Why I Left My Job to Start a Bokashi Composting Business

I grew up in a family where my parents used to take us on exciting bushveld adventures and taught us about the natural world. Since childhood, I had a deep appreciation for nature and being fascinated by the smallest living things. The need to protect Mother Earth was always there — even in my teenage years, I did my Junior Nature Conservation courses in the school holidays. Me and my school friends used to take a city bus to the Pretoria Zoo to do volunteer work after school. We all loved it!

Fast forward to years later, living in beautiful Cape Town, having a loving husband and two stunning kids. I wanted to do more to help create a brighter environmental future for them. Unsure of where to start, I did my research and attended some talks — including one at the Two Oceans Aquarium — and saw the concerning statistics around bees, marine life and landfills. Everything is connected: the soil, our water, animals, plants, insects, our air, our food. And the scary realisation is that our human health is dependent on the wellness of all of these — yet none of these are dependent on humans.

I decided that I needed to help bees first. They perform a critical task that is vital to the survival of agriculture and therefore our food supply. We needed to find ways to create a sustainable ecosystem where bees, nature and humans can thrive. The solution had to be simple enough for everyone to be able to contribute and make a difference in their daily living.

My dad told me about bokashi composting. I was sceptical.

After speaking to my dad — who is a soil scientist — about my dream, he told me about bokashi composting. Bokashi composting is a natural fermentation system, originally developed in Japan in 1980, that turns food waste — including meat, cooked leftovers, dairy and bones that would normally go to landfill — into a nutrient-rich pre-compost within about two weeks. Instead of rotting, the waste ferments in a sealed bokashi bin. No smell, no maggots, nothing going to waste.

To be very honest, I was sceptical at first. But with time I saw that we really CAN take our daily kitchen waste, combine it with bokashi powder and generate nutrient-rich compost for bee-friendly flower and vegetable gardens, while also reducing our carbon footprint.

I decided to resign and to follow my heart. Circular Homes was born on my birthday — World Soil Day, 5 December 2018. My driving mission was simple: to help nature.

Home food waste recycling through the bokashi bin

I knew that to make a more significant impact I needed to get the local community involved. So in February 2019 I approached the Somerset West Village Garden to see if we could start a full food waste recycling programme together. Since then, residents have been dropping off their filled bokashi bins at the garden — and for every 10 bokashi bins they bring in, they get a bag of compost back. The fermented waste gets turned into compost and used to grow the garden's organic vegetables, which go to the Thomas House of Hope, the Family Shelter and Night Shelter.

Together as a community, we are closing the loop on home food waste and working towards a cleaner environment, whilst creating environmental awareness and building richer soils.

In 2022 we also established a composting programme at the Somerset West Family Shelter — the only shelter of its kind in the Western Cape that looks after homeless families. Not only does the programme assist towards a cleaner kitchen and waste area, but also assists with skills development. Training is given on making nutrient-rich bokashi compost and we use the compost in the organic food garden.

Food waste composting grows from vision to community action

Dora Wolhuter was one of my first bokashi clients and became a close friend. She joined the Circular Homes team in February 2021 and is just as passionate about food waste composting as I am. Between us, we now work with households, restaurants, wine farms, estates and community gardens across the Helderberg and Cape Town — helping each one divert their food waste away from landfill and back into the soil where it belongs.

Why food waste recycling matters — and what you can do

South Africa generates 12.6 million tonnes of food waste every year — and most of it ends up in landfill, where it rots, releases harmful methane gas into the atmosphere, and leaches toxins into our groundwater. Meanwhile, 21 of the 24 landfills in the Western Cape alone are critically full or already full. If you've been thinking about bokashi composting in South Africa, here's why it matters: the food waste we throw away every day is actually a resource. In nature, it is supposed to go back to the soil.

I truly believe that together we can change the world for the better. Have a "live and let live" outlook. Stay as far away from any pesticides and chemical products. Share your knowledge, guide others to live a more sustainable, conscious life and help where you can. The world needs less fake and more real.

I'm a WhatsApp or phone call away — feel welcome to contact me with any questions.

Your partner in a greener, sustainable, brighter future,

Natashia de Wet