Recycling is a hot topic and everyone's in on the act but what of left-over food scraps? Find out what happens organic waste and how it can be recycled.
These days, most people attempt to recycle, at least their paper and plastic waste and even though it's just as easy to recycle organic matter, it's still not common practice.
Why Should Organic Waste Be Recycled?
Around 50% of landfill waste could be composted but instead the buried organic waste, which cannot rot properly in a landfill site, turns to black slime that produces methane – a gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It can pollute water and the natural habitat of many animals if it escapes. By composting domestic waste much needed nutrients are reintroduced into the land and in turn, the life of many animals and plants, including us humans.
What Can Be Composted?
Any organic waste from the kitchen or garden – food scraps, peelings, all fruit and vegetables, teabags, coffee grounds, hair, nail clippings (yes, even them), tissues, paper towels and napkins and egg boxes can all be composted, all people have to do is scrape it into a different bin.
What Cannot Be Composted?
Don’t compost any cooked food, meat, diary products, fish, eggs, bread, cakes or biscuits unless there is a burning desire to see a few rat fans roaming around the house and garden.
Composting Solutions
- Composting Bins
For those thinking of getting a composter for organic waste but are short of space or don’t fancy the idea of it sitting on the kitchen worktop, there are a number of new recycling bins on the market. Some look like any normal bin but have two inner refuse containers – a large section for general waste and a smaller bucket for organic waste. Thankfully manufacturers realise that all kitchens are different so the selection on offer is ever-growing. There are also eco-friendly 100% natural starch-based biodegradable bin liners available with certain brands, so look out for them.
- Ceramic Compost Pots
Bench sized ceramic composters are available both in shops and online and can hold up to four litres of kitchen scraps. The inbuilt carbon filter eliminates odours and maintains good air flow to prevent rotting. When the crock is full just dump the scraps on the compost heap in the back yard and watch the mini eco-system grow.
- No Garden?
No worries. Those who live in flats but want to do their bit for the environment can still get involved. Tea leaves make great plant food and for people not too upset by creepy crawlies, wormeries can be housed inside or on small balconies and are an excellent way to produce compost for window boxes and house plants.
Other Green Living Articles:
- Go Green – Buy Local
- Vermiculture and Worm Composting
- Interview: Editor of The Ecologist on Fairtrade and Organic Produce
