The government is advising as many of us as possible to stay home as much as we can in order to help key workers, relieve strain on the NHS and ultimately stop us getting sick.
It’s a difficult time we’re living through, but we can all help each other as family, friends, neighbours and as a community.
With so many of us at home it’s inevitable that household waste will increase, which puts pressure on the waste collection, recycling and disposal network. In addition, carbon associated waste in particular is an added worry in that it has the potential to cause changes to the climate.
So one way we can all help is to keep waste at a minimum.
Get composting!
We’ve already written some advice about keeping household waste down (see link here) and about managing food and reducing food waste (see link here), but here you’ll find information all about composting at home.
Home composting is a great way to keep your garden clippings and your kitchen food waste out of the bin. You can put in all sorts including garden clippings, flowers, fruit peelings, eggshells, tea bags, coffee grounds, ripped up cardboard, tissues.
It is one of the best ways to reduce the amount of waste we produce and lessen carbon emissions – research shows that a third of the contents of the average bin can be composted! (The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations said that if food waste was a country, it would be the third largest emitter of carbon after China and the US (Source: www.fao.org/sustainable-food-value-chains/library/details/en/c/266219/)
Recycling nature
Composting is nature’s own way of recycling. By converting your kitchen and garden waste into compost you will not only reduce the amount of material you’re putting into your household bin, but as a bonus you will also cut the amount of methane and carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere – significant greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
The end product is also a great nutrition feed for your garden and plants and a soil improver!
What can I compost?
A lot of people think that garden waste is the only thing that you can put into your compost bin. But there are actually loads more everyday organic waste items from your home and garden that you can add to enrich your compost.
Things you CAN add to your compost bin include:
Greens:
Gross mowings
Old flowers
House plants
Fruit scraps and peels
Veg scraps and peelings
Nettles
Coffee grounds & filter paper
Tea bags and tea leaves
Spent bedding plants
Comfrey leaves
Rhubarb leaves
Young annual weeds
Pond algae & seaweed
Browns:
Egg shells and boxes
Cereal boxes
Corrugated cardboard packaging
Newspaper
Toilet & kitchen roll tubes
Garden prunings
Dry leaves
Twigs
Hedge clippings
Straw & hay
Wool
Feathers
Ashes from wood
Paper or lumpwood charcoal
Woody clippings
Cotton threads
String (made from natural fibres)
Tumble dryer lint (from natural fibre clothes)
Old natural fibre clothes (e.g. wool)
Vacuum bag contents
Tissues, paper towels & napkins
Shredded confidential documents
Corn cobs & stalks
Pine needles & cones
For a full guide on how to compost at home, please visit www.recyclenow.com/reduce-waste/composting/making-compost which offers advice on how to set up your composter and make the best compost.
Residents from across the Liverpool City Region can purchase a wide range of Home Compost bins and accessories at competitive prices by visiting: www.merseyside.getcomposting.com.
Buy a compost bin for yourself or even buy one for a friend or family member – they make a great present for someone who is looking to cut waste, improve their garden or help the environment.
ENDS