We recently joined the Food Recycling Revolution, with our local Port Adelaide Enfield Council. For those who haven't heard of it, this is a promotion of the ability to recycle all types of food scraps as well as food contaminated paper and cardboard like pizza boxes, serviettes and even tissues.
All these items are collected by the kerbside service fortnightly along with other typical green waste such as leaves, grass clippings and weeds. This is then taken to a commercial composting facility which processes it and turns it back into useful things like compost.
At the moment, the council is running a bit of a competition for residents. By signing up online at their website, you are sent a large sticker to place on your bin (see the picture below) AND have a chance to win a $100 Bunning's voucher.
Australians place so much food waste into landfill bins, and in the landfill site, it unfortunately cannot break down properly and causes several environmental issues. Diverting this type of waste is so important and I feel pretty lucky to have such a proactive council running our bin services.
Each year, we are provided with a roll of compostable, ecofriendly bags to collect food scraps. The council also provides a free compost caddy to sit on the kitchen bench. All you need to do is line the caddy with the bags provided, tip food scraps and accepted items into it and then carry it out to your green bin when it gets full.
I know a lot of people think it's a smelly process, but if you are already putting food into your normal kitchen bin, this is actually a better option as it is separated from other rubbish and can be emptied frequently. This is a fantastic way to do away with the need for plastic bin liners in your regular rubbish as you'll find they become unnecessary.
Most people don't have a home compost system set up, so this allows anyone to compost food. If you do have home composting, you'll know that maintaining a balance in the compost pile is so important and some items like bones and processed food are not exactly ideal. So this green bin system means all this can be used and diverted from landfill.
Councils do differ across Australia and even South Australia, so do check if yours offers something similar, and if they don't, why not ask them.
Here's a quick list of what we can currently put into our green organics bin:
>Fruit and Veggie scraps
>Meat & Bones
>Dairy
>Processed foods like cake, bread and junk food
>Tea bags and Coffee grinds
>Egg shells
>Oyster shells
>Hair and pet fur
>Dust and fluff from the vacuum cleaner
>Shredded paper
>Pizza boxes
>Tissues
>Compostable party ware
>Pet poo
>Compostable bags
>Compostable cotton buds (not plastic stemmed ones though)
And of course all natural garden waste
There are probably even more items that can go in there, but DO check the guidelines first. These will change over time and definitely differ between councils due to many factors including their handling facility.
For anyone in the Port Adelaide Enfield Council area, just head to this KESAB page for all the details, including how to get your free caddy and bags.
