Composting!


We now have 3 compost bins in the building, courtesy of the Groundwork grant.


There are 2 types - the big green triangular one in the courtyard, which is a standard composter, made of recycled plastic, and there are 2 black stacking wormery composter, which will live on the rubbish chute platforms of the 2nd and 4th floors. If they are successful we will get them for all of the landings.


Why?


· We need compost for the garden and the planting programme. The more we can make, the less we have to buy, and the fewer sacks we willhav3 to carry through the building and down into the basement.


· The less rubbish the council has to collect the lower our charges will be.


· Britain is running out of landfill sites and waste incineration has been shown to release deadly dioxins and furan chemicals into the atmosphere.


· We will have to separate our waste anyway soon under new laws - although not to the extent of Belgium where you divide your household waste into 9 different categories for appropriate disposal or recycling!


What do I do?


Please put your vegetable waste matter into the compost bins rather than with the rest of your rubbish. The black wormery bins fast track our waste into rich compost. The worms can eat many times their own body weight of vegetable matter and the process ensures that the compost bin remains odour free.


Just tip your kitchen waste onto the top of the contents of the compost bin. You don't need to stir it, press it down or anything; the worms do all the work. The black "Can o' Worms" bins on the landings have a "worm duvet" on top of the compost. Please lift this up and put the compost with the rest of the stuff underneath. The "worm duvet" disc looks like carpet underfelt, and keeps the worms safe from extreme weather and keeps them in the dark so that they come up to the top to eat the new waste.


WHAT YOU CAN COMPOST


Tea leaves, teabags and coffee grounds

Vegetable and fruit peelings

Cooked leftover vegetables

Leftover rice, cereals, beans

Stale bread

Egg shells (please crush)

Egg boxes and the insides of toilet rolls and kitchen rolls (please rip up)

Corrugated brown cardboard (please tear up)

Dead flowers

Dead leaves and clippings from plants (but not if they are diseased or have mites)


WHAT YOU CANNOT COMPOST



Meat, fish, bones and animal products

Diseased plants or infested plant cuttings

Pet poo

Dead Pets

Camden council staff


Thanks for your co-operation!
28.02..2003




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