HOW TO MAKE & USE COMPOST

The
ultimate guide

Nicky
Scott

Everything
you need to know to make successful compost

in
town or country, flat or field.

Composting
is easy, fun, saves you money and helps you to grow lovely plants.

Whether
you live in a flat with no garden or have a family and garden which
generate

large
amounts of food and garden waste, this book shows you how to compost

everything
that can be composted at home, work or school, and in spaces big and
small.

How
to Make & Use Compostfeatures an A-Z guide, which includes a
comprehensive

list
of what you can and can’t compost, concepts and techniques, compost
systems, and

common
problems and solutions. It includes how to:

• A-Z
  guide

• Compost
  your food waste safely

• Get
  the best out of a Dalek-type plastic composter

• Make
  your own seed, plant and cuttings compost

• Create
  liquid feed for your plants with a wormery

• Make
  compost in your flat or on your balcony

• Learn about school
  and community composting

By
making your own compost you can feed your plants, increase the
fertility of your

soil,
and help reduce the amount of waste going to landfill at the same
time.

The
Author:
Nicky
Scott
is
the Co-ordinator of the Devon Community Composting

Network;
as well as composting on his allotment, he helps set up community

composting
groups and advises schools and businesses on how to compost food
waste.

He
has helped in the development of the ‘Scotty’s Hot Box’ and the
‘RiDan’ composter,

both
now widely used for composting food waste. Nicky is a founder
director of Proper

Job
and a Compost Doctor.

ISBN
978 1 900322 59 1 – 234
mm x 156 mm – 128pp
in black and white +
16pp colour plates – £9.95
pb

Contents:

Why
make compost

How
does it work

How
to make compost

Composting
systems: How

much
space do you have?

How
much stuff do you want

to
compost?

Using
your compost

Larger
systems for several

households,
schools &

communities

A-Z
guide

For
further information, please contact Laura Turley:

Email
Laura@greenbooks.co.uk

or
phone 01803 863260.

The Warren Evans team is celebrating today after triumphing at
The Sunday Times Best Green Companies Awards 2009, one of the most coveted
green awards of the year.

The London-based bespoke bed and furniture maker was named
the 40th best green company in the UK, out of hundreds of entries,
beating off stiff competition from major retailers including Asda. It’s
not the first time that Warren Evans has triumphed in The Sunday Times Best
Green Companies Awards; it was also named as one of the top green companies in
the UK
in the 2008 awards.

The Sunday Times Best Green Companies Awards recognises
those businesses in the UK
most dedicated to environmental issues, implementing green initiatives and
engaging their workforces.

Zoe Robinson, Sustainable Development Manager at Warren
Evans, is delighted at the win. She says: “It’s fantastic to be
recognised for a second year running. It’s a great boost for our team and
our customers to have this independent recognition that we’re doing our
bit for the environment and are using working practices that are as sustainable
as possible.”

Sustainability has been at the heart of Warren Evans’
philosophy since the company was established over 30 years ago. And for the
past two years, the company has been working hard making measurable changes, adapting
the way in which it works to minimise the impact it has on the environment. As
such Warren Evans:

• is still the ONLY UK
  bed manufacturer to be officially certified by the FSC (Forest
  Stewardship Council). All beds and furniture are made using woods from
  renewable sources
• offers a fully organic and
  orthopaedic mattress range for those keen to avoid chemicals and man made
  materials
• avoids using packaging. They wrap
  beds and furniture in reusable blankets rather than using cardboards and
  plastics, minimising unnecessary waste
• has consulted Government green body
  ‘Envirowise’ and government funded service Business Link for
  practical advice on efficiencies such as workflow, machinery and gaining staff
  support
• moved the traditional Camden workshop to a new,
  self created, green and efficient work space in Walthamstow. With help from an
  interest-free loan by the Carbon Trust, they were able to make this super green
  by purchasing environmentally friendly equipment including a bio-mass boiler
  (that heats the entire building using waste wood and sawdust as fuel) and
  intelligent wood cutting machinery to minimise waste
• … they also use recycled pens,
  print leaflets and price lists on recycled paper and even use recycled envelopes
  made from elephant poo!
• and scooped a further two
  environmental awards last year, a BCE Award and an Observer Ethical Award,
  recognising its total dedication to the environment and to its customers.

The awards ceremony was held on Wednesday evening in Covent
Garden, London,
with Warren Evans receiving the prize from Alastair McCall (pictured above).

Warren Evans is also nominated in the Best Local Retailer
category in The Observer Ethical Awards 2009; the winners will be announced
next month.

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Letsbeegreener’s aim is to encourage people to reduce their use of plastic bags.

Plastic bags have been popular for many years because they are relatively cheap to produce, durable and waterproof. They are made from polyethylene which is a product of petroleum.

However, plastic bags are almost indestructible. They are not biodegradable and take an incredibly long time, between 20 to several hundred years, to finally break down into plastic dust which contaminates soil, water, oceans, seas and animal life.

Around a trillion plastic bags are used world wide every year. Of that, 10 billion of these bags are used in the UK alone annually. They are environmentally unfriendly in the extreme, filling up landfills, blocking drains and litter land, oceans and seas. In South Africa, plastic bag litter is so common they are called the ‘national flower’.

