Can you cut 1 Tonne of carbon pollution out of your life?
Take the challengeDid you know that almost half the waste of the average household red lid bin consists of kitchen and garden organic materials?
Yep. And most of it can be composted. It's International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW), and that means making sure everyone knows what they can do with their leftover organic resources! It goes until this Sunday, so there is still time for you to help scrap carbon pollution by avoiding landfilling your food scraps and organic materials. The Centre for Organic Research and Education (CORE) created ICAW, and is a non-profit organization that conducts year-round organic research, education and awareness activities.
Approximately 50% of the rubbish Australians put in the bin is garden-compost-friendly materials. Organically-active material buried anaerobically (without air) in landfills causes over 3% of our total greenhouse gas emissions annually.
Here are the positives of home composting, from their official website.
- Improving soil quality and garden vitality by releasing rich nutrients into the soil
- Suppressing plant diseases and pests, this reduces the need for chemical fertilisers
- Reducing the amount of organic waste going in to landfill.
- Helping soils retain moisture – you can water less often
- Helping absorb and filter runoff, protecting streams from erosion and pollution
What you can add to your compost bin:
Vegetable and fruit scraps, vegetable oil, prunings and lawn clippings, tea bags and coffee grounds, vacuum dust, shredded paper and cardboard, used potting mix, egg shells, and flowers.
What not to add to your compost bin:
Meat and bones, dairy products, diseased plants, metals, plastic and glass, animal manures, fat, magazines, large branches, weeds that have seeds or underground stems, sawdust from treated timber, pet droppings, and synthetic chemicals.
We hope this makes things a little clearer! Share this article and let your friends know what they should be composting! The more we know, the better we can do for each other and for our environment.
What you can do
Recycle at home or away to avoid wasting resources
Recycle everything you can. Anything made from metal, wood, most plastics, paper and cardboard, and electronic e-waste are all likely to have a recycling option.
4,508
Tonnes of CO2
savings pledged
savings pledged
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