Summer 2009 Shropshire Master Composters Newsletter

8/9/2019 Summer 2009 Shropshire Master Composters Newsletter

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Shropshire Community Recycling Network

Grants are available for community groups tohelp develop recycling and re-use initiatives.Shropshire Council awards around 40,000 perannum to the community sector via ShropshireCommunity Recycling Ltd. (SCRL)

The closing date for this years grant applicationshave just passed and we have had manyexcellent projects applying some of whichinvolve composting and wormeries.

This community interest company (CIC) a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. Theyrepresent the voluntary and community sector inShropshire who are involved in waste andenvironmental projects. Shropshire MasterComposters are now members of the network.

James attends board meetings in a non-executive capacity and Val should be electedonto the board of SCRL at their next AGM.Other than distributing grants the group acts as

the voice of the voluntary sector so if you haveanything to input please let us know.

For more information visit www.scrl.org.uk

Update on cheap compost bins

As you are aware WRAP are moving out of thecompost bin market. However ShropshireCouncil in partnership with Veolia will ensurethere is another scheme in place for Shropshireresidents to get cheap compost bins.

We have been looking around the market andwe have now narrowed it down to two major

manufacturers. Both schemes offer anexcellent range of bins and at much lowerprices too. We aim to launch our new schemein the autumn which is not the best time to beselling compost bins but we will try to promotethem as much as possible through the mediaand leaflets and the like.

The WRAP scheme was a massive success(15,000 + units sold in 3 years) so we aim not toreinvent the wheel but wed value any thoughts

on which bins you think work best and how wecan market the bins and maximise uptake.

Love food, hate waste training

25 Master Composters have recently attended atraining course on food waste preventiondelivered by WRAP. This aimed to raiseawareness of food waste and ways to prevent it.

WRAP are happy, indeed keen to offer trainingto more Composters so if anyone is interested in

this idea please contact James Thompson whowill organise another session.

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Shropshire Master Composters Newsletter
http://www.scrl.org.uk/http://www.scrl.org.uk/


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New faces

We are expanding the group by recruitinganother 20 new Master Composters. Veolia andTelford & Wrekin Council respectively will befunding a course which will be at ShropshireWildlife Trust and Garden Organic on 26th & 27th

September respectively.

We have enough names on the waiting listalready to fill that course up but if morevolunteers come forward I shall again start a newwaiting list and hopefully we can stretch to

another course in early 2010 (though it may haveto wait til the new financial year).

We are still desperately trying to get morerecruits from the Bridgnorth area but with verylimited success. I am going to write to all theallotments in that area looking for volunteers asa starter but if you know anyone around there orhave any ideas on that front please let me know.

Although this is probably not the best time of

year to recruit it was just the soonest the GardenOrganic training team were available. Wintercan be a quieter time of year for events andgardening generally.

As such once the new recruits are trained wewould be keen to arrange some winter events sothat they can hit the ground running. There arelots of Christmas markets and such at this timeof year. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Perhaps we should have a get together withsome nibbles in October so we can all meet thenew volunteers and settle them into the team.

Love Food Hate Waste

Speaking of new faces you might have seen theback of a bus of late. The new Love Food HateWaste adverts are going out now acrossShropshire and Telford and Wrekin.

The majority of the funding has to be spent on

bill boards, bus and press advertising. The newcreative features the faces of people who looklike foods - including this excellent sheep man.

We have resources at Shropshire and TelfordCouncils which the Master Composters areencouraged to make use of such as shoppinglists, fridge magnets, leaflets and banner standsusing the faces images.

www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/shropshire

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Community Composting near Bridgnorth

A community composting scheme for the villageof Ditton Priors was established in 2007 afterrequests from local people. The primary aim forthe farm is social inclusion for adults withlearning difficulties and this activity helps them tomeet people from the area.

Further the scheme aims to reduce carbonemissions by cutting the amount oftransportation needed to get excess gardenwaste to the local tip and hopefully it helps

reduce the amount going to landfill.

The garden waste is turned into a useful productfor use on Oak Farm which provides a dayservice for people with learning disabilities. Thisgives meaningful work to users and increasescommunity interaction by further involvement ofthe service users and local residents.

We are pleased with the way the scheme hasworked out and would be happy to work with

other communities who might wish to establishsimilar projects.

The Oak Farm in Ditton Priors wants to expandits tea rooms which uses all freshly grownproduce into a regional farm shop and heritagemuseum. They're going head to head withanother West midlands project for the peoplesmillions lottery funding. It would be really good ifyou can call 08702 433 301 to vote for them.

Schools composting

There seemed to be some uncertaintysurrounding schools composting. I think theressome urban myth doing the rounds that schoolsare banned from composting or need a wastemanagement licence to do so.

This is not the case. All schools are activelyencouraged to compost. Indeed the Council(through Veolia) will fund up to 2 free compostbins for any school in Shropshire. All they needto do is ring the WRAP order line, mention they

are a school & the freeness ensues.

