Free locally made compost will be on offer when the City of Greater Geelong teams up with six community gardens for a sustainability showcase next week.
The City is converting about 35,000 tonnes of garden waste from residential green bins into Australian standard compost each year at a processing facility in Anakie.
The initiative ensures household garden waste stays out of landfill, and provides high quality compost for City-managed sites, including the botanic gardens, sports grounds, and parks.
The compost has proven popular among community gardens and garden clubs, with residents now able to buy it for their personal use via several local gardening centres.
To celebrate the success of the product, a community compost giveaway day will be held on Saturday 10 September.
Residents will be able to pick up free samples of high-quality compost made from the contents of green waste bins.
Greater Geelong Mayor Peter Murrihy;
This is a great way to show residents of the full value of disposing of their green waste properly, and to highlight the benefits of our volunteer-run community gardens.The production of high-quality compost from Geelong's garden waste is a big win for the local circular economy, allowing us to take control of our waste and turn it into a valuable, locally-made resource.
Residents are encouraged to bring their own container, such as a bucket or old potting mix bag, to minimise the packaging needed at each site.
Gold coin donations to the community gardens are encouraged but optional.
The City will donate any remaining compost to the participating community gardens:
- Grinter Garden,125 Coppards Road, Moolap (behind Splashdown)
- Springdale Community Garden, 276-290 Jetty Road, Curlewis (behind the Drysdale Community Church)
- Lara Community Garden, Scuti Court, Lara (next to the Lara and District Mens Shed)
- Norlane Community Garden, 39a Rose Avenue, Norlane
- Geelong West Community Garden, 129 Autumn Street, Geelong West
- Grovedale Community Garden, 45-47 Heyers Road, Grovedale
Educational materials will be provided to residents on the day, to help reinforce good habits around what goes into the green waste bins.
The information was part of a wider campaign to reduce the amount of contaminants in green bins.
Councillor Belinda Moloney, chair of the Circular Economy portfolio;
The contamination rates are a small percentage of our overall collection, but the impact and the costs it has on our composting program are quite large.By putting the right thing in your green garden bin, you're helping create a recycled compost product, divert waste from landfill and drive our push to a sustainable future.
The City-made compost is available for purchase at the following local outlets:
- The Mulch Centre, 72-80 Buckley Grove, Moolap
- Wallington's Water Rural Garden, 370 Grubb Rd, Wallington
- South Point Garden Supplies, 15 Boneyards Ave, Torquay
- Elcho Garden Supplies, 180 Elcho Rd, Lara
