In a letter from Mole Valley District Council, dated 19th June 2009, it was announced that the food waste collection service will be resuming this week. This follows it's withdrawal earlier in the year when the trial's funding came to an end.

Due, in no small part I'm sure, to public outcry, new funding has been found and the council are now examining 'how food waste collections can be implemented across the rest of the district'.

If this happens let's hope it spurs Surrey County Council into building its digester, as currently food waste is processed in Dorset (the nearest licenced plant in the UK) and green waste is composted in Reading! See the article on the GMF's visit to Leatherhead's Materials Recovery Facility.

Richard Molyneux

You may have read on this site before about DEFRA's proposals to introduce a charge to register to be exempt from certain forthcoming composting regulations (?!)

Well, DEFRA have had so many responses to this and to other proposals that they've had to postpone their conclusions from October 2009 to April 2010. Almost all are against the proposal. Well done everyone who wrote in, and thanks.

(The comment deadline was Thursday 23 October 2008. Comments were to be sent exemptions@defra.gsi.gov.uk. Perhaps they will still accept comments becuase of their extension, who knows...)

They have published a summary of responses (here).

Here are some excepts of the excepts:

3.6 Proposal 6 – To introduce a charge for the registration of all registerable exemptions

• 'Unlike most other proposals, the vast majority of respondents to proposal six did not agree with the proposal'
• 'Many suggested that the introduction of a fee for registration would be to the detriment of the environment as many of the activities currently in operation which work to the benefit of the environment (e.g. community composting activities) would be forced to stop, or would not start in the first place.'
• 'LARAC is concerned about the effect of the introduction of charges on charitable organisations and community organisations, including community composting projects'
• 'The overwhelming response from these groups [Individuals and the Community and Third Sector] was to reject proposal six. Almost unanimous opposition for the proposal was received, with only two respondents supporting the proposal'
• 'Respondents highlighted the disparity in Government policy, whereby on one hand, they are being encouraged to recycle, and on the other hand, with this proposal, the Government wishes to impose new charges on the activities which they seek to promote. One respondent stated: “I have recently heard of the proposal to charge schools and charities an exemption fee of £50 if they wish to have a compost heap. I understand the need to control the collection and disposal of waste and can accept that industrial scale composting operations require control. However, to charge schools for the privilege of educating children in caring for the environment seems ludicrous and, I am sure, contrary to information from other sections of government.”'
• 'We cannot express strongly enough the impact that the introduction of a charge for charities and not-for-profit organisations will have, however even further the impact this would have on the number of schools composting. There are various Government supported projects that are encouraging schools to grow their own and make children see the connection between what they grow and what they eat, and compost is an essential ingredient to help the growing process. Yet DEFRA‟s suggestion of charging a £50 registration fee would be a disincentive to start or potentially continue composting. Schools often operate this type of activity on a seriously stretched budget, and if the charge was introduced, this would be a reason not to even start composting. As CCN have stated “introducing a charge for a no-risk to very low risk activity seems to go against the „polluter pays‟ principle, as there is no pollution or environmental risk to pay for.'

This article describes my immediate family’s experience of using three different food waste disposal products.

Green Cone

Starting with me, I’m just into my third year with a green cone.  I bought this cheaply when MVDC was subsidising them.  It is a quite large inverted plastic cone which you part bury in the garden.  The buried part has holes in the sides to allow worms to enter from the surrounding soil. The supplier says it deals with all food waste, cooked and uncooked, even bones.  I’ve never put bones in, but it certainly deals with all our other food waste (two adults).  In the right conditions it should work all the year round and only need emptying every few years.  Mine seems to stop in the winter and I have emptied it each spring, putting the contents in the bottom of my compost heap when it must provide several hundred additional worms to the heap.  In summer it gets fruit flies but they are easily killed.

More information is at http://www.greencone.com/

Worm Works Wormery

My daughter bought a Worm Works Wormery last autumn.  She kept in her garage for the winter but it was slow getting going.  However in the past month it has really got going and she reckons the number of worms has tripled since she has had it.  It takes fruit, veg, cooked and uncooked, shredded paper but not meat and dairy products.  It is made from compartments which stack together.  Her daughter loves it as you can easily take it apart and see how the worms are doing in each layer.  Excess liquid drains and is collected at the bottom.  It is clean and she is really pleased with it.

More information is at http://www.bucketofworms.co.uk/wormery.html

Wigglywigglers

Wigglywigglers make a range of wormeries.  My younger son has a basic one which has just one compartment with a tap at the bottom to drain off liquid.  He keeps it outside and the worms survived the cold winter just gone.  He has had it for 15 months and it has taken most of his food waste (two adults) but it will need emptying soon.  He has yet to discover what the product is like, but it ought to be high quality compost.  Emptying will be rather messy, but it has done its job and I imagine was quite cheap.