Plastic bag litter has a devastating effect on animals, birds and marine life. In India, many cows have died after eating plastic bags. Birds have been killed as a result of being trapped in plastic bags hanging off bushes and trees. Whales, seals, turtles and countless fish have become entangles and suffocated, or starved to death after ingesting plastic bags which have obstructed their digestive systems. Prior to death, these animals, birds and marine life probably suffer severe discomfort and pain.

After livestock, birds or marine life has died as a result of plastic bag ingestion, their bodies decompose and the plastic is released back into the environment where it may kill again.

Plastic bag litter can also smother plant life on land and on the bottom of oceans.

How can we help?

• Use long lasting biodegradable shopping bags: Natural cotton shopping bags are an excellent alternative to single use plastic shopping bags.
• Re-use: All plastic bags, including any existing plastic single use bags in the home or business, should be re-used as often as possible, then recycled when no longer usable.
• Recycle: This seems obvious and it may be assumed that everyone is already recycling, however, many are not.
• Compost: Reduce the number of plastic bin liners you use by composting all biodegradable waste e.g. egg shells, fruit, vegetables etc.
• Pick up plastic bag litter: Discard any litter picked up responsibly e.g. in a recycle bin.
• Encourage others: Encouragement to do all of the above would probably work better than enforcement through legislation. Many people are becoming resentful of the word ‘green’ as they feel that it is just another form of stealth tax.

Our Company started because of a personal wish to reduce our own consumption of single-use plastic shopping bags. We were unable to find the size & quality of natural cotton bag that we wanted, so we decided to design and supply our own bags. The bags are made of 100% natural, 180gsm cotton. This strength of cotton is the strongest cotton fabric available below canvas. We have chosen this grade of fabric so that you not only have strong bags, but they are soft enough to fold up small, making them easy to carry. Our 4 bag pack comes with a bag holder, making them easy to carry when not in use. Our bags are manufactured in India. No child labour is used and the workers are paid fairly.

To find out more visit the letsbegreener website.

The disposal of waste is an ever increasing problem and one that is likely to get more and more expensive. It is not only a matter of financial cost but also environmental. However there is now a very natural solution for solving this problem, one that uses the power of some of natures hardest working creatures; worms!

For some years now, domestic sized worm farms have been used to reduce household and garden waste. These systems have become very popular in some European countries and North America. They are also rapidily gaining in popularity in the U.K. These units are easy to manage but lack the capacity that large gardens, estates and business need. This is now changing as several large gardens and estates are now using large scale Worm farms called Just Green Eaterys. The capacity of these Worm units is considerable compared to their domestic cousins. Once a unit is operational it can consume up to 45kg of waste a week depending on the material fed into it.

Eatery Diagram

The Just Green Eatery uses a flow through system. Waste is fed in through the top of the wormery in layers. The worms rise up through the waste digesting it. This significantly reduces the volume of the waste and leads to the production of Vermicompost, sometimes known as "Black Gold". This is a very high in nutrient compost full of beneficial micro-organisms. The Vermicompost is harvested from the bottom of the wormery by a moving grate. The Vermicompost can then be shovelled out through the harvesting door.

Composting worms have a very large appetite, consuming half their body weight in waste a day and will consume nearly all organic waste. It is not only garden waste that can be fed into the wormery. Kitchen waste will  be digested unless it is meat based and fatty foods are to be avoided. Paper waste can be added such as newspapers and shredded office paper and the addition of these in layers, actually improves the performance of the wormery. It is easy to see why an estate or business could benefit from such a waste disposal system. Waste from the gardens, kitchens and offices can all be digested by the worms and turned into a commodity in the form of Vermicompost. This can then be re-used on site.Dan Bennett of the National Trust at Hatchlands Park in Surrey has been responible for running their Just Green Eatery; " I feed the worms on staff kitchen waste and use the shredded paper from the office, about a bin bag a week". Their unit handles the waste from six households on site. It can take up to three months before the "Black Gold" [Vermicompost] is produced but the wormery is processing waste in this period. Hatchlands use their compost for adding to hanging baskets and containers. The only problem they had was an odour problem for a short period, this was solved by putting a layer of fresh earth over the wormery. Odours only normally occur when the wrong type of waste has got into the Wormery and can be corrected quite easily. Dan said that he would recommend the Wormery but advises users to be patient as the start up period can take a while.

Other sites that have taken a Just Green Eatery include; the RHS Gardens at Harlow Carr in Yorkshire, the RSPB , garden centres and even a TV company for processing the waste from the actors canteen!

For more details contact Just Green on 01621 785088 or e-mail Julian Ives: jives@just-green.com

Controversy may be surrounding this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, but in Twic county in southern Sudan, the true spirit of the Olympics is alive and kicking.

The county – ravaged by civil war for 25 years – has hosted its very own version of the Olympic Games, helping to bring peace and reconciliation to a previously conflict-ridden community.

The Twic Games, held annually and organised by Christian Aid’s partner the Sudan Production Unit (SUPRAID), include football, volleyball, tug-of-war and distance running. Teams from six districts compete for the winning trophy and a chance to host the following year’s event, but the real motivation for the Twic Olympics is peace.

The games aim to bring together people from the previously divided districts of Twic and give participants and spectators a chance to get to know one another in a friendly competitive environment. Peace and reconciliation education is also provided in the hope that any future conflict can be fought with words instead of guns.

The games also provide an essential opportunity for young people, returning to the area after a peace agreement in 2005, to become part of a team and integrate back into their communities.

One participant said: "The Twic Olympics challenges everyone who thinks nothing good can happen in Sudan."