YIPPEE! First Collection in Eastgrove

Today was the first City to Soil collection in Eastgrove.

Council’s Greenwaste truck collected 9.16 tonnes of combined Food and Garden waste from Eastgrove. This was delivered to the Goulburn Waste Depot for composting.

Photo: Eastgrove's 9.16 tonnes of combined garden and food waste

The combined food and garden waste was picked through to remove any contaminants, sprayed with a microbial composting solution, heaped into a pile and covered with plastic.

Photo: Hard at work! Picking out contaminants and spraying with microbial composting solution. (it smells like molasses!)

Between now and October the special micro-organisms in the composting solution will go to work, breaking down, pasteurising and fermenting Eastgrove’s green waste. The pile will be resprayed halfway during the process, and continually monitored to ensure that proper temperatures, moisture and ph levels are maintained.

The end result will be something like this – the most beautiful, microbially active, gorgeous compost ever.

Photo: Your project manager picking out the last of the contaminants from our composting trials. This lot is ready for shredding now. It is BEAUTIFUL STUFF!

(minus the bowling pin & straw hat of course – how did we miss that?)

Eastgrove residents are extremely good at only putting into their City to Soil collection the things that they should and nothing that they shouldn't!

Contamination levels were amazingly low. We pulled out a total of 7kg of contamination – mainly plastic bags, a few bottles and some tins.

That’s a contamination rate of 0.0764% (less than .1%!)

WELL DONE EASTGROVE!!!!!

Photo: Gerry Gillespie from DECC holding the 0.076% of contamination!

Here is a picture of Gerry Gillespie from the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) with our bag of contamination.

Lots of households have started using the biobags for their food scraps. We didn’t find any contamination in the biobags. There is obviously a lot of support for the project.

The first two biobags we inspected today had no contamination. These two households will receive a prize.

Photo: Hans making the final pile.

Photo: Eastgrove's City to Soil food and garden waste - all sprayed and tucked in - ready to start composting!

Here it is folks! Eastgrove's City to Soil food and garden waste, all sprayed and ready to go.

School visit - East Goulburn

Students at East Goulburn have received a special presentation about Goulburn Mulwaree Council’s new City to Soil program.

On Wednesday, Project Manager Simone Dilkara and Facilities Engineer Andrew Galland spoke to a number of classes at East Goulburn about the City to Soil project that began in Eastgrove this week.

They explained the City to Soil process to the students and teachers, including the collection and composting stages.

Ms Dilkara said the students showed a “fantastic” knowledge of what can and can’t be recycled or composted.

“The students asked us some really good questions and they already knew a great deal about what they can put in the bins,” Ms Dilkara said.

“The children were very enthusiastic about the program and seemed fascinated by the entire composting process. It’s very exciting from our point of view to see young children so passionate about composting and recycling.”

Eastgrove is the first Goulburn suburb to take part in the initiative, which will involve residents receiving a free, specially designed MaxAir kitchen top bin and compostable biobags for the collection of food scraps. The bins, a year’s supply of biobags (a roll of 150 bags), a sticker and an instruction leaflet were delivered to Eastgrove residents last week.

Kitchen waste, including raw or cooked food, tea bags, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetables, peelings, leftovers, paper towels, meat and fish, can all be placed in the bin. This kitchen waste then goes in the 240-litre greenwaste bins for collection – before being taken to Goulburn Waste Management Centre where it is transformed into high quality compost and provided to local farmers to help improve agricultural soils.

The introduction of the City to Soil kitchen waste collections in Goulburn Mulwaree, Lachlan, Palerang and Queanbeyan Council areas is being undertaken through a project known as Groundswell – which is funded by a $1.96 million grant over three years from the NSW Environmental Trust. Goulburn Mulwaree Council was the lead organisation in the grant application, and is the first to introduce the kitchen waste collections.

The City to Soil program will be rolled out across Goulburn and Marulan later this year.


MEDIA INTERVIEWS: Please contact Groundswell Project Manager Simone Dilkara on 0447 273 099.

Special Delivery - Eastgrove!

On Thursday 17th July an intrepid group of folks set off in the crispy frost to deliver City to Soil kits to households in Eastgrove.

As you can see, it was a bit of a rag tag group of volunteers!

Apart from being very well exercised, our intrepid team finished the task on a high due to the incredibly positive feedback we received from folks we managed to talk to during the day.

People really like the project, and they like the idea of separating out their food scraps for composting rather than seeing them go into landfill. They also like the idea of helping farmers and doing something positive for the environment.

Its all good news really!

Condobolin - Composting Shed Underway

Exciting news from the Condobolin front. Work on what will obviously be the most beautiful composting shed in the world is well underway. Not just a shed, but a pressed earth brick shed - which will be beautiful to look at and cooler to work in. The clever folks at the WCC make the bricks from the local soil, and have already constructed a number of sheds and buildings using this technique.

