, community gardens, urban reclamation – the list goes on, with new and exciting projects appearing every day, seemingly out of the blue!  

There is one area, however, that until recently has been relatively  uncharted by the food revolution: the realm of organic food waste, more commonly known as household garbage.  This is where Vandra comes in.  

Early-60’s, sprightly, and beaming with exuberance, Vandra’s busy energy is contagious, spreading to me as soon as she greets me for our interview one Sunday afternoon in Fort Hamilton.  Not the kind of enthusiasm one would expect of a woman whose job revolves around the waste of others.

She is carrying a rake, several green buckets (which might as well have been filled with lead) and some tarps, and quickly leads me through the apartment building on  Ocean Parkway to theyard behind, one of the composting sites established  by her company, Vokashi.

The concept, which Vandra has taken and turned into an award-winning business plan is remarkably simple.  Vokashi employs a traditional Japanese method of fermenting organic matter, bokashi.  The two-step process eliminates the vast majority of odors associated with collecting food waste, and greatly accelerates decomposition when it is planted in the ground..  With a little bit of streamlining, Vandra was able to develop a service around the idea of bokashi, Vokashi.  For the first time, New Yorkers have a service that helps them collect food scraps in their homes and take to dedicated composting sites.

The secret of fermenting food waste  is in the pickle bran.  Inoculated with a number of micro-organisms called an EM solution, which includes 3 natural bacteria, lactic acid, yeast, and molasses, the bran is a brilliant consumer.  As the food waste  ferments via the added yeast, the beneficial bacteria, nursed on the sugar of the molasses, it staves off the decay of the organic matter. No decay, no smells, no bugs and no pathogens.

Fermented food waste decomposes in the soil with remarkable speed.  Bones and corncobs, dairy and starches generally not used in  other composting methods, easily decompose.  Before my eyes, Vandra demonstrates, picking a  cob from the composting trench, still whole, and rolling it lightly between her hands.  Immediately the cob begins to break into smaller pieces, and after several minutes, only the dust remains.

The site at Ocean Parkway, a trench about 6 feet in length, located in the building’s thin rear-yard, is hardly an eyesore.  Once a month, the trench is fed a new batch of fermenting food waste, turned over, then covered with leaves, where it lies decomposing, effectively obscured from view.  The clandestine nature of the compost pile is enough to silence any critics who might speak out against Vokashi’s aesthetic merits – it’s as good as invisible.  

The cost for the Vokashi service is $40 a month, and includes delivery of fermenting  materials (an airtight bucket  and a bag of pickle bran),  pickup of full buckets, and planting in dedicated composting sites.  For the convenience of this conservation, the fee is well worth the money.  

The average New Yorker produces nearly 1. 3 tons of waste per year.  The knowledge that you are actively working against this trend to recycle your waste is worth the price, if not more.  Composting should be like recycling bottles or paper, only there’s not enough money in research and development yet to make that an inexpensive reality. 

Maybe if someone took notice of Vandra’s efforts with Vokashi, in five years we might be on track to reverse some crippling trends in our waste management.