Friday 30 November 2012

Carry on composting this Christmas


With Christmas now only four weeks away, many of us will be racking our brains desperately trying to think of an affordable and unusual gift for our nearest and dearest.
 
For a keen gardener or anyone with an interest in the environment, a compost bin can make a great present and is a definite improvement on socks or slippers!

Giving a compost bin not only makes a great Christmas gift, but it’s a positive way to start the New Year by helping to significantly reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.  We are currently working with www.getcomposting.com to offer residents in Shropshire specially discounted prices including a Buy One Get One Half Price offer.  The only down side is you’ll need an awful lot of wrapping paper, but never mind, you can always add that to your compost bin too!

To get your special offer compost bin and see the range of other ‘green’ gardening products that could make great gifts, simply go to www.getcomposting.com or call 0844 571 4444.  Compost Bins start from as little as £16 and as an added Christmas bonus you can also take advantage of the Buy One Get One half price offer, meaning even bigger savings.
Due to anticipated strong seasonal demand orders for Christmas delivery should be placed by 5th December to guarantee they arrive in time for Christmas.
Home composting – top tips for Christmas

Home Composting is easy to do all year round; here are some great tips to help you keep a good thing going over the Christmas period. You’ll be surprised how many Christmas items can be composted.

*        Make your compost mixture more a-peel-ing! At Christmas we always eat much more and produce more food waste than at any other time of the year. Your compost bin will really appreciate the peelings from your tasty winter vegetables and festive fruits such as Satsuma’s and Clementine’s
*        Warm up your worms! Wood ash from open fires can be put into your compost bin; Let it cool right down first though, you don’t want to cook the worms and other little critters working hard to produce your compost.
*        Give your mix a Christmas present! Plain wrapping paper (non metallic/plastic) and gift tags can be scrunched up and added to the mix, but if you do, make sure you add it gradually and mix with your fruit and veg peelings to get the right balance. Cardboard packaging from Christmas toys and gifts will add fibre and structure to your bin, as well as paper napkins, Christmas crackers, inners and party hats!
*        Wish your Compost bin a Happy New Year! The remnants of your New Years Eve party will also be a welcome addition to your compost bin. Nut shells, wooden cocktail sticks, paper plates and some party food packaging. Natural corks from wine can also be added but will take longer to break down.
*        Twelfth Night! When the festivities have drawn to a close for another year, if there is any room left in your compost bin you can add those natural home made decorations, the holly and the ivy, mistletoe, paper chains and other natural / compostable decorations.

Thursday 29 November 2012

Shropshire Anaerobic Digestion Plant commended


 

Shropshire largest anaerobic digestion plant at Harper Adams University College was last night highly commended at the National Recycling Awards.   

The Harper Adams entry was a finalist in the Best Energy from Waste Initiative, which was won by HRS Heat Exchangers. Having chosen a winner, the judges also singled out the Harper Adams project for recognition with a “highly commended” certificate. The category sought to reward organisations that demonstrated innovation and environmental benefit in recovering energy from what might previously have been seen as a residual waste destined for landfill.


Paul Moran, Estates Manager at Harper Adams, said: “We are delighted that the value of our project, which has the potential to offset out campus carbon emissions more than three times over, was highly commended at the National Recycling Awards.  The project benefits farmers and others who could adopt the technology to save or even make money; students learning from it as a demonstration facility; every community whose food waste is fed into it and diverted from landfill; and the environment. We were able to see the value AD offered when we embarked upon this ambitious project, and recognition such as this is welcome proof that our efforts are valued at national level.”




Former England Rugby star and Strictly Come Dancing competitor Austin Healy presented the awards ceremony and congratulated the winners first hand. And after the ceremony guests enjoyed a live casino and carnival stalls with traditional fairground prizes.

The University College has expanded its commitment to sustainable energy with a £3million-plus renewable power system. Harper Adams was just one of three higher education institutions in England to have won a share of the £10 million set aside for 'transformational' projects under the Higher Education Funding Council for England's Revolving Green Fund. The Anaerobic Digester plant, constructed in 2011, started generating heat and power at the end of April 2011.

Using farm and food waste, it is anticipated to offset campus carbon emissions more than three times over. Renewable electricity is produced from food and farm waste and provides a highly effective waste management system.

The waste is digested in the AD unit and recycled into a liquid fertiliser and compost, which can be used for the University College's farm and grounds operations, reducing reliance on manufactured fertilisers.

