Residents in Hunslet Moor are setting up a ‘Compost Collective’ to turn their food waste into compost locally.
Compost Collective Hunslet will be located at the Friends of Hunslet Moor Hub at Hunslet Moor Park. Leeds City Council Hunslet and Riverside ward Councillors Ed Carlisle, Mohammed Iqbal and Paul Wray funded the project through the Community Committee Award. It is due to be set up in early 2024.
An information meeting is being held at the Fiends of Hunslet Moor Hub on Thursday (30 November 2023) between 11am and 1pm. Why not pop by to find out more?
Compost Collective Leeds is an exciting project setting up community compost projects around Leeds. Did you know around 40% of the average households’ food bin can be composted?
Social composting, when part of a group, can be really good fun. The Compost Collective system is clever as 3 volunteer monitors make sure the compost is working well. This means the other members in the project don’t need to worry about the compost mix.
Why bother composting?
Composting enables us to recycle kitchen food scraps and reduce the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. So Take Action and do your bit! Composting is easier than most people think and is a great way to recycle material that would otherwise be discarded.
Feedback from Compost Collective projects already set up, has shown that people have made new friends after joining the scheme. Plus, the resulting soil is used by the volunteers, either individually, or for local communal flower beds.
Did you know if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions after China and USA? So, composting produces a valuable material and helps us to collectively reduce our carbon footprint. Win win!
What is involved?
The volunteers build three big bins. All materials are provided and they are specially designed to be very robust to make them vermin and vandal proof. Training is given and volunteers also receive a free kitchen caddy. The volunteer members collect food scraps and empty into the bins. When the third bin is full the first bin has become soil and is ready for emptying. Everyone mucks in with keeping the site clean and tidy and, if able to, turning the compost.
Compost is made by adding ‘greens’ (nitrogen) such as fruit and veg, flowers and egg shells to ‘browns’ (carbon) such as toilet rolls, egg boxes, autumn leaves and non-shiny paper or cardboard. Air and water combining with this material makes the compost. With the correct recipe we get a happy compost ecosystem!
With a small amount of practice, making compost is quite easy. Volunteer monitors adjust the carbon/nitrogen mix and keep an eye on everything. They also run a WhatsApp group to help the project run smoothly. Training is provided to all volunteers and the 3 monitors receive a second training session.
For more information contact Community Collective Project Worker Annie Whitehead on 07713 647770 or email her on annie.whitehead@zestleeds.org.uk or contact the Friends of Hunslet Moor team on 07443 911590.
Photo: Compost Collective Monitors Sam and Brenda check out the space required for the bins
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