Here are more green ideas that my colleagues and I at HortPark would like to share with you… If you grow banana plants at home, why not harvest a few leaves to use as environmentally-friendly food receptacles instead of plastic ones? By doing this we can reduce the amount of waste generated whenever we have get-togethers or refreshments after company seminars or meetings. If there is a large crowd expected, one can consider buying stacks of banana leaves all cut to size from stalls in the wet market at Little India.
Kitchen scraps from plants such as vegetable clippings which are normally discarded can be used to make compost. Lately, vermi-composting is becoming a popular recycling method in Singapore. The product, Can-O-Worms (COW), is imported from Australia and marketed by Greenback Pte Ltd in Singapore. The COW kit is the black, stackable drum-like wormery which is small enough to fit into any household in Singapore (shown in the picture below).
The COW is a worm-driven recycling system designed for use inside the home. The scraps left over from preparing a meal are put into the COW where they are eaten by compost worms which live there. When done properly, the system is completely odourless and hygienic. As the scraps are eaten, they are converted to vermicast. Vermicast is an amazing product for stimulating healthy plant growth. The COW has a collector tank beneath where excess liquid is collected. This is vermicast solution and can be diluted 10 times and used as a very beneficial leaf spray. Vermicast solution will often cure fungal infestations and act as a deterrent to airborne pests and diseases.
Fruit skins can also be converted into environmentally-friendly detergent. The making of botanical detergents have also caught up in Singapore and one can make theirs using discarded fruit remains, brown sugar and water. The mixture is allowed to ferment and enzymes released during the process is said to be very efficient for cleaning chores at home. This can potentially reduce the use of synthetic detergents globally! Gardeners have also reported that such botanical enzymes are good to deter or eradicate small infestations of pests such as aphids on our garden plants! Refer to this website for more information and following the steps on how you can make your own botanical enzyme detergent at home.