More information is at http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/

Derek Smith

Compost Works to the rescue

Mole Valley Council's sudden decision to scrap their food waste collection means that lots of Bookham and Fetcham residents suddenly have to decide. - Go  back to putting in the black bin after finding out how nice it is not having a smelly bin ?  Or, much better, find out how to turn it into valuable compost, known by gardeners as black gold. Luckily help is at hand - Local group Compost Works are offering to show you how to start composting and how to get a bin. They are holding a Compost Open Day on Saturday 4^th April at 8 The Drive, Fetcham KT22 9EN between 10am and 4pm.  

Hugh Baker from Compost Works said  "We can show you how easy it is to start composting using a subsidised compost bin, and how to make your own free large bin in 10 minutes. There will be a range of compost bins on display, both plastic and home-made. You can  see the inside of a real compost heap, and find out if a wormery would suit you.  We'll have  tips and info on the dos and donts, and ways of speeding up compost -making. And with our shredder, which you can borrow, you can see how to turn all your woody prunings into excellent shreddings to compost along with your kitchen waste and grass cuttings."    Much more information  at www.compostworks.org.uk        Admission is free, with donations requested for the Gaza Appeal.

And a final tip from Hugh "Don’t delay getting composting - the subsidy on compost bins  from the government is stopping all over the country in September, so this could be your last chance."

  

  Hugh Baker
COMPOST WORKS,
8 The Drive, Fetcham, Leatherhead, Surrey,  KT22 9EN
COMPOST HOT-LINE : 01372 376642
e : info@compostworks.org.uk    Web :  www.compostworks.org.uk

Member of the Community Composting Network www.communitycompost.org

Summary of recycling opportunities in Mole Valley.

1. We can all recycle (green bin collections):

• glass,
• paper and card,
• cans (steel and aluminium),
• plastic bottles

We have the option of paying extra for

• a brown top bin for garden waste,
• some areas have small green caddies for food waste.

2. At MV Community Recycling points there are facilities for:

• aluminium foil,
• tetrapaks,
• and sometimes clothes and shoes

3. At St Nicolas, Great Bookham they collect and redistribute:

• plastic mailing wrappers (remove any paper labels, please)
• plastic milk bottle tops (from supermarket milk),
• postage stamps,
• spectacles,
• binoculars,
• old mobile phones,
• used printer cartridges.

4. Other ideas:

Many charities will take your old mobile phones and printer cartridges - find out if your favourite cause collects them.

Several local opticians reuse your old spectacles - just ask them.

Many supermarkets recycle plastic bags.

Remember Charity shops, and jumble sales.

Think about the Freecycle network (Mole Valley Freecycle):  for disposing of unwanted items to other people who could use them.

Use rechargeable batteries.

Workaid collects old tools - see www.workaid.org for what they want (there is a local collection point in Leatherhead, contact us for more details).

Compost more - newspaper and "rough" card can be torn up and composted in the garden heap.

Sign up to the Mail Preference Scheme to stop getting junk mail in the first place:
Mailing Preference Service,
DMA House,
70 Margaret Street,
London,
W1W 8SS

0845 703 4599

Don't forget that while recycling is useful, the most important actions are to Reduce what you use/buy, Reuse it whenever possible ... and only then Recycle.

Margaret Hibbert

The Green Mole Forum recently had an enquiry about whether we knew of any charity which collected milk bottle tops for recycling.

The answer is yes! St Nicolas Bookham collects them [the plastic supermarket mil tops]; they go for recycling plus a donation to charity. They go via GHS Recycling. If you ever go to Bookham they can be left in the Tower in St Nicolas Church (at the cross roads). Church is open daily, approx 9-4pm.

The MVDC help shop in the high street in Leatherhead will also take them.

The aluminium foil “milkman” tops can be rinsed and recycled at MVDC recycling points – I know of one in Bookham (Lower Shott) and one in Leatherhead (carpark opposite the station) but I’m sure there will be places in Ashtead too

The following description of scrapstores comes from the website http://www.wastebook.org/scrapsto.htm.  It looks a really good practical way to reduce landfill waste and help schools and playgroups at the same time.  Does anyone fancy seeing if we can start one on Mole Valley?  Please contact us via the Contacts link on our home page and we will put you in touch with others who are interested.

Derek Smith

--------------------

Substantial quantities of clean commercial waste, at present consigned to landfill, can be given a second useful life. Until recently, few distribution arrangements existed.  This is changing with the development of a network of community scrapstores able to collect, store and distribute many kinds of reusable materials.  Some also collect recyclable waste or unwanted goods with residual value.  For many businesses, this can provide free disposal of a proportion of waste, at the same time offering benefits to the community, and so being a more responsible option than disposal to landfill or incineration, together with opportunities for good publicity.