Where this might have come from I think is theDEFRA consultation back in 2008 onstreamlining environmental permitting. Theyproposed that small scale composting was stillexempted from having to have a wastemanagement permit but that they should registerthe fact they had one every 3 years and pay a50 registration fee to the Environment Agency.

The charges stem from the governmentsinsistence that the permitting regime (which ismainly regulating businesses) be fiscally neutral.Many people have made representations aboutsmall scale community composting and Im surethey will address our concerns.

The only really major issue with schools doingcomposting is the animal by products regulationswhich came in after foot & mouth. This restrictskitchen waste from being composted where

animals are present. But as long as the schoolsnot keeping pigs its not a problem.

The other thing is that they need to use thecompost which is produced on the schoolgrounds they cant let it leave the site. The bestplace to get advice on these issues, is thecommunity composting network

www.communitycompost.org

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Real Nappies

We are currently working on producing a newleaflet to promote the use of real washablenappies. We are keen to encourage thisbecause by the time a baby is potty trained mosthave gone through 5,000 nappy changes!

In Shropshire we produce around 6,000 tonnesof disposable nappy waste per year - equivalentto more than 400 double-decker buses. Atpresent all nappy waste has to be buried inlandfill sites and so nappy waste alone costs

council tax payers more than 350,000 perannum just in disposal costs.

If any of you are particularly interested in thissubject then I would be happy to organise a talkfrom a local real nappy expert and we can supplyleaflets once theyre ready and promotionalresources so you can help spread the word.

For more information on Real Nappies visitwww.shropshirenappy.org.uk

Government funding for pilot plant

The bio-digester in Ludlow, which convertsmunicipal kitchen waste into gas and fertiliser viacalled anaerobic digestion, has been awardedeven more government funding. The money willbe used to install technology to increaseproduction of biogas by up to 15 %.

The funding has been awarded by DEFRA toBiocycle South Shropshire Ltd. the operatingcompany that run the plant of behalf of its jointowners Shropshire Council and Biogen-

Greenfinch.

The new technology that will be installed at theplant by March 2011 will maximise the amount ofbiogas produced by breaking down cellstructures prior to digestion.

David Roberts, Shropshire Councils Cabinetmember for local environment and economy,said: Ludlows pioneering biodigester really hashelped to put Shropshire on the map in terms of

waste management. It helps us to demonstrateto the rest of the world how anaerobic digestioncan help meet the challenges of reducing wasteto landfill and carbon emissions.

Rosanna Taylor-Smith, Shropshire Councillor forLudlow North and Biocycle board member, said:We are delighted to secure this funding for thisinnovative and ground-breaking facility. Itrecognises the valuable role the biodigesterplays in diverting organic waste, especially foodwaste, away from landfill, and using it as asource of renewable energy.

Food waste is collected in the Ludlow area andtaken to the plant by Veolia the Councils wastecollection contractors. This is augmented bycommercial food waste which is collected free ofcharge from businesses in the area by localcommunity group Cwym Harry Land Trust.

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Freecycle saves waste

Thousands of Shropshire people are helping toprevent hundreds of tonnes of waste each yearby using Freecycle.org the website which helpspeople to either re-home unwanted items or toget something for free.

Latest figures show that more than 16,000people are now members of one of the Freecyclegroups on the site that cover the Shropshire area- a 60 per cent increase in the number ofmembers over the past year.

Groups have been set up for Shrewsbury,Telford, Ludlow, Whitchurch/Market Drayton,Oswestry, Bridgnorth and the Bishops Castlearea. The groups allow people to find items nearto them, making it easier to collect items andhelping to cut down on traffic.

Research suggests that on average activeFreecycle members re-use around 38kg perannum via the website, so the Shropshire

members could be keeping about 600 tonnes ofwaste out of landfill every year.

To find out more information and to start usingFreecycle visit www.freecycle.org

Congratulations for composters

Shropshires Master Composters have beenrecognised for their efforts to help reduceShropshires waste. The group finished runnersup in the Environmental Project Category at therecent Pride of Shropshire awards.

The event was hosted by Shrewsbury Town FCat their new Pro-star stadium and featured

speeches by local councillors and others, all ofwhom were very impressed by the group.

Although we didnt win its great to get this far insuch a prestigious competition and the finalwinning project was a very good one. So welldone to everyone for all your efforts.

WRAP support

Many of you will already know Trevor Bell who isWRAPs Regional WasteReduction Advisor for theWest Midlands.

Trevor started on homecomposting in particular but isnow evolving a broader remit

to support all aspects ofwaste minimisation.

Trevor is sometimes available to help give talksor staff shows and events should you need anextra pair of hands. You can contact him [email protected]

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Apple event

Shropshire Council and Shropshire MasterComposters are attending the Apple Weekend atthe National Trusts Attingham Park Estate,Atcham near Shrewsbury on Saturday 3rd &Sunday 4th October 2009.

We will be highlighting that more than an applea day gets thrown away and giving people ideasfor how to avoid this in the first place or compostthem of course, it if they have any left over.

