Waste - Compost Workshop

If, like me, you have a psychotic hatred of mice and rats then the idea of hoarding scraps of food in a bin in your back garden will be anathema to you too. I have never cared enough about being green to run the rat risk - that was until I spoke to Sarah Rideout, the council-backed ‘compost doctor’ at Common Cause. Although she doesn’t hard-sell wormeries and ‘Green Joanna’ bins, what she says makes sense and its gets under your skin. As I scraped my carrot peel into the bin tonight I started to feel a bit guilty.

Sarah will be running two compost workshops on Sunday where she’ll talk about compost bins (they can seal in all odour to keep out vermin) and explain just what you can and can’t put on a compost. She told Viva Lewes “I will be explaining how to balance out your compost. All the usual stuff like fruit skins and vegetable peelings can be balanced out with scrap paper, the dust from your vacuum or animal bedding.” The carbon in all of these dry household items helps balance out the nitrates in the compost. Sarah, who has been composting for ‘donkey’s years’ is encouraged by the change of heart she has experienced over the last two years. “People have now realised that they can do their little bit to change things, that composting can cut household waste down by one third,” she says. Add to this general recycling and bin liners will soon be a thing of the past. KA