Over the weekend a home composting demonstration site was officially opened at Pearse Museum within St Enda’s Park in Rathfarnham.
The site’s opening by South Dublin County Council’s Mayor Paul Gogarty came as part of the EPA’s Stop Food Waste Programme, in collaboration with the Council and the Office of Public Works.
During the launch day 25 Dublin area Master Composters were awarded certificates for completing a six week training course on how to prevent food waste and compost at home.
Mayor Gogarty said it is important for Ireland to play its part in waste reduction in light of the fact almost half of all food being grown worldwide is wasted. This is not only cost efficient but saves our environment also.
He said:
“Just knowing that one out of every 3 to 4 bags of groceries we buy ends up in the bin is appalling. This costs the average Irish household about 700 Euros a year. And to think about how much food grocery shops and restaurants are throwing away, it’s even more money down the drain.
“The good news is that initiatives like the Stop Food Waste programme are helping us change our bad habits so we can cut down on the resources needed to grow food, use “wasted” edible food to feed hungry people, and reduce our carbon footprint as a country.”
Volunteers will now work within their communities to spread the word about stopping food waste so people can save money while helping the planet.
They also learn how to compost at home and within community organisations such as their neighbourhood association, Tidy Town group or community garden.
The home composting demonstration site contains a variety of home composting systems including cages for making leaf mould, a plastic composter, wooden composting bins and a wormery.
