Home composting is something practical we can all do to help the environment

Home Composting

Surveys have shown that a typical family can divert up to a third of their waste away from landfill by composting. The material that is suitable for composting is uncooked kitchen waste and garden waste. Paper and cardboard are also compostable.

The end product can be used in your garden in a variety of ways. Typically people use it for their flowerbeds, vegetable patches, as a top dressing on their lawns and for seed and potting mixes.

Composters can be purchased at a cost of €80 from the Recycling Centre. Tel 047 80888

For more info see https://stopfoodwaste.ie/resources/composting

An Taisce have recently compiled a booklet – “Compost for Nature” which may assist and is available for free to download at https://www.antaisce.org/compost.

 

Food Waste

Did you know that the average Irish household throws out just under 1 tonne of rubbish each year. This includes all waste and is around the weight of a small car. That means we are throwing out the equivalent of 1.6 million small cars worth of rubbish each year.

  • Currently we are recycling just under 50% of this. That means that each household is still throwing 1/2 tonne of rubbish into landfillseach year, or 800,000 small cars worth of rubbish landfilled annually!
  • Of the waste that goes to landfill almost 40% is organic waste, the majority of which is food waste. Another 30% is different recyclable materials

 

What small changes can you make to reduce your food waste?  For recipes, tips on how to plan, shop and save, visit  www.stopfoodwaste.ie