Scrapstores collect from commerce and industry, sort and provide craft materials for those organising creative activities.  Playgroups, schools, other educational bodies; care homes; theatre groups; craft centres; individual artists - all have the capacity to use an enormous variety of packaging or production oddments such as wood, plastic and fabric offcuts; paper, film and card.  Scrapstores are now also regularly exchanging large amounts of materials between themselves, to meet local needs and put to use any excess materials.  This is a result of the network growing and becoming stronger.  Most schemes are operated by volunteers, sometimes with help from local councils, businesses or community trusts.  Many now have small shops selling art and craft materials, and often run workshops on creative use of scrap materials.  Over 90 different schemes now operate in Britain, with scope for many more - ideally one in every district or major town. 

Dear Rachael,
 
Here is a suggestion for your recycling directory.  My wife is a local collecting agent for a charity called Workaid.  They collect old tools, get volunteers to refurbish them in the UK, and then send them off to people in Africa who can use them to make a living or improve their quality of life.  You can read more about Workaid and the things they collect here: http://www.workaid.org/.
 
Anyone who has any of the tools listed should contact my wife on 01372-378914.  She will confirm whether Workaid can take them.  Assuming yes, people just need to bring them to our house in Leatherhead.  We don't advertise our address though as we don't want things dumped at our front door.
 
I hope your project goes well, and congratulations on taking this initiative.

Hello Bookham!

My name is Rachael Abbott and I am currently working on my Queen's Guide award. As part of my community action project I would like to create a Recycling Directory for Bookham. We are already doing a fantastic job at reducing our household waste, but a directory of where all sorts of different items can be recycled or, better still, reused without further processing, would greatly improve our current efforts. Although things such as tins, cardboard, paper, plastic bottles, and glass already go in our green bins, many people are unaware that batteries, light bulbs, and juice cartons can be easily recycled. There are charities that collect old postage stamps and milk bottle tops as well as a myriad of other items that we would usually send to a landfill to help their fundraising. To have all this information in one place would make helping our community and our planet even easier.

To make this directory as complete as possible I need your help. Have you found somewhere or someone who can reuse a certain thing? Do you have ideas of items that you think someone else could use or could be recycled but do not know what to do with them? I would greatly appreciate the people of Bookham to contact me with any such information or ideas for me to follow up and include.

We will be publishing an update in Look Local early next year which will, with your help, include the Recycling Directory to date.

Together we can really make a difference.

Thank you for your assistance.

Rachael Abbott

Contact me via the Green Mole Forum here

We recently received the following enquiry from a lady in Bookham.

"Hi!  I was wondering, what do you think of the practice of burning leaves?  I personally feel they should be composted and burning of leaves is a form of air pollution.  Do you know what the rules are about burning leaves???  Only after 6pm?"

I replied as follows. 

The MVDC website says this:
"There is no law against having bonfires. If the smoke causes a nuisance the Council can act to abate the nuisance. Smoke from garden bonfires in a residential area can seriously affect the enjoyment of other premises, contribute to local air pollution levels and, in some locations, reduce visibility on nearby roads.  If materials are dry and burn quickly creating little smoke, then there is usually little problem, providing the smoke does not blow directly towards occupied premises. Damp vegetation, however, does not burn well as it produces large volumes of smoke and smoulders for long periods of time. The burning of this type of waste causes most complaints and so it should be disposed of in other ways.  The Council's policy with regard to bonfires is to seek the co-operation of residents in avoiding nuisance from bonfires by asking that garden waste and other material is composted or taken to a civic amenity site.

For further information please telephone 01306 879234 or e-mail: env.health@molevalley.gov.uk"

So you can burn leaves at any time provided it does not cause a nuisance.  I agree with you that it's bad practice at any time.  Pollution as normally understood means something that causes immediate, local health risk.  In that sense a fire of dry leaves is OK because they burn cleanly and rapidly to CO2 and water vapour with no smoke.  However any fire, no matter how clean, contributes to climate change.  Also in this case burning destroys material that could otherwise can be used to improve soil quality.  So it's definitely a bad thing.  In practice the leaves very seldom are dry and so produce loads of smoke which is both a nuisance and a health risk.

Any gardener will say that if you've got a lot of leaves, leave them in a suitable container like a builder's bag to turn into leaf mould.  Smaller quantities should go in the compost.  If you have neither, get a brown bin from MVDC and use that.  The material in the brown bin is composted and sold to farmers.

Derek Smith