This article is from page 12 of the 2011-09-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
A NEW initiative which focuses on home composting will be launched in Shannon later this week.
The county’s first home composting demonstration site will be officially opened at the allotments in Shannon on Saturday morning (11.45am).
The county’s mayor, Pat Hayes, will perform the ceremony at the section of land which is located behind Illaunamanagh Cemetery. Those in attendance will be encouraged to take action, save money, prevent food waste and start composting.
“Both food waste prevention and home composting is something that can save households in Clare up to € 1,000 annually. By using savvy shopping techniques, planning household meals wisely and composting food scraps and garden materials at home, people can both reduce their weekly shopping bill and their rubbish charges while helping to reduce the amount of organic scraps that end up in landfill sites,” said Mr Hayes.
Clare County Council in partnership with the Stop Food Waste Team, an Environmental Protection Agency funded initiative, has trained 12 master composter volunteers from throughout the county.
The master composters are now available in communities to provide information on food waste prevention and home composting in Clare.
The Stop Food Waste Initiative was a response following Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) survey results which reported that the average person in Ireland was throwing out 300kg of organic scraps each annually from homes.
These food scraps and garden trimmings cost households in terms of disposal charges. The programme provides advice and training on how individuals can reduce the generation of these materials and safely manage them to create useful mulches and soil amendments.
The home composting site demonstrates compost turning and holding units, a leaf mould making bin; which are all simple ways to convert garden materials into a nutrient rich compost.
Master composter volunteers will also be on hand to introduce visitors to food waste prevention and composting. Members of the public are welcome to attend the official opening of the compost demonstration site and strong footwear are recommended.