Swansea residents have the chance to go composting crazy at the weekend with hundreds of compost bins being given away by the Council.
Saturday’s the great compost bin giveaway day at the Council’s storage unit recycling centre at Winch Wen. All householders have to do is turn up in their car and carry one away on a first-come, first-served basis.
Trish Flint, the Council’s Recycling Officer, says the giveaway is a maximum of one per household. She said: “This is a great chance for people who have always wanted to do a spot of composting but perhaps were too afraid to ask.
“Every bin we give away comes with a free booklet on how to create the perfect compost, so users won’t have to risk spending a penny of their hard-earned cash to get started and they’ll have years of trouble-free composting opportunities to look forward to.”
Trish added: “Next month we’re launching the alternate weekly collection services in areas of Swansea that put out their recycling and household waste on Thursdays and Fridays.
“It’ll mean on pink weeks people should put out plastic waste, food waste and household waste. On green weeks they can put out paper, glass, card, cans, food waste and garden waste. Every week is a kitchen waste week unless people fancy using the compost bins.”
What’s in it for Swansea Council is a hope that residents will use the bins to dispose of their garden and kitchen waste in an environmentally-friendly fashion whether it’s via the weekly kerbside kitchen waste collections or via the compost bins.
Trish said: “Our angle is that even with all the new services that offer a brilliant kitchen waste collection service from every home every week, we shouldn’t forget that it’s better not to produce waste in the first place.
“Treating this waste at home not only deals with a lot of the organic waste coming out of households but produces great compost for the garden.”
The compost bins will be available at Winch Wen (Unit 21 St Lukes Court, Winchwen Industrial Estate) from 1pm to 4pm on Saturday. The bins come in two sizes and either should fit into the average family-sized car.
Also up for grabs are smaller Green Cones which don’t actually produce compost but do digest meat and fish waste as well.
Research shows families can save up to £50 a month if they buy what they need and cut down on buying food they don’t end up using.
Investigations also show that across the whole of the UK 8.3m tonnes of food is thrown away every year. If we all stopped it would have the same carbon saving as taking one in four cars off the road.
There’s lots more information about Pink Week-Green Week at www.swansea.gov.uk/recycling
And for more on how families can get saving on their shopping bills by reducing their food waste, go to www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
