Community Composting Group
In 2021, after the launch of Green Meadows, a group of community members came together to address local food waste. Inspired by projects in other cities, they initiated a Meadows community composting project. Climate Champion Peter, one of the original members, continues to play a vital role in this project.
Since then, the group has expanded to include 70 member households. They maintain regular communication, sharing progress and composting advice, and gather every three months to empty the compost or, as Peter calls it, Black Gold!
Building a community one food scrap at a time: Peter’s story
Why community composting?
Peter and the community members were concerned about the amount of food waste that ends up in landfill. There is currently no council food waste collection and many homes across the Meadows only have small gardens or yards, if any at all, making home-composting less appealing. Wanting to do his bit to help the community and dispose of food in an environmentally friendly manner, he got in touch with Green Meadows to see if a community composting solution could be a viable solution.
“Did you know that an average of 4.5 million tonnes of food is thrown away every year? That is the equivalent of 8 meals a week!”
How did Green Meadows help?
Green Meadows listened to Peter’s concerns and ideas and put aside some weekends for the group to get together and plan what a project like this could look like in the Meadows. Green Meadows invited groups such as Compost Works in Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Food Partnership who delivered insightful training sessions with all the tips and tricks needed to support Peter and the group’s knowledge and to guide their decision-making. Some of the information gained from these sessions were:
- How to design the boxes
- What legal forms are required
- How much will it cost
- How to get the local community involved
- What to do with the compost
Green Meadows financed the whole project and continues to finance maintenance, events, and any additional costs that are needed to develop the project further. The information we developed as a result can be found here on the Green Meadows Knowledge Bank.
How does it work?
The method of compost Peter and the group chose to do consists of 3 boxes, one filled every 3 months while the other 2 break down into compost. This means the group can empty a box of compost every 3-4 months. The compost is first offered back to member households for their houseplants or gardens with the rest donated to growing projects.
To become a member household, residents sign up via Green Meadows. One of the community members will meet them to go through how it works, give them a key code for the boxes and a free kitchen compost caddy.
This caddy has a sticker on the front which specifies what can and can’t be composted, which makes it simple for anyone who is new to composting. Once the caddy is full, they can head to their designated composting site, unlock the active box and dispose of the food waste.
Each site has an allocated Climate Champion which regularly checks if the boxes need any repair or maintenance however it’s every member’s responsibility to keep the compost mixture healthy!
The outcome
Using the information and advice provided, Peter worked with the other members of the community composting group to set up three composting boxes at two sites in the Meadows – one at the Queens Walk Recreation Ground and the other at the Memorial Gardens Wildlife Garden. The community composting has now been running for over a year and recently emptied the fresh compost which was donated to the Library and Victoria Primary School, and towards another community-led initiative to create more wildlife-friendly habitats around the Meadows.
The benefits of composting
As well as reducing food waste being sent to landfills, community composting offers numerous benefits, such as:
- producing valuable compost that enriches the soil
- it is a sustainable form of waste management
- it decreases methane emissions and mitigates climate change
- it encourages the community to get involved and teaches the community about the environment
Want to get involved?
Contact Heather on 0115 718 2028 to get your own caddy. Not a composting site near you? Don’t worry the composting group is looking to add more composting boxes at more sites throughout the Meadows.
If you have an idea you believe would help the community, let us know by completing this form. Alternatively, if you would like to become a Climate Champion and get involved with a project, email engage@greenmeadows.uk or call 0115 718 2028 to find out more.