Cleaner and Greener Community Group

Composting

Ever thought that putting your vegetable kitchen scraps and garden waste in the bin is a wasted opportunity? Ever wondered whether there was something useful you could do with it?

The Cleaner and Greener Community Group had their second event of 2005 on Saturday 7 May as part of International Compost Awareness Week.

About 70 residents turned up to learn about composting, see Wellgate Community Farm, and test their knowledge in the composting quiz in order to win environmental prizes.

Composting at home reduces the amount of rubbish thrown away for disposal and saves energy by reducing the number of trips needed to transport waste to processing plants or landfills. It also reduces the need for chemical fertilisers and peat-based composts responsible for damage to and depletion of ancient peat bogs habitats which are home to some of our rarest plants and animals.

Manda Helal from the Women's Environment Network gave the group a very interesting, informative and fun workshop about composting at home. The group learnt how to turn garden waste, fruit and vegetable peelings, paper and cardboard into useful compost! This means saving money on fertilisers, improving the health of your garden and doing your bit for the environment all at the same time.

Manda gave us the perfect composting recipe: 1 part green (nitrogen-rich) waste such as grass trimmings and vegetable peelings to 2-3 parts brown (carbon-rich) waste such as paper and cardboard. This will ensure that the composting process occurs efficiently and without smell.

Councillor Milton McKenzie commented:

"It was excellent to see so many residents interested and motivated to improve their local environment and reduce waste. One of the best things about composting, as we saw today, is it is so easy to do. I hope as many people as possible will take up the offer of a free composting bin".

The Cleaner and Greener group then visited Wellgate Community Farm and saw composting and wormeries in action. Currently the Farm collects cardboard from a local shopping centre which is then shredded for animal bedding. Once the bedding is soiled it is added to the wormeries along with the animal muck, and is then turned into fertile compost!

Residents returned to the Millennium Centre for lunch and the traditional Cleaner and Greener pub quiz, where residents scooped prizes such as books on organic gardening, 'worm juice' and 50 litre bags of compost donated by Cleanaway at the Rainham composting facility Eco-Site. Everyone received a very useful 'Composting for All' booklet.

Waste Services were at the compost event to give out coupons for the 2,000 free home compost bins which are being given away by us at the moment (sponsored by Recycle for London).

For more information about composting, see the following organisations' websites:

Henry Doubleday Research Association - the organic association|

The Composting Association|

Envocare|

Composters|

Residents at composting event