The Hollard JUMA team have been cleaning up the Braamfontein Spruit with the help of Bokashi Balls for the last few years, and are now looking for more people to get involved.
Made from a mixture of clay, dried sludge, and microorganisms, these little balls are like probiotics for the ecosystem. They can help increase the balance of beneficial bacteria in the water, inhibit algae and water odour, and allow plant and animal life to flourish.
Furthermore, Bokashi Balls are simple to make and use. One would only are a few key ingredients and a free afternoon to roll their own. Once completed,
the balls can be dropped or thrown into q local lake or riverbed to work.
• 1kg of Bokashi Bran
• 2 litres of Activated Effective Microorganisms (EM)
• 15 litres (one bucket) of dried sludge from a lake or riverbed
• 500 grams of clay or bentonite
Combine all of the ingredients into a big, doughy mixture and then divvy it out into tennis-ball-sized portions. If the mixture feels too runny, just add more clay –the texture should feel like bread dough. Cover the balls with newspaper and allow to dry and colonise for approximately two weeks, until they are dry, slightly white and fuzzy,
They are best used in a ratio of one ball per one square metre and are a 100% eco-friendly and organic way to keep our local ecosystem healthy for generations to come.
Louise Gordon, EM: Business Development and Stakeholder Management for
Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) comments, “JCPZ is determined to save our natural world in our urban environment with you. Help us to keep it clean, to grow more trees and keep water bodies clean. Bokashi is a simple method you can
use at home to create a cleaner environment.”