The Compost Revolution has come to Phillip Bay with four neighbouring households joining to accept delivery of the fantastic Aerobin from the Three Council Ecological Footprint initiative.

Why a compost revolution?

Food waste accounts for around 30% of waste in general waste bins in NSW. Food waste includes food scraps but also food that is spoiled or out of date, and leftovers.

Studies in Australia have shown that out of five bags of food we buy, one bag will be thrown away. Food waste can be reduced through improved shopping, better storage and organisation, and clever cooking.

When food waste goes to landfill it slowly rots producing potent greenhouse gases and contributing to harmful leachate.

But is food waste even waste?

..Or the start of a beautiful thing called compost?

Turning food scraps and garden clippings into compost is not just about avoiding waste but holding on to those valuable nutrients and using them to nourish soil, leading to a healthier garden that requires less water and no synthetic fertilisers.

People that compost have been shown to adopt other sustainable practices as well; they start thinking about their waste, buy less packaging and recycle more. By composting at home you are cutting down waste, keeping trucks off the road, preventing greenhouse gas emissions, saving landfill space and creating your own wonderful product.

On the morning of Saturday, December 19, Indra and I assembled the Aerobin delivered earlier in the week.  It was very easy to assemble, as you can see from the video below.  We decided to use the Kick Start recipe.  We covered the bottom with 10 cm of mulch from our garden followed by 5 cm of compost from my existing 20 year old compost bin.  This will kick start the process by introducing worms and other lovely natures' helpers into the mix.  After this we laid some dry leaves, more compost and finally some kitchen waste.

Questions will be asked later to make sure you've been paying attention!

Please visit our other Live Local pages: Making Our Home Sustainable, Permaculture East Comes to Phillip Bay!!! and Sustainability Street Approach Comes To Phillip Bay!!