I’m on a mission to reduce my waste, to help the planet and be more sustainable. Trying to do this while living in an apartment in the middle of the CBD poses a few challenges. In the past, I would’ve let all the ‘can’t do’s’ weigh me down and make me anxious, but for now, I’m just doing what I can, where I am, with what I’ve got.

Today, I wanted to share a little low waste hack I’ve learnt recently that you, your rubbish bin and your garden will love! I don’t know about you, but bananas are a staple in our house. Between my housemates and I we probably eat between 5-10 week. We don’t have a compost at the apartment, because; unfortunately, it’s just not feasible. Due to this, our food scraps end up in the landfill bin – that is, all except our banana skins.

Turning you banana scraps into fertiliser:

Step 1: Collect all of your used banana skins and arrange on a baking tray.

Step 2: Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees celsius) for 15 minutes. Flip skins and bake for another 15 minutes.

Step 3: Once skins are completely crispy (they will look like they are burnt) and there are no wet patches remaining, transfer to a food processor.

Step 4: Blitz skins in a food processor until skins resemble a bark like mixture. It’s ok if some bits are bigger than others.

Step 5: Store in a glass jar and sprinkle over plans when required.

Tips:

• Be generous when sprinkling over plants, the dried skins are a slow release fertiliser and being generous won’t hurt.
• If you want to create some banana skin fertiliser and need to use some bananas, why don’t you try my choc banana bread recipe? You can find that here