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EmCompostingUK PDF
EmCompostingUK PDF
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TIM SANDALL
Mark Baker (centre) supervises helpers turning compost heaps at Heeley City Farm in Sheffield, which is a part of the Community Composting Network
Heaps of enthusiasm
G
ADENES DO NOT need to be year, more than half of which consists of composting could be realised. Government The Coach House Trust in Glasgow works to stored indoors. The occupants of more than 100 that when the lid is removed the contents smell
told the value of good compost. garden and kitchen waste, paper and card. agencies have now been mobilised to work promote composting in the local community. Glasgow flats are successfully using bokashi bins. of vinegar. The treated waste does not look like
Spearheading this work is Rita Winters, who is To use the bokashi technique, two buckets or it has decomposed 4, but when it is incorporated
It has been produced on garden A massive 78 percent of this total goes into towards this aim, but for almost 10 years an championing the bokashi method, still relatively tubs are required, one that will fit inside the other. into soil or added to a conventional compost
heaps for generations,to enrich landfill, while only 12 percent is recycled. independent organisation in the UK called unknown in the UK. The inner bucket should have holes in the base heap it breaks down rapidly. Work the waste
the soil in flower beds and vegetable patches. Such figures do not compare well with most the Community Composting Network Bokashi 1 is a substance made from a for excess liquid to drain through 2. Place cooked into the soil and chop it up with a spade 5.
But, like any well-tended heap, the issue of European countries. (CCN) has been co-ordinating the efforts of combination of wheat bran, molasses and and uncooked kitchen scraps into the bucket (in Bear in mind that the end product is acidic, so
effective micro-organisms (EM), which is already domestic gardens meat and fish can be treated it is recommended to let the soil rest for a few
compost has been hotting up and has become Our national attitudes need to change. groups around the country. used widely in Japan for composting and soil with this method, but the end product should weeks before planting. The liquid that collects in
an integral part of Government targets to European legislation requires that, by 2010, improvement. Typical EM contains more than 80 only be applied to ornamental beds) then the bottom bucket can be used as a fertiliser or
reduce the amount of waste deposited in national quantities of landfilled biodegrad- Encompassing composting micro-organisms, including bacteria that thrive sprinkle bokashi over it 3. Repeat this process even an effective drain cleaner.
United Kingdom landfill sites. able municipal waste (mostly compostable An umbrella organisation,the CCN provides in conditions without oxygen (anaerobic) and until the bin is full, squashing the contents to Tests have found that pathogenic bacteria,
yeasts. When applied to organic waste, bokashi remove air pockets, then put on a tight-fitting such as E. coli, are not found in bokashi bins. This
As a nation our ‘chuck it in the bin’ men- kitchen and garden rubbish) should be advice and support to its existing members, causes it to ferment rather than putrefy and lid and leave for two weeks. During this time the coupled with the lack of foul smells makes it an
tality is deeply rooted.Households in England reduced to 75 percent of their 1995 level. It which include many community compost- smell, so it is ideal for treating kitchen waste micro-organisms ferment the waste material, so ideal technique for dealing with kitchen waste.
produce 25 million tonnes of rubbish per is here that the environmental benefits of ing projects and Local Authorities.The ➨
376 THE GADEN May 2004 THE GADEN May 2004 377
H O R T I C U L T U R A L T E C H N I Q U E S The Community Composting Network promotes
community composting at a national level. For details
of local groups and membership rates, tel: 0114 258
0483, or visit: (www.communitycompost.org).
•Compost Awareness Week is 2–8 May 2004;
for information see the Composting Association
website: (www.compost.org.uk)
6 As a venue for horticultural training,Heeley enclosure of waste to keep out vermin and Books, April 2004, £1.95, ISBN 1903998239).
City Farm has vegetable beds and poly- wildlife that may spread contaminants to
tunnels producing herbaceous and bedding farm animals. Home composters who keep
plants for sale in the nursery.These activities no livestock are exempt from these regula- composting becomes a profitable industry.
produce organic waste,which is composted tions, but larger-scale community sites The EU is considering a Biowaste Directive
in bays,combined with paper bedding from handling garden waste need a waste man- that is likely to contain statutory composting
the animals kept on site.The compost thus agement licence and a licence exemption. targets for EU member states.Extra funding
produced is used to enrich the farm soil and Members of the CCN have been devel- may make composting more profitable for
pot up plants for the nursery.A demonstra- oping various ‘in-vessel’composting systems large-scale industry which,though it may be
7 8 9 tion area, showing the public the range of that will enable them to afford to comply good for the environment, will make life
HIGH-FIBE COMPOSTING different composting bins and containers with these regulations. Carefully adapted more difficult for community composters.
available, encourages people to extend the chest freezers,designed with safety in mind, Nevertheless, the CCN will continue to
The Centre for Alternative Technology in Powys, problem by adding extra carbon in the form of recycling ethos into their own gardens. are one innovative option that has been used promote composting and provide expertise,
Wales has been trialling a technique known as non-recyclable paper and card: egg boxes, for
high-fibre composting. This combines example. This is screwed up and added to the ecently several large,concrete composting to keep rats and flies at bay,while allowing air while helping people gain skills and become
composting with waste minimisation by using heap with garden and kitchen waste 7. The bulk bays have been constructed (pictured,p379), to circulate,supplying oxygen for the bacteria involved with their community.The enthu-
non-recyclable paper and cardboard 6 to of this material also helps to maintain an open marking the beginning of the Heeley team’s that are essential to the composting process. siasm of those involved in the network is
improve the structure of the compost heap. structure to the compost as it decomposes 8, new project called the ‘dispersed composting inspiring and if politicians seek to minimise
Many people are frustrated when their allowing air to circulate and provide oxygen for
compost heap becomes unpleasantly smelly the composting micro-organisms. network’. Organised in conjunction with Effective brew waste reaching landfill,they need to fire the
and slimy instead of producing a crumbly, deep Maintaining this open structure is beneficial Sheffield Wildlife Trust, with funding from A Japanese technique is being tested at the UK population with a similar recycling zeal.