The Green Parent
Raising kids with conscience
29 Apr 2012
Compost your waste
Even for households that are already composting, new research has found that almost half of the food waste in their rubbish bins could have been composted. Did you know that 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 three months?
Home composting helps to keep garden and household waste out of landfill sites, and also produces rich and nutritious compost, which can be used to bring fertility and life to your garden. Compost Awareness Week, from 6-12th May is now in its 12th year, aims to help everyone learn something new about composting, whether you’ve been doing it for years or are just starting out. Throughout the week a variety of organisations will be encouraging people to give new composting activities a go.
Did you know just how much of your waste can be composted? Check out this list to make sure you’re making the most of your compost bin:
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)
Cardboard
Egg boxes
Scrunched up paper
Fallen leaves
Sawdust
Twigs, branches and bark
However people choose to get involved, there are plenty of things which will not only help the environment, but also help our gardens grow greener.
Garden Organic is running TWO fun competitions to inspire you. Firstly a poster competition – get imaginative and creative producing an A4 sized poster which advertises compost awareness week and the painted bin competition. Secondly, a painted bin competition – hold your own competition amongst friends, family, community groups, allotment associations or schools. Send Garden Organic a picture of your bin and/or your poster and you could win a prize!
If you are inspired and want to get started with composting straight away – check out these brilliant recycling projects from Treehugger – making a compost bin out of old bits and pieces that you might have lying around. Happy composting!
Lucy Corkhill is a freelance writer and hosts workshops from her beautiful clifftop home. She worked for many years as a therapist specialising in pregnancy and post-natal treatments. She lives with her husband, their one year old son, a dog, three cats and loads of spiders.
The Green Parent is the UK's leading green lifestyle and natural parenting magazine. A truly inspiring read, TGP is like nothing else on the newsstand, with insightful intelligent journalism covering topics from babywearing and attachment parenting to home-education and alternative medicine. Each issue features regular columns on Organic Gardening, Seasonal Food and Drink, Green Travel, Ethical Fashion and lots more.
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