Green Genie Home Composters

About

Each year Cape Town produces 2.2 million tons of waste (2kg per person per day) enough to fill a row of trucks equaling the distance from Cape Town to Gauteng.

All waste thrown away into a black bin/bag is transported to one of the overflowing landfill sites in CT. To make additional landfill will now cost us R1,5 – R2 billion and to close and rehabilitate the existing ones will cost R800 million.

Throwing away mixed waste – biodegradable with non-biodegradable – produces a toxic liquid, leachate, which poisons groundwater and creates greenhouse gasses.

More and more people are wanting to conserve re-usable materials  and grow their own veggies as well.

Why have your food waste removed and taken to a landfill dump site where it will very likely become covered over and eventually emit methane gas  – which as a greenhouse gas is more harmful than carbon dioxide?

Composting your home and garden green wastes fit in with nature’s cycles.

Features

The Green Genie has been designed without holes allowing sufficient airflow. The Green Genie generates heat and moisture is retained in the bin and avoids the contents drying out. This has been a common problem with compost bins. This environment stimulates the growth of aerobic bacteria and creates an ecosystem prefect for composting. Your Green Genie needs a warm, moist environment so sprinkling with water every now and then keeps the compost moist.

The lid of the bin has a lock alignment system similar to a child’s medicine bottle making it difficult for animals to open especially Baboons.

Under the bin lid is a pouch for insect repellent balls or pellets. We do not recommend using this function as we do not recommend putting in meat products and dairy and so no flies.

On the outside bottom of the bin is a slide cover so that you can easily remove your compost with a spade.

The green genie has a capacity of 150ltr so will take quite a while for an average size home to fill. The Green Genie will take approx 4 months to fill for an average home of 4 people. This includes grass cuttings etc…

An average home produces around 2kg of waste to compost each day. However once decomposed this waste is equivalent to around 300 grams.

The specifications are diameter 650mm x Height 750mm

Getting started

Garden matter
No big branches or heavy twigs they will not break up.  Use grass cuttings and leaves from the garden that are easily compostable.

Kitchen waste
Keep a 2l ice cream tub or similar container where you prepare food. Your peelings and scrapings go in there until its filled up which requires a trip outside to empty the contents into your Green Genie when full. A useful tip is to fill a quarter of the tub with some water either from bath or shower. This will help soften the scraps and also ensure sufficient moisture in the Green Genie once you have emptied your scraps into the bin from the kitchen.

Maintenance
We recommend using compost accelerator (available from nurseries and hardwares) at the start and every so often thereafter, the accelerator should be an organic accelerator. This accelerator is basically billions of microbes to get things started. This helps break down the raw material quicker. Also a sprinkling of lime fairly frequently to keep it ‘sweet’ .

Keep a check on your compost’s wet/dry composition.  If it’s too wet then throw shredded leaves into the bin periodically. If the bin is too dry add some water and make sure you are putting in enough household waste ie green’s. The consistency you want is moist not wet.

Do not over wet the contents of your bin or pour more than a sprinkling of water. A quick spray once a week or so in summer is all that’s required. Don’t fork it over or compact it down. Just let it build up layer by layer.  The secret to good compost is a variety of organic matter in a damp, warm, dark setting left to allow nature’s microbes and specialist decomposers to do their own good work undisturbed.

Use a small spade or rake or trowel or stick to turn the compost when you can feel heat is generated.

After a few months, slide out the small door at the bottom and remove the compost and start watching your plants grow beautifully.

WE CAN ALL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

Price

Order through us at a discounted rate of R490 incl VAT. Delivery can be arranged at a fee depending on your area in Cape Town. To order please email us at admin@capecontours.co.za or call us on 021 788 1202.