Key Facts

  • Creates renewable heat and electricity from waste
  • Uses 11,000 tonnes of dairy and pig slurry
  • Uses up to 12,000 tonnes of food waste that would otherwise have gone in to landfill
  • Bacteria break down the organic matter in a tank releasing Biogas
  • Biogas burnt to create heat and electricity
  • Anticipated to save over 13,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum, offsetting campus carbon emissions more than three times over
  • Other by-products of the process are a liquid fertiliser and compost that will be used on the college farm and grounds

Wyldwoods Green Fayre



Volunteers from Shropshire Master Composters attended the Wyldwoods Green Fayre near Broseley in Shropshire to help promote home composting over the weekend.  Dozens of people were interested to learn about what to compost and what not to and how to get hold of a discount compost bin from the www.shropshire.getcomposting.com scheme.

Vital Earth Compost

When we're out promoting home composting with Shropshire Master Composters, alot of people have been asking where they can get hold of the compost which is made from the Council garden waste collections.

Generally we say that they are mad to want to buy in compost when you can make your own at home! Of course thats half the point with home composting, so you can save having to buy other peoples stuff!  However some people really want to buy some in and its good to support the sustainable composting industry and avoid peat based composts which harm the environment.  

The problem is that most of the compost produced from the garden waste in Shropshire is im afraid to tell you not available to the public because the farmers who run the composting sites use all of the outputs on their land as a soil improver. 

However the Vital Earth site which processes the mixed food and garden waste from North Shropshire district is the exception to this rule.  They do operate a large (national) retail arm which supplies bagged compost to garden centres across the UK which is sold branded as Vital Earth.   You can find your nearest site via their website here www.thegreenergardener.com


multi porpose compost

Composting food waste at Attingham Park

National Trust property Attingham Park in the village of Atcham, near Shrewsbury in Shropshire are reducing their waste to landfill and cutting CO2 emissions by composting the food waste produced by staff and customers at the site.

Supported by expertise from Shropshire Master Composters the site has invested in RIDAN in-vessel composter which is made in the UK and gets hot enough to process all types of food waste.  

It is all part of a wider commitment to sustainable development, which has seen the Trust invest in local good growing, renewable energy, land management and recycling across this and other parts of its estate to help ensure the whole organisation is more sustainable.

The problem of packaging

Excess packagingPackaging is material used to protect, deliver or present goods. It also provides information about what's inside.  

     There is growing concern amongst any people that too much packaging gets used and that more needs to be done to make packaging more easily recycled or composted.   

That said packaging is sometimes necessary for hygiene and sometimes required by law. Packaging itself can also actually prevent waste!  This sounds odd but it can extend the life of items and thus prevent waste.  For example, an unwrapped cucumber loses moisture and becomes unsaleable within three days.   This leads to millions of the things being binned by supermarkets and farmers every year.  But this can be simply resolved just by adding a mere 1.5 grams of plastic wrapping round a cucumber can which keep it fresh for 14 days and ensure that more get eaten and less gets landfilled overall.
 The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 1998 were introduced to control packaging.  This requires companies who make packaging to minimise what they use and to pay to help pay for it to be recycled.  It is not common knowledge but most big packaging manufactures pay money for Packaging Recovery Notes each year to comply with these Regulations and that money gets "recycled" into the recycling industry to help subsidize the cost of recycling such material.
      
Alot of people complain that there is too much packaging and that its the fault of the manufacturers, big business, the government, the councils.  However its important to be an informed consumer and think about packaging when you shop and its perfectly sensible to avoid over packaged goods and lobby for more to be done about the quantity and quality of packaging used.  However if you think about it probably the single biggest influence of how much packaging waste you have is YOU!  

You can control what comes into your house, by buying products with less packaging.   After all its not like it jumps off the shelves and into your trolley is it?  And its not like you cant chose to go to your local market and buy fresh food without packaging...  And as a shopper you are very powerful, the supermarkets will only produce what you buy after all.

So next time your shopping and next time you're putting out your recycling, think what can I do, to reduce the amount of packaging?

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Shrewsbury college gets composting




Students from Radbrook College in Shrewsbury are celebrating the beginning of a new environmentally-friendly gardening project at their site off Radbrook Road, which has been helped by the donation of a new compost bin and water butt provided by Veolia Environmental Services.

Staff from Shropshire Council’s waste management team and Veolia have been helping with their horticultural and environmental studies course, which is run as part of their New Horizons programme for adults with learning disabilities.   The aim of a garden project is to regenerate the current site to create a pleasant space for learning and relaxation, and involve the students to broaden their understanding of the environment and improve their quality of life through outdoor physical activity.
 
