Most organic waste in Okinawa, as in the rest of Japan and in all industrialized countries which in an earlier age had been used as fertilizer, are simply destroyed by burning. That process emits dioxin, an increasing threat to the world atmosphere and environment. In my hospital alone, about 80 kilograms of leftover food daily goes into the community incinerator.

The vicious cycle of excess wasteRenvironmental pollutionRpoor soil offends my conscience as a physician and a scientist. My long-held dream has been to enrich the soil by utilizing garbage as fertilizer and thereby contribute to a cleaner and more flourishing earth. That concept has led me to research a quick method of conversion of garbage into fertilizer.

The result is The Good Earth of Nago, an ultra-high-speed, high-heat, composting device. All organic materials (mixed with sawdust and previously made fertilizer), in a lot of about 100 kg, generate almost 85oC in an accelerated fermenting process and become compost in just 90 minutes. It is odor-free.

We began to process garbage of our hospital in 1996 and it is now being used by an elementary school. Nago is becoming a model city for recycling garbage and an environmentally cognizant community.

Yasuichi Ueda,M.D.,Clinical Director
Motobu Noge Hospital

・ No bad odor, rotting or flies are produced due to high heat (over 80°C) in the fermentation in the decomposing process.

・ Operating costs are cheap and it requires a minimum of manpower.

・ Management is easy and breakdowns are rare.

・ The machine produces a good fermentation-process for garbage, animal waste, used diapers, paper, cartons, seaweed and any other organic materials.

・ The converted fertilizer is a soil conditioner, effective for all purposes and can reinvigorate farmland and grass areas, provide a soil base for roads, a soil conditioner for golf courses and gardens.

・ Plants grown with the fertilizer are noticeably healthier, fruit is tastier and flowers more colorful.

Fertilizers produced with this device are used to beautify flowerbeds along the roads of Nago, which have been noted by out-of-town visitors, as one wrote to The Okinawa Times (February 17, 1999):

By churning organic materials mixed with sawdust, a constant temperature can be attained, under which microorganisms (zymogens) proliferate and metabolize, or ferment.

By increasing air contact, this constant temperature can be raised at a faster pace to nurture more zymogens.

By improving the environment (both the zymogens and the container), the organic materials can generate their own fermenting heat of over 85oC within 90 minutes, leading to disintegration of these substances.

The smell during the process is that of cooking. Mature zymogens emitting high-heat destroy putrefying bacteria and disintegrate substances emitting bad odors. The process thus reduces bad odor, even that of animal waste.

"…I first disliked handling leftover food from our lunch. But since all my pals were doing their job, I could not stay away. I throw all the garbage into a bucket, carry it to The Good Earth of Nago, weigh it to determine the [necessary amount] of sawdust and zymogens, mix them, and turn on the switch. Then, I wash the buckets. The fertilizer is produced in two hours. It is such a good feeling…. We are determined to carry through this job until our graduation…"

"…I think it's great that garbage is not wasted. Our school produces 25 kg to 60 kg of garbage after each lunch. I wonder how much garbage is collected at the community center every day? I wish all of it could be changed into fertilizer, instead of being burned, and I wish the fertilizer produced could be used to make our school grounds and elsewhere beautiful with plants and flowers. I want these fertilizers to make the trees and plants in the school grow healthier and live longer. My mother also voluntarily plants flowers all over the town. I wish they could also use these fertilizers. "