It’s Compost Awareness Week

Shropshire Council alongside its contractor Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Ltd is working in partnership with national environmental charity Garden Organic and local volunteers to mark International Compost Awareness Week 2012.  

Compost Awareness Week is celebrated around the world until Saturday 12 May 2012. 

In Shropshire the council has set up a network of local volunteer Master Composters to help educate the public about how and why to compost.  They also provide access to discount home compost bins, guidance and information as part of a programme of encouraging residents to compost their waste at home. 

This week, with support from the council and Veolia, the volunteers are staging a series of ‘compost clinics’ around the county.  If people want to get expert advice they should come along to: 

• Wednesday 9 May 2012 – Oswestry Town Centre, Baileys Head from 9am until 3pm.
• Thursday 10 May 2012 – Ludlow Farmers Market, the Square from 9am until 2pm. 

Councillor Mike Owen, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for waste management, said:

“Home composting is a crucial part of our waste management strategy because it significantly reduces the amount of waste generated.  We are promoting discounted home composting bins which are available via www.shropshire.getcomposting.com.  We hope that activities like Compost Awareness Week will encourage more people to realise the benefits of home composting, and the great results that can be achieved by using peat-free composts containing recycled material.”  

Donald Macphail, Managing Director of Veolia Shropshire, said:

“Last year we trained an additional 15 volunteer Master Composters to help educate people about home composting.  This is all part of our strategy to encourage more home composting in Shropshire, but it’s also part of our broader commitment to corporate social responsibility.  Veolia Environmental Services has recently been given the top ‘Platinum’ Rating in Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index, and volunteering is something which is important for our organisation.” 

Further information 

Compost Awareness Week is an annual initiative which started out in north America and has now been running for 12 years with more and more organisations getting involved each year.  The week is designed to promote composting and the use of compost to communities across the world. It is a multi-media publicity and education event that showcases the benefits and helps to raise the profile of composting in general.