Cllr. Mike Owen, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for waste management, said:
“Composting is an integral part of environmentally-friendly gardening, transforming your waste into a valuable soil improver to help your garden to thrive.  We are currently offering Shropshire residents the chance to buy specially-discounted home compost bins from just £16; just visit our www.shropshire.getcomposting.com website for details.”

Monday 26 November 2012

Stamp out Junk Mail



Did you know? Nearly 3,000 tonnes of junk mail hits Shropshires doormats every single year.

But you can stop it landing on yours.


Register with the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) by clicking here.

The MPS can remove your name from up to 95% of Direct Mail lists and is supported by the vast majority of reputable mailing firms.   Please note - it cannot stop mail that has been sent from overseas, un-addressed material or mail addressed to “The Occupier” and it may take several months to take full effect - however you should notice a slight reduction immediately.

Sign up here for FREE!

You can also opt-out of "to the occupier" mail

Register with the Royal Mail's Door to Door Opt Out Service by contacting them via email optout@royalmail.com or by post:

Freepost, RSTR-YCYS-TGLJ, Royal Mail Door to Door Opt Outs, Kingsmead House, Oxpens Road, OXFORD, OX1 1AA.

The Royal Mail will send you a registration form to fill in and return to them. Opting out from Royal Mail Door to Door stops all unaddressed items from being delivered by them.

Say No to to fliers and circulars

This can be harder because things like the free newspapers and take away fliers are not always considered junk mail by everyone and they are delivered locally.  The only way to stop this is to put up a polite notice such as "No Fliers or Free Newspapers please" on your letterbox and this should help.

Plus don't forget to tick the box!

Many forms contain an option to opt out of further marketing. If you sign any form, check for the box and make sure you read it fully as some ask you not to tick if you want to opt-out (sneeky!)

Unwanted UK telephone directories

You will need to contact each company individually and ask them to take you off their distribution lists.  This website is ushttp://www.saynotophonebooks.org/ 

Unwanted facsimiles

If you have a fax machine, register with the Facsimile Preference Service by calling 0845 070 0702 or online www.fpsonline.org.uk

Unwanted emails

Register with the Email Preference Service (eMPS) online: www.ims-dm.com/cgi/offemaillist.php

Remember if you do get junk mail to recycle it, but of course its best to avoid it in the first place.

Top tips for keeping your compost heap going in the cold weather


Composting is a biological process so like most of us - the only trouble is that cold temperatures often slow us down!

But dont worry, because even as it gets colder, some microbes responsible for the breakdown of organic matter remain active in the compost pile and since their digestion / respiration process itself generates heat, the center of your compost heap should still remain warm and active.  Essentially the advice is just - don't worry about it. Microbial activity will resume normally once the temperature warms up. 

That said there are a few little things you can do to help.

compost, pile, bin, composting, organic, waste, recycling, organics, yard, leaves, sticks, branches, fence, fencing

Firstly feed your bugs - the bacteria need more food if anything at this time of year, so keep piling on your kitchen peelings, cardboard boxes, tea bags, chicken muck, egg shells, leaf litter, coffee grinds, dead pot plants, gone off fruit and veg, salad leaves, garden waste and shredded paper.  And as ever you need to maintain a healthy balance of green and brown material in your compost heap.  This can be trickier in winter when most of the lush green matter such as grass clippings is not available but remember most kitchen waste counts as "green material" ie. it is rich in nitrogen.  


In terms of getting too cold you can help to minimise this by using an old carpet or a tarpouline to shelter your compost bin and keep the warmth in.  It also helps keep the rain off which is another way to keep that natural warmth in. For plastic compost bins with lids this is not really a problem, but if you have a more open heap its ok to get a bit damp but you dont really want it getting completely soaked in the sort of wet weather we have been having of late because if it gets waterlogged it cuts off the oxygen which the bacteria need to thrive and it can "go anaerobic" which means it gets a bit pongy and reduces the environmental benefits.
The main thing is - dont give up - keep composting - whatever the weather you are helping to keep waste out of landfill and saving yourself money in the process!

Sunday 25 November 2012

Leaf litter

leaf in gutter 
The Environment Agency are again causing concern in the commercial composting world, this time they are targeting all the leaf litter which councils sweep up off the road and send for commercial composting.  The Agency has done some trials which lead to concerns about levels of nickel, copper, chromium, molybdenum, zinc and hydrocarbons found in this material - mostly this is from car exhaust emissions.


