Green Cone

Gem_

I have a dog = digests all cooked meat and veg + a built in rat deterant

Much better than a green cone! I am tempted by a wormery though as I have a small garden so don't have the space for an extra compost heap whilst the other one rots down.

moonrakerz

Cardew wrote: »

Spot on - £7.25 for 3 pack of refills.

I believe they are trialling a belly button fluff recycling machine;) and a twin pack of another machine that recycles toenail clippings(only un-varnished ones)

Ah! thank you for those prices, you obviously have one of these ingenious devices.

I already have one of the belly button fluff recycling machines - excellent it is too. When I have recycled a sufficient quantity (about a 'dumpy' bag full), I can export it to China (by sailing boat, of course) where it will be used to "stuff" green Mickey Mouses (Mice ?) for the Disney Park in Hong Kong !

GuidonTheBee

Well, I've had one working away in the back garden for about the past 15 months but I wouldn't have bought it (I think they were about 60 quid or something) - our council (in Scotland) were selling them for £10. It seems to have taken care of most things & what few bones there have been appear to have gone (Including a large raw organic chicken which was so 'fragrant' it could have probably thrown itself in if asked nicely)

Although just a personal view, I think £10 is worth it for the reduction in smells & increase in cleanliness of our bin. Although the adults in the house dont wate much food, we have 2 kids under 4 so somedays a whole toddler sized tea will go in the cone !! We've gone for months in a row without adding accelerator powder & it seems to work Ok, but I'm sure thats not recommended by the people who sell the powder !

I'm not enough of an expert to properly evaluate their green credentials but as I understand it its supposed to encourage aerobic decomposition of a relatively small amount of food waste which has less environmental impact than anaerobic decomposition in landfill (thus producing methane which I think is a more potent greenhouse gas).

Sometimes I wonder if the most significant environmental benefit for our household is that we're forced to be aware of our food waste & so subconsciously reduce it rather than just binning it

Cardew

GuidonTheBee wrote: »

Sometimes I wonder if the most significant environmental benefit for our household is that we're forced to be aware of our food waste & so subconsciously reduce it rather than just binning it

I think that in a nutshell sums up the advantge of many of the environmental devices and initiatives; they make us environmentally aware.

It is just a pity so many companies are cashing in in the 'Green Hysteria' to make a quick buck.

WannaBeHome

Recyclenow.com have a few alternatives to get rid of meat and bone etc. Haven't got one myself, but the Bokashi Units (£25 for 2) seem reasonably priced and not too big. Not sure if the price of these is subsidised by local councils, but know the normal compost bins on there are (by most West Mids councils anyway).

angelavdavis

OK everyone - sorry for the long post, but here's my horrible experience!!!!

I was very positive about the green cone product until this year. We had 12 months of good composting and lighter (and less smelly) bin bags

I am a very experienced composter, have done so for 20 years. I have four bins and a wormery (they're fab by the way!) BUT I invested in a green cone and, about three months ago, I went to put my latest addition in the cone when I spotted at least 6 rat tails scurrying around inside (yeuch!) :eek: :eek: :eek:

They are not REPEAT NOT!!!! Vermin Free! I suspect the marketing material for these items have changed recently because this was also the impression I had but I can't find the proof now that my green cone has been infested! We hadn't even seen evidence of rats prior to installing the system - else I would have avoided anything like that.
I pointed out the issues I had received and the Local Authority recycling team said:
Green Cone do state that this product should not encourage rats when correctly installed. If you have seen publicity contrary to this, I would be very grateful if you could let me see this too, or direct me to it.
In 20 years of composting, even in London, I have never had rats move in! When I challenged the Local Authority, they said the manufacturer had claimed
"The manufactures have stated to me that while the Green Cone is clearly NOT rat proof, rat invasion is VERY rare. They quoted around 6 known rat problems against around 25,000 cones sold.!
I put a post on here requesting any other feedback from anyone who might have experienced issues as I thought there had been negative feedback previously on MSE but there was little given. I was surprised to hear of this low figure as we followed the installation instructions to the letter and still had problems.
Good drainage is essential because the Green Cone system depends on the upper "chimney" part of the digester sitting above ground, in full sun, heating up the ground cone, thereby expelling hot air from the cone and so drawing air from underground, through the waste in the basket. This air is crucial in allowing biodegradation to occur, which will lessen attractiveness to rats.

Well, didn't work for us - its in the sunniest part of the garden!

If the natural soil is not permeable enough, as most of Hastings appears to be, the system will not work unless a sufficiently large permeable zone has been created for the Green Cone by over-digging the hole and backfilling with permeable material. If degradation is not good enough, the waste will sit and is likely to generate odours that may attract rats. I wonder if this is what has happened here.

The area where the cone is located was near a former gravel path area of the garden, so there is a high level of gravel dug in anyway when we changed the layout of the garden four years ago. In addition, it was part of the original compost heap area of the garden, so the area is free draining.
My opinion - take or leave it - is that the manufacturer has an easy get out clause - you have installed it incorrectly.
Believe me, I wouldn't be writing this long note for any other reason than to say, don't waste your money - I wouldn't wish the experience on anyone else. I was truly horrified that my lovely garden had horrible rats living in it.
Not only did they infest the green cone, but they infested the compost bins (never ever happened before). I have since had to pull out all the compost bins, wormery, etc to line all the area with close metal grills as the rats dug up underground from the green cone to get into them when we stopped "feeding" the cone.
But hungry, the rats then somehow got into the shed and chewed anything and everything to see if anything tasted good. Most of the contents were ruined and had to go to landfill (so much for the environment).
Thank goodness they didn't get into the house!
I have had to use a large amount of noxious poisons to kill them off (I try my utmost to grow organically so hated this). My brother put one dead poisoned rat into the cone and it was gone in ten minutes (presumably consumed by his mates!) :eek: :eek:
I haven't had the stomach to dig up the cone as yet - I am working myself up to that one!
We have stopped using the cone and am still a composting fan - so have just invested in a Bokashi to go with the compost bins and wormery.
I will let you know the comparison, in the meantime, I suggest - Green Cone - don't go there!
I get really miffed when I hear on TV that the Local Councils are stopping weekly bin collections in favour for the green cone and similar initiatives - when clearly these initiatives aren't all they are cracked up to be!
By all means anyone PM me if you would like advice.

cazrobinson

let us know how the bokashi goes - haven't got round to buying some of that yet.


we use 3 composters and have no problems with rats - although they did try to get into the coal skuttle we now use for black bin bags - urggghhh!

OrkneyStar

Have just collected one of these, free of charge, from our local council. Got all the bits so only thing am hoping to have to buy every now and then is accelerator powder stuff. Anyone got any hints/tips on this contraption before we install it ? We were thinking near the rhubarb, in an area that gets reasonable warmth. Hoping not to get a rat problem as we have a cat and there are also numerous other cats in the area. Really hoping to reduce what goes to landfill and we already recycle what we can and aim to reduce the amount of food we throw away too.
Many thanks in advance.

Lotus-eater

Going by Angela's adventure I would wrap wire around the cone before burying it and anywhere else you can. Cats aren't that good as a rat deterrent, although obviously it depends on the area and the cat.

OrkneyStar

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Going by Angela's adventure I would wrap wire around the cone before burying it and anywhere else you can. Cats aren't that good as a rat deterrent, although obviously it depends on the area and the cat.

Hi, thanks, there is some wire provided with it to put in the ground, effectively round the cone. Our cat is a superb mouser (sorry to offend anyone) and lives outside now so hoping her, and many of her feline companions, will do well to chase any rats. Lets hope so.