GARDENING
It’s National Recycling Week from Monday to next Sunday, so what better time to rev up the compost heap. Compost is a vital component of a healthy and thriving garden. It’s the basic way gardeners can recycle and retain garden nutrients.
Compost is black, earthy, sweet-smelling organic material formed over time by heat, microbes and the right balance of air and water. It starts out as waste organic material from our gardens and kitchens.
By composting all waste organic material on site, nutrients are returned to the soil and kept out of the waste stream. When a compost system is working well, composting also reduces carbon emissions by storing carbon in your soil.
There are two important parts of the composting process. The first is to make compost to capture garden and kitchen waste, such as food scraps. The second is to use the compost in your garden to enrich and condition the soil. Compost also helps fight soil-borne disease and keep plants healthy.
After a cold and wet winter, kickstart the composting process in existing heaps by using a garden fork to turn the material in the heap to allow more air to penetrate. Also add layers of fresh material in the form of kitchen scraps, green weeds (seed free) and finely chopped pruning leftovers.
OTHER RECYCLING ACTIVITIES
This year’s National Recycle Week is putting the spotlight on products that contain recycled materials.
While households have embraced kerbside recycling, it seems we are not buying enough products that reuse recycled material to keep recycling as a viable industry.
“To truly close the recycling loop, and keep valuable resources like plastic, metal and paper in circulation and out of landfills, we need to buy back the products that have been made from our recycling,” says Ryan Collins, Planet Ark’s recycling programs manager.
This year, Planet Ark, the organisation that stages National Recycling Week, is launching an annual event called “Buy It Back Day”, which is happening next Saturday, November 18. The idea is to encourage mindful purchasing by buying something secondhand or a product made from recycled materials. Shoppers are then invited to share their purchase on social media with a photo and hashtags #BuyItBack and #NationalRecyclingWeek.
One of the garden products you may be able to buy is a compost bin made from recycled plastic. Alternatively, buy or find materials to recycle such as timber, pallets, metal, concrete blocks, bricks or wire to make your own compost bin.
Other garden-related goods and materials made from recycled products include prefabricated garden beds, edging and garden furniture made from recycled plastics, such as printer cartridges and soft plastics.
Mulches also recycle materials that could otherwise end up as landfill. While these are mostly organic materials such as pea straw, spent mushroom compost or spoiled lucerne (that is no longer suitable for stock feed), there are also mulches made from recycled materials including concrete and glass.
SCHOOL PRIZES
Schools can get involved in National Recycling Week by building or documenting a range of recycling activities. Prizes include recycled outdoor furniture from Replas, a Melbournebased recycled plastic manufacturer, and plastic wood from eWood’s garden beds.
To be eligible to enter, schools or early learning centres must be registered as part of the Naturale Schools Recycle Right Challenge (register at schoolsrecycle.planetark.org to be involved). Different classes from one school can enter separately. Entries close on November 23.