Its a frustration for alot of people in the industry who have successfully been adding this material to their compost for years and still producing high quality compost.  Not only do these leaves make good compost but over the autumn and winter when tonnages of garden waste are lower they help keep commercial composting facilities going and provide crucial ongoing work and cashflow during these seasonal lulls. 

More trials are being planned but for now the Agency are recommending that this material is not composted which in the worst case scenario could lead to hundreds of thousands of tonnes of extra waste having to be sent to landfill across the UK.

It seems to us at Shropshire Master Composters that the Agency is being over-regulatory and that the response is not proportional to the actual risk involved. The good news is that on the horizon in a new EU standard on composting which is actually must less strigent that the UK rules which once adopted across the EU will allow British composting businesses to continue to produce high quality compost but to the much less taxing European standard which will help protect British jobs and keep more waste out of landfill.

Of course it should be highlighted that the Agency doesn’t regulate domestic compost heaps, thankfully, so this doesn’t effect most of us, but for local Councils and composters this is a really bad piece of news.  We have all been adding leaves to our compost heaps for years with no adverse affect - even when these leaves are cleared from driveways and roadsides or from the garden and we shall continue to do so!

Saturday 24 November 2012

Shropshire firms unique glass recycling

With recycling being a big priority in Shropshire, local couple Elaine and Dave Jones thought they would create a business opportunity to defy the economic climate and at the same time lessen the pressure on the environment by doing something useful with all the recycled bottles that they accumulate.  So from their base in Newport, near Telford in Shropshire they set up a new business called Fused Glass Art

 



Their business is all about upcycling, adding value to a cheap unwanted glass bottle, by transforming it into high quality useful kitchen ware.  The bottles get transformed in a kiln, the bottles are slumped for many hours in high degree heat and they form what is known as ‘squashed bottles’ The bottles flatten down to create a lovely smooth, fairly flat bottle that can then be turned into a number of items including olive dishes, coasters and plates.

The bestsellers in the range have been the blue bottle range but the new squashed bottle clocks are now proving a real hit.
 

So if you are looking for an eco-friendly unusual Christmas present at this time of year then look out for Elaine and Dave at local farmers and craft markets, or visit their website at www.fusedglassart.co.uk

Saturday 17 November 2012

Drink your milk!

Waste milk creates a carbon footprint equivalent to thousands of car exhausts, according to a study that highlights the environmental costs of inefficient farming and the aggressive marketing of supermarket food.

Scientists have calculated that the 360,000 tonnes of waste milk that is poured down British drains each year creates greenhouse gases equivalent to 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is about the same as that emitted in a year by 20,000 cars.

Figures show that 99 per cent of milk that is thrown away by British consumers is designated as "avoidable waste".  Almost half of this waste is a result of too much being served, with the rest discarded for being sour or past its sell-by date. 

 
The scientists also found that if the developed world cut its consumption to Japanese levels – about half of that in the West – the cut in global greenhouse gas emissions would be equivalent to taking about 10 million cars off the road permanently.

The researchers concluded that reducing food and drink waste could have a significant impact on the greenhouse gases linked with climate change.

Dr David Reay at Edinburgh University, who led the study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, said: "At present about 30 per cent of food is wasted globally. If we can tackle this, it would be like taking about 20 million cars off the road permanently." 

For tips on avoiding waste visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com 

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Recycling chip fat in Shropshire

As committed composters we know that all organic material can technically be composted, i.e. it will rot down. And so leftover cooking oil can be in theory added to a compost heap.  However we would strongly discourage this approach because it may attract vermin and its messy and not really adding much useful to the compost.  

This is why its great to see that there is now facilities for recycling cooking oil in place across Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. 




So dont put your used cooking oil down the drain, save it up in a sealed container like a plastic bottle and take it to your nearest recycling centre instead.


Shrewsbury farm to generate green energy from waste

A new renewable energy plant capable of transforming 8,000 tonnes of crops and manure into power each year is to be built near Shrewsbury.

The 0.5MW green energy plant has been approved for planning and once built it will be  transforming 8,000 tonnes of crops and manure into biogas which can be used to generate a renewable 'green' energy.   The process also helps the environment by producing a compost like output for the farm.

The farm in question is Preston Boats Farm in Preston-on-Severn, Uffington. 

Bokashi - FAQ's

What is Bokashi?

