Waste Down

01/04/2026

A disheartening but important read about the failure to regulate the illegal waste industry in Britain:

Thanks to a sustained ideological assault on regulation, our country has been turned into a literal dump, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

15/02/2026

A great video about how a secondary school manages its waste separation. Very illustrative for other schools that may want to improve their waste management and save money.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/25472012512500051

11/02/2026

Look how much the compost pile reduced in 72 hours between Saturday (photo 1) and Tuesday (photo 2) - a reduction from about 70cm high to about 60cm

07/02/2026

Getting very exotic with the composting these days - organic Fairtrade cocoa beans from a local business

09/10/2025

06/08/2025

For anyone who is looking for a way of composting food waste, this is worth knowing about.
Bokashi is a way of fermenting food waste to prepare it for composting or incorporating into soil. The fermentation process suppresses pathogens and introduces beneficial microorganisms into the waste, which then rapidly decompose the waste when exposed to oxygen.
This article, and the accompanying report, were created by the wonderful Erin O'Brien of Cork City Council
https://www.corkcity.ie/en/climate-action/latest-news/why-i-keep-canteen-food-scraps-in-a-closet-at-city-hall/

23/07/2025

05/07/2025

19/05/2025

Amateur woodwork hour: making a "forest in a box" for a school. In the autumn, it will be half filled with leaf mould and planted with native tree seeds such as acorns and hazelnuts. The mesh underneath and on top will keep out opportunistic mice who would eat the seeds, while allowing light in. This enables the young trees to grow for one or two years and they can then be transplanted.

02/05/2025

I'm trying out an experiment, fermenting chopped leaves and stems of comfrey and nettles in Bokashi buckets. The plant matter is compacted in layers interspersed with Bokashi bran, and the lids are placed on the full buckets to exclude air as much as possible. Bokashi is an anaerobic fermenting process. The resulting fermented liquid will be taken from the taps at the bottom of the buckets, and will be diluted for use as a soil and plant feed.