Composting in Shropshire made easy
Residents across the County can purchase compost bins for use in their gardens at a reduced rate. Composting at home is easy, and the following information will help to get you started.
Having a compost bin enables you to recycle not only your garden waste, but also non-cooked waste from the kitchen. To get the best from your compost bin you need to add a mixture of “greens” and “browns”.
Greens
Tea bags, Grass cuttings, Vegetable peelings, Old flowers, Fruit scraps including the peel from citrus fruit, Nettles, Coffee grounds and filter paper, Bedding plants, Young annual weeds
Browns
Crushed up egg shells, Egg boxes, Cereal boxes, Corrugated cardboard packaging – scrunched up in small amounts, Tubes from kitchen or toilet rolls, Garden prunings, Dry leaves, twigs and hedge clippings, Straw and hay, Bedding from vegetarian pets, Wool, Feathers, Ashes from wood, paper or lump wood charcoal, Woody clippings, Cotton threads, String made from natural fibres, Tissues, paper towels and napkins (unless they have been in contact with meats, fats or oils), Shredded paper.
To get you started, your council has joined up with the Recycle Now Home Composting Campaign to provide composters at a reasonable price. To buy a reduced price compost bins go to www.getcomposting.com
Become a Master Composter!
The Master Composter group is run and managed by the Shropshire Council with its contractors, Veolia, helping to fund the scheme. A two-day foundation course is held at Shirehall in Shrewsbury with the second day being held at Ryton Organic Gardens in Coventry at various times throughout the year.
The course covers all elements of the home composting process including an in-depth look at the types of materials that make successful compost. Once qualified, volunteers will go out and about across the county to talk to groups about how to compost at home.