With Composting Awareness Week starting on Sunday, what better
time is there for people to sign up for their own compost bin and
join Suffolk Coastal’s massive home composting green army?
Local residents are already showing the way to the rest of the
county with over 14,000 subsidised home compost bins having been
bought and anyone ordering one between May 4 and 10 could win £50
worth of garden vouchers.
“Home composting is the most environmentally friendly way to
deal with your compostable garden waste and some food waste such as
fresh fruit and vegetable peelings,” said Cllr Andrew Nunn, Cabinet
Member for the Green Environment.
“Many people like making their own compost to use on their
plants, because they know what has gone into it, and it is a much
more environmentally-friendly alternative to peat-based compost
products bought from shops.
“We have got the best record in Suffolk for people composting at
home and I would encourage even more people to get into this
particular recycling habit. Regularly using your own compost bin
also leaves more room in our brown bin for food and other items you
cannot compost at home but which is converted by the Parham
composter,” added Cllr Nunn.
Suffolk Coastal’s brown bins are emptied every fortnight and are
perfect for food scraps such as cooked and uncooked meat, fish and
dairy products, as well as larger amounts of cardboard. The hi-tech
facility at Parham turns it all into an organic waste which is used
on local agricultural land as a soil improver.
About 30 per cent of the average household’s waste is compostable,
and if this is not put in a home compost bin or a brown bin, it
ends up in a landfill site where it creates methane, a powerful
greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
Suffolk Coastal, in partnership with the Suffolk Waste
Partnership and the Waste Resource Action Programme, is currently
offering home compost bins at subsidised prices to residents. A 220
litre Compost Converter costs £17, a 330 litre Compost Converter is
£20, and a 250 litre modular KOMP bin costs £40.
Anyone ordering a home compost bin during Compost Awareness Week
will be entered into a prize draw with the chance of winning £50
worth of garden vouchers. All prices include free delivery; they
can be ordered by calling 0845 077 0757. More information on
composting at home is available on
http://www.suffolkcoastal.gov.uk/yourhome/waste/composting/
Another way to recycle garden waste is to take it to one of the
household waste recycling centres Felixstowe, Foxhall and Leiston.
On Saturday May 10, a Shovel-It-Yourself Day is being held at the
Foxhall site when people can come and collect some of the compost
completely free - just bring a shovel and a bag or something to
carry it away with, but be early as it is first come, first
serve.