Bokashi is the Japanese term for "fermented organic matter".  Bokashi systems are essentially a bucket with a lid which is used as a type of home composting system.  Unlike home composting though this is designed to be an anaerobic process - its a bit like the process farmers use to make silage.  The term Bokashi is also applied to the 'Effective Micro-organisms' which come with the system. 

What are Effective Micro-organisms?

Effective Micro-organisms (EM) are the key to the Bokashi process - they are the helpful bugs such as lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and phototrophic bacteria.  EM are usually supplied in the form of a bran which is coated in molasses and a culture of micro-organisms.   You can buy it on-line and it will be posted out to you.

Why use Bokashi?

The main benefit to Bokashi is that it allows you to treat things like meat & fish which you shouldn't normally home compost.  It does this by effectively pre-treating the food waste with a fermenting type process leaving it OK to then go in the compost heap. 
 

Where can I get a Bokashi?

Bokashi units are available at specially discounted prices through the local councils.  You can buy on-line via www.shropshire.getcomposting.com 


How do I use Bokashi ?

When your Bokashi system arrives in the post you can immediately start adding all your food scraps, including cooked food and even meat, fish, eggs and dairy.  Every time you add more food waste just sprinkle a handful of the bran over the top.  Keep the lid tightly sealed to minimize odours and keep the air out.  Once its full leave it about a fortnight and you should find that your food waste has been almost 'pickled' & has a sweet and sour vinegary smell. 

What can I do with the fermented food waste?

You can now safely add the food waste to your compost heap - where it will decompose rapidly and break down to form compost.  You can use this material as an active compost in the bottom of bean trenches.

Save money on food

As its coming up to Christmas we could all do with a bit more spare cash in our wallet, right? Well did you know that the average UK family throws out approximately £550 worth of food each year! 

Shocking, isn't it?  But it's true and most of that is simply because we buy too much or cook too much and then never get round to eating it.  So one way to help avoid this is simply by planning out your meals for the week ahead in a diary, you can reduce waste because you can plan out a shopping list, so that you only buy what you really need.  
Other ways of reducing food waste are really as simple as just storing food in a different place. Two-thirds of UK households are letting fruit go to waste, simply by keeping it out in a fruit bowl whereas fruit like apples will last up to 14 days longer if kept in the fridge.  


And it's not just all about saving money.  Producing, distributing, storing and cooking food all requires energy, fuel and water which contributes to global warming.  Think of a pack of cheese for example.  The resources that go into raising the cows, processing the milk, transporting the cheese, refrigeration, the fuel we use to drive to the shop to buy it - all this to put it in the bin at the end of the week.  It's insane but it's happening all over the country right now - in fact in the UK we throw away the equivalent of more than three million slices of cheese every single day!


In Shropshire and Telford around 20% of all household waste is food waste - so that means we're producing about 40,000 tonnes of the stuff every year.  Of course now some of this is being composted or fed to pets but even if it doesn’t all end up in landfill its far better to avoid this waste in the first place.  


For more handy hints and tips visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Thursday 1 November 2012

WINTER WORMS!


Thanks to the Wiggly Facebook Group for these very handy Questions and Answers on worm composting and how to get the best out of your wormery this winter.  A special thank you to Simon Sherlock - Master Composter who has contributed on many of these answers and tips:


Tips for ensuring your wormery keeps going all through the winter:

1: Try and move the wormery somewhere out of the rain - a shed or garage is perfect for over-wintering as it will help keep the frost, as well as the rain, off. If this isn't possible keep it as close to a house wall as possible so it gains some heat and is at least a little sheltered from the wind, rain and frost. (Wrapping it in a bit of bubble wrap will help to insulate it too)

2: Make sure you have a moisture mat on top of your worms. They keep the worms in the dark (so they work better), dryer and warmer. It's worth noting that the worms will slow down a bit as it gets colder anyway so every little helps to keep them active.

3: You'll be less inclined to venture out and won't have so much veg to water/feed anyway, but do make sure you keep an eye on your wormery sump. Empty it regularly - you don't want it to fill and potentially drown your worms. 

Whilst your worms will slow down when it gets really cold and in extremes they will congragate in the centre of your bin - they will still eat your waste so feed regularly with your kitchen waste - generally they keep going.

To help keep your worms working really well this winter tuck them up with a nice Coir Blanket from Wiggly Wigglers to make sure your worms keep chomping through your kitchen waste all year round.  Visit http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/shop/searchresults.html?findit=S121001