A third of your waste can be composted!
It's Compost Awareness Week (May 1st-7th) and people across the county are being encouraged to take up composting at home.
There is a wide range of waste that you can throw in your compost bin including uncooked food such as tea bags, coffee grounds, cardboard, shredded paper, eggshells, tissues and paper napkins.In total around 30 per cent of the contents of a typical household bin can be composted.
There are also many environmental benefits – for example if you compost at home for just one year, you can save as much carbon dioxide produced by your kettle in an entire year or your washing machine produces in three months.
Gloucestershire residents can buy a compost bin from £15 (plus £5.49 delivery charge) for a 220 litre bin and if you buy one you can get one half price! Click here for details.
Cllr Stan Waddington, Cabinet member for the Environment and Waste said: “If you buy a bin now – this time next year you will be able to make use of your homemade compost.”
“Compostable waste sent to landfill produces methane, which is a harmful greenhouse gas. By composting at home, in the presence of oxygen, no methane is produced.”
Meanwhile, the County Council has a team of Master Composter volunteers who can provide help and advice to the public on any composting matters. For more details email: Katherine.cole@gloucestershire.gov.uk
Gloucestershire County Council has a strategy to recycle and compost at least 60% of household waste by 2020.
Landfill Tax has now risen to £56 per tonne, and it is estimated that the annual bill for the County could be as high as £8 million pounds for this financial year.
The county has strict landfill targets to meet up until 2020. Exceeding these steadily reducing quantities will result in fines of up to £150 per tonne for every tonne of biodegradable waste in excess of our allowance.
Above picture shows Nichola Hughes from Gloucester showing the environmental benefits of composting.
27 April 2011