Newark & Sherwood District Council

If we all compost at home its means that thousands of extra tonnes of kitchen and garden waste can be turned into useful soil conditioner for our gardens, instead of going to landfill.

Newark and Sherwood District Council is part of the National Home Composting Framework. Composters are available at a reduced price. They can be ordered online or by calling the order line on 0844 571 4444.

While there are no health implications for leaving food waste in your bin, composting may be the ideal way to deal with the problem of keeping waste food in the bin between collections.

Putting kitchen waste such as fruit and vegetable peelings, eggs shells and tea bags in your composter as well as grass cuttings and leaves from your garden is as easy as putting something in your normal bin. It’s also environmentally friendly and best of all, once you have paid for the composter, it's completely free.

Once the food has broken down to compost, dig the nutrient rich material into your soil. The breaking down usually takes a year but can be speeded up if you do things like making sure that you have the right balance between green and brown matter in the bin, by making sure that the contents of the bin are not too wet or too dry and by stirring the contents of the composter to keep it aerated. Locating your home composter in a sunny position also speeds up the process.

Water butts

Why not complement your compost bin with a water butt? Fitting a water butt to your roof drainage is a good way of collecting water for use in your garden, or even to top up the fish pond, saving you money, especially if you are on a water meter.

Severn Trent Water is offering water butts for sale and if you order two water butts the second is half price. That would enable you to put them around your house or even attach one to the waste water from your bath – clean and green!

To order your water butt from Severn Trent please call 0845 130 8686 or use the online form on the right.

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