Organics Infrastructure – Home Composting grants awarded and project summaries

In the 2014 round (round 2) the Environmental Trust approved 7 grants, totalling $365,886.

Hawkesbury City Council

The Hawkesbury compost revolution – $58,875

Hawkesbury City Council aims to reduce organic waste entering the Council-owned landfill by engaging households in food waste avoidance, home composting and worm farming. The program will be available to all residents across the local-government area, including those without a garden organics service; however, the council will focus on the high density and low socio-economic areas of Bligh Park and Hobartville. Subsidised home compost bins and worm farms will be available as well as workshops and an on-line quiz.

Inverell Shire Council

Creating a composting community at Inverell, NSW – $73,958

At present 57.4% of household waste entering Inverell landfill is organic (green waste and food waste). Inverell Shire Council will partner with 5 organisations to lead a project of engagement and education to trigger a 50% reduction in the amount of household organic waste landfilled. This will include delivering educational workshops to activate waste avoidance behaviours and distributing compost tumblers and worm farms to households.

Kiama Municipal Council

OK Organics Kiama: home composting workshops – $26,977

The OK Organics Kiama home composting workshops will provide education and tools for diverting food waste from landfill by using simple processes to convert it into a nutrient-rich fertiliser for garden enhancement. This program will run concurrently with the rollout of the council’s kerbside food and garden organics collection. Monthly composting workshops will be open to all residents of Kiama Municipality, with an emphasis on engaging residents of multi-unit dwellings, where there may be perceived barriers to participating in traditional compost methods, and rural residents who will not receive a kerbside organics collection service.

Riverina Eastern Regional Organisation of Councils (REROC)

Compost doctor – $42,010

This project will be delivered at two levels: home composting workshops and the Compost Doctor. The Compost Doctor will use the latest technologies to provide on-going access to answers about composting 24/7. A database of knowledge will automate responses to common questions and the database will be added to every time a unique question is asked and referred to a local horticulturalist for response. The project builds on the Garden Smart workshops, which have been delivered to more than 3000 people over the last 5 years.

Tenterfield Shire Council

Tenterfield Shire Council community composting project – $71,030

Tenterfield Shire Council will partner with Granite Borders Landcare, Moombahlene Aboriginal Lands Council, Tenterfield Community Gardens and Northern Tablelands Local Land Services to deliver a 2-year community composting program’. This program will increase skills and knowledge in composting food and garden organic waste with the additional benefit of reducing the amount of material going into landfill by up to 40%. The project will assist at least 1200 households to manage their own food and garden organic waste through the distribution of kitchen caddies, compost bins and worm farms.

Wingecarribee Shire Council

Waste Wise in Wingecarribee – home composting and worm farming – $36,600

Waste Wise in Wingecarribee will show how easy food waste diversion is via home composting and worm farming. Underpinned by food-waste reduction messages, the project will provide a series of engaging composting and worm farming workshops. Through supporting, encouraging and educating the community, the council and the community will work together to reduce organics to landfill. Participants in the workshops will receive a free worm farm or compost bin.

Wollongong City Council

The Gong’s compost revolution is our food waste solution – $66,136

Currently food waste represents around 50% of the average 120-litre garbage bin in Wollongong. Council will deliver a hands-on approach and provide the tools necessary (such as worm farms and compost bins) to enable residents and households to reprocess their unavoidable food waste and divert it from landfill. With an aim to divert food waste from 700 households, the council will work with a range of housing types (including partnering with strata managers) to develop an effective means of assisting residents across various multi-unit dwellings.

In the 2013 round (round 1) the Environmental Trust approved 4 grants, totalling $1,228,302.

Holroyd Council

Gardens for Balconies and Backyards: healthy compost and worm farms – $37,800

Holroyd City Council will engage culturally and linguistically diverse community groups and residents in a Gardening for Balconies and Backyards – Healthy Living in Holroyd program. Participants will learn how to use a range of on-site waste-reduction equipment, including worm farms, compost bins and bokashi systems; with a particular emphasis on food-waste reduction and organics recycling for multi-unit dwellings. The program will link people to local community gardening projects as well as enhancing skills and capacity for residents to grow their own produce at home.

Singleton Council

Singleton Waterwise Compost Gardens – $109,207

The Singleton Council Waterwise Compost Gardens Program will provide informative workshops and 1500 compost tumblers to participating households to reduce everyday organic waste from homes by at least 50%. This program is an integral part of organics waste management expressed in the Singleton Waste Strategy 2013–2033, and links to a large number of initiatives aimed at providing the community with the tools necessary to reduce their waste, conserve water and establish sustainable home gardens. Council’s 2011 waste-bin audit showed that food and green waste constitutes 53.4% of all waste in kerbside bins. Reducing this waste by 50% will divert more than 10,000 tonnes from landfill.

Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC)

ROCovering organics: organics recovery across the SSROC region – $998,555

This 3-year regional project provides opportunity to reduce and recover household organic waste across the 13 Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils member councils. A multi-lingual, online interactive platform will be supplemented by face-to-face training to help 14,500 residents avoid food waste and gain the skills and equipment to home compost or worm farm.

The Hills Shire Council

The Hills Shire Council compost revolution – $82,740

Hills Shire Council will partner with the Compost Revolution to provide an online platform to deliver education, worm farms and compost bins to residents. This project specifically supports the Hills Kitchen Rocks food-waste avoidance program by providing information on how to manage the non-avoidable food waste. The aim is to support 1400 residents over a one-year period to gain the skills and equipment to home compost or worm farm.