Movin’... lifestyle
Movin’... Green BIN TODAY ORDER YOUR Feed your bin, not landFill – why compost at home? Do your bit to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. By composting at home you can recycle a third of your waste and put less out for collection.
home composting, organic waste sent to landfill can’t decompose properly because, squashed under all the other waste, it doesn’t have any access to air. So instead methane, a powerful
greenhouse gas is produced which contributes to global warming. Home composting avoids this problem and you create a valuable natural soil improver for your plants and vegetables.
Composting is an inexpensive, natural process that transforms your kitchen and garden waste into a valuable and nutrient rich food for your garden. It’s easy to make and even easier to use. And did you know, composting at home for just one year can save global warming gases equivalent to all the CO2 your kettle produces annually, or your washing machine produces in 3 months! We’re often asked “Why do I need to compost when my waste will break down in landfill anyway?” But the two situations are quite different. Unlike
compost more stuFF, more oFten A lot of people think that garden waste is the only thing that you can put in your compost bin. But there are actually loads more everyday waste items from your home and garden that you can add to enrich your compost. In fact, over 30% of an average household bin can be composted at home. This all adds up and an average household can expect to divert over 150kg of waste from landfill each year – that’s equivalent in weight to a baby elephant!
‘GReeNS’
• Tea bags • Grass cuttings • Vegetable peelings, salad leaves and fruit scraps
• Old flowers and nettles • Coffee grounds and filter paper
• Spent bedding plants • Rhubarb leaves • Young annual weeds (e.g. chickweed)
• Corrugated cardboard and paper (scrunched up) • Toilet and kitchen roll tubes • Garden prunings • Dry leaves, twigs and hedge clippings • Straw and hay • Bedding from vegetarian pets • Ashes from wood, paper and lumpwood charcoal • Sawdust and wood chippings • Wool
• Woody clippings • Cotton threads and string (made from natural fibre) • Feathers • Vacuum bag contents • Old natural fibre clothes (cut into small pieces) • Tissues, paper towels and napkins • Shredded confidential documents • Corn cobs and stalks
‘BROWNS’ • Crushed egg shells • Egg and cereal boxes
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July–August 2009 | Issue 3