Kitchen to compost

GARDEN WASTE

Local resident Kristie makes use of her green bin to clear her garden of weeds.

We often hear people say it doesn’t matter which bin you put your waste into. The truth is the smallest of changes to your household waste management can make a significant difference across the community.

If you have a green FOGO (food organics, garden organics) bin in Playford you’re one of around 20,000 households who do, and you’re in a prime position to help make some real change with your treatment of household food waste.

Playford residents with FOGO bins do a good job of using the bin to dispose of garden waste. However, there is currently too much food waste going into the red bin (around one third of the contents) which ends up in landfill – and that’s a double loss.

The first loss is environmental; when food waste goes to landfill it off-gases into greenhouse gases which is bad for the environment. If it goes into the green bin it is processed to create rich compost to use in our soils, which is great for the environment.

The second loss is financial; processing food waste is considerably more cost efficient when it goes into the green bin rather than the red. To process landfill costs five times more than the rate of organic waste.

So any piece of food you divert to your green bin is going to make a huge difference! You can make sure fruit and vegetable scraps, paper towels, tissues, oily cardboard such as pizza boxes, meat waste, citrus peels, and even pet poo never end up in landfill. This simple change of routine by green bin users can make a significant impact in our community. The power is in your hands.

Get a

green bin.

Residents can purchase a FOGO green bin for $57. Get in touch with the Northern Adelaide Waste Management Association (NAWMA) online at nawma.sa.gov.au or by phone on 8259 2100.