New funding for a Composting Revolution
Enrich the Earth has secured grant funding of £80,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation, to help communities in the Northeast of England spark a composting revolution.
Support will help people find the perfect “soil mate” for all their growing needs. Helping people to choose the correct growing media saves them money and increases the chance of successful growing, but it also hastens the transition from peat use in horticulture. This ultimately benefits the environment, by protecting peatland habitats and ensuring peat can stay in the soil and continue to store carbon.
Collaborating with diverse local organisations is at the heart of the bid, with funding being administered by Voluntary Organisations Network North East. This collaborative approach will test different approaches that could be expanded to other regions. Our approach covers five areas:
Working with Community Gardens
There is an amazing array of Community Gardens in the region such as Scotswood Garden in Newcastle. These spaces are at the heart of local communities, providing opportunities for people of all cultures to connect with nature, socialise, learn new skills and grow food. We intend to help these Community Gardens in their composting efforts, enabling them to share their achievements with visitors. Community Gardens will also be able to increase their impact by recruiting and training volunteer composting champions, who can spread their knowledge within their community.
Providing relatable examples of change
Our research has indicated that change is required most amongst ‘hobby gardeners’ who haven’t the time or inclination to delve deeply into the subject. We aim to reach this audience by recruiting a diverse group of 10 local gardeners who will document their growing and composting journeys. We will support our local gardeners to use their experience to inspire others through messaging on social media.
Creating Point-of-sale materials
Many people are bewildered by the range of choice for growing materials at garden centres. What is in a multi-purpose compost? What is the difference between a growing medium, a soil enhancer or a mulch? What choice is best for my growing needs, my pocket and for the environment? We are seeking to break-through this confusion by working with garden centres to create new point-of-sale materials, and to share their impact nationally.
Highlighting money saving options
Public polling has identified that many people buy peat to improve the quality of their soil or to help it retain moisture. This is proven to be an expensive and inappropriate use for this valuable resource. Home composting is a better and cheaper option. We will be working with local communities to make people aware of this, and to help them compost effectively.
Making it easy
Times are currently stressful for many people. Therefore, the best environmental option must be cost-effective, easy to implement and good at what it does. We will be creating a new, cost-comparable, sustainable compost consisting of up to 30% green waste sourced from the local area. This will offer gardeners a new sustainable option for their growing requirements, and we will help them to understand how best to use this resource.
Community engagement is an essential element within Enrich the Earth and this funding will enable us to take the message to communities across the locality. We recognise, however, that the burden of change cannot be place entirely on individuals. This is why Enrich the Earth is also seeking to remove legislative blockers and is creating new sustainable growing options.
We hope you’re as excited as we are to see where this peat-free, composting journey takes us! To stay involved with developments, subscribe to the Enrich the Earth bulletin.