If you like cider or apple chutney this is the placeto be. Let James Thompson know if you want tohelp on the day.

Seeds

Some volunteers have enquired about seedswhich always make a nice free give away forevents and school visits and hopefully helpencourage people to grow their own and thusmake them more likely to compost at home.

As we are running out and they are useful I havemanaged to secure some funding from theCouncils PR budget so we have ordered someRocket seeds where the packet will be brandedwith Shropshire Council logo.

They can print directly onto the seed packetitself, so the seeds will include your website and

yahoo email address actually on the packet, sotheyll make an excellent calling card too.

Once they are printed which should be not toolong now, we will deliver them to the local stores,so you will have some in each area:

North Linda Sheppard

Central Val Oldaker / Shirehall

South James Cheese

New study on home composting

Finally, its official! Home composting bins onaverage divert 150kg of organic waste each yearfrom the household waste stream, according tolong-awaited research from the ResourceFutures and the Water Resource Centre whichwas funded by Waste and Resource ActionProgramme (WRAP).

Commenting on the

research under-taken toreach the 150kg per binper year diversion figure,Julian Parfitt, Director atResource Futures,explained that whilepeople who are new tocomposting may divertmore, many people werebuying second or third

bins and although the"best value" he had gotwas 160kg per bin peryear, to "err on the side of caution" he hadadvised WRAP to go for the 150kg figure.

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Do you need leaflet racks?

Some Perspex leafletstands which werehidden away in acupboard gathering dusthave been salvaged.They hold A5 leafletswhich suit most of thecomposting ones nicely.They can help keep allthe various leaflets niceand tidy if you want

some then just ask.

Ideas and inspiration

There are many ways to highlight the benefits ofhome composting. If you want to inspiration, andmore detailed information visit the gardenorganic micro site www.homecomposting.org.uk.

Log in = shropsPassword= shr3dd3r.

Recipe cards

As part of the Love food, hate waste campaignwe have had lots of recipe cards printed. Theyare glossy (wipe clean) card. The idea is to getpeople to love their left overs and use up foodrather than throw it away. If you would like someto add to your exhibits or to inspire you to cookmore at home just ask.

Angels Trumpets

Nestled away in the heart of a Shrewsburyallotment is a hidden treasure for gardeningenthusiasts. Meole Brace allotments club hostsone of the best collections of Brugmansia(Angels Trumpets) on the planet.

This beautiful delicate flower is native to SouthAmerica but thrives on Meole allotments inShrewsbury.

With more than 80 different varieties on a quarter

of an acre this is certainly a very specialcollection. Officially designated as a PlantHeritage National Plant Collection the plot is nowofficially Europes largest private collection.

Mr Luigi Valducci emigrated to Shrewsbury from

Italy after the war and has been nurturing theseflowers on his allotment plot for many years now building up his prize winning collection.

Valducci Brugmansias in Shrewsbury, is open tothe public for viewings; please ring 07921368968 / 01743 872030 or [email protected] arrange a tour. Viewingtimes are 10:00-16:00 (by appointment only).

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Gardeners World's Alys Fowler Confirmed

This years Master Composter Conference guestspeaker has been confirmed as BBC gardeningexpert Alys Fowler.

This years NationalMaster Composterconference is onSaturday 25th July inRyton. Amongst all theother talks and activitiesMaster Composters will

get the chance to hearall about 'Alys'Adventures InComposting'.

Alys Fowler, who presents BBC2's GardenersWorld is well known as an avid advocate ofcompost. She will join us at Garden Organic atthe conference to share some of her moreextreme composting experiments and help out inthe Master Composter Graduation.

Compostable plastic

Ive always been wary of compostable bagsbecause theyre made out of stuff which could befood, and to deliberately make non-edible stuff

out of food seemswrong. However, Idid think that atleast they worked!They dont. My

father-in-law buysfood atSainsburys, and alot of it comes incompostableplastic bags. Hesbeen merrilythrowing these inthe compostdalek. When the

time came to empty it, it had been in for a year.

As you can see from the picture, most of theplastic had barely started to break down. Not

only that, where the plastic had trappedmaterials, these had started to compostanaerobically and the smell was awful! I thinkthis is not the way to compost! Val

Upcoming Events

Vron Gate Show near Ford Saturday 1st

August 2009

Farmer Phils Festival in Ratlinghope -

Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th August

Ellesmere Flower & Produce Show Saturday 29th August

Ludlow Green Fayre Sunday 30th August

Welsh Food Fairat Glansevern Hall, Berriew Sat 5th and Sunday 9th September

Michelmas Fayre in Bishops Castle Sat26th and Sunday 27th September

Ironbridge Heritage Festival Saturday 26th

& Sunday 27th September

Whitchurch Blackberry Fair Sat 3rd

October

Apple Weekend at Attingham Park, Atcham -Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th October

Madeley Green Day Sat 4th October

THANK YOU!For all your efforts

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Summer 2009 Shropshire Master Composters Newsletter