And look at the Wiradjuri Condobolin Corporation's new truck!

City to Soil collections and composting will be done by the Wiradjuri Condobolin Corporation on the landfill site.

Its all happening folks!

Groundswell - A short background

In 2004, the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) worked closely with the Queanbeyan City Council on a project called “City to Soil”. This project demonstrated that high quality, organic wastes from urban communities can be collected, composted and used in agriculture with positive economic and environmental results for farmers. City-to-Soil also demonstrated a high level of willingness and capacity by the community to participate in source separation of organics. The overall environmental and social benefits of the project were very significant.

In 2007, Goulburn Mulwaree, Palerang, Queanbeyan City and Lachlan Councils, the Wiradjuri Condobolin Aboriginal Corporation, the Palerang Agricultural Society, Bettergrow Pty Ltd and the South East office of the DECC Sustainability Programs Division were granted $1.96 million from the NSW Environoment Trust to prove the wider economic viability of the “City to Soil” collection system and establish composted urban organic waste as a cost effective, high quality agricultural input.

The project (Groundswell) will result in farmers and councils working together to pull urban organic waste out of the cities and back onto agricultural land, simultaneously reducing organic waste to landfill and increasing organic levels in agricultural soils.

The research and project outcomes of Groundswell will provide councils, governments and farmers with the information and data they need to reconfigure waste collection systems and contracts to establish economically viable “City to Soil” collection systems in collaboration with local farmers.

The vision for Groundswell is that:

• Groundswell establishes economic models that are self sustaining and can operate for the same or less cost as current models.
• That the model or systems result in measurable improvement in agricultural soils and productivity.
• That the project also contributes to a range of broader environmental outcomes.
• That the community engages in the project through source separation of household organic waste
• That the systems continue beyond the project timeframe, and are implemented in other settings
• That Groundswell results in a reduction of waste to landfill
  

Unique kitchen waste collection kicks off in Eastgrove

media release

Images: Goulburn locals Gemma (left) and Alicia Hollands are looking forward to helping the environment and local farmers by collecting their kitchen waste in specially designed kitchen top bins and biobags.

Eastgrove residents will be the first to try a unique new kitchen waste collection designed to help the environment and local farmers at the same time.

Eastgrove has been chosen to test run Goulburn Mulwaree Council’s new City to Soil initiative, which will involve residents receiving a free, specially designed MaxAir kitchen top bin and compostable biobags for the collection of food scraps. The bins, a year supply of biobags (a roll of 150 bags), a sticker and an instruction leaflet will be delivered to homes in Eastgrove next week.

Residents will then be asked to collect kitchen waste in the bins and biobags - including raw or cooked food, tea bags, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetables, peelings, leftovers, paper towels, meat and fish. This kitchen waste then goes in the 240 litre greenwaste bins for collection – before being taken to Goulburn Waste Management Centre where it is transformed into high quality compost and provided to local farmers to help improve agricultural soils.

The Eastgrove test run will allow Council to fine tune the composting process before the collection is extended across Goulburn City and Marulan later this year.

"This is a fantastic new project and as far as I am aware, it will be the first community-wide collection of food scraps for composting in Australia," Goulburn Mulwaree Council Facilities Manager David Rayner said.

"The Eastgrove test run will help us do a final check of the composting process. But we know the process works because we have already undertaken a number of trials, and a similar process is used in around 2000 communities worldwide. The kitchen waste collections will definitely be introduced across Goulburn City and Marulan later this year.

"Currently Goulburn’s waste is disposed of at Council’s own landfill. By encouraging composting we will help combat Climate Change by cutting methane gas production, reduce waste costs by prolonging the life of the landfill and help local farmers improve agricultural soils. It really is a win-win for everyone involved," Mr Rayner said.

The introduction of the City to Soil kitchen waste collections in Goulburn Mulwaree, Lachlan, Palerang and Queanbeyan Council areas is being undertaken through a project known as Groundswell – which is funded by a $1.96 million grant over three years from the NSW Environmental Trust. Goulburn Mulwaree Council was the lead organisation in the grant application, and is the first to introduce the kitchen waste collections.

Groundswell Project Manager Simone Dilkara said the other three Council areas involved are on track to start the kitchen waste collections soon.

"Work is underway to establish composting sites in the other Council areas and we are gearing up for the new collections to start between now and the end of the year," Ms Dilkara said.
"It is really exciting that it will officially start in Eastgrove next week.

"We will also be advertising in the coming weeks for local farmers to get involved, however I have already been contacted by a number who are keen to take part. Composted kitchen and greenwaste returns organic matter, microbes and nutrients to soils, which is of enormous benefit in agricultural areas.

"The overall aim of this project is to show that organic waste can be profitably collected, composted to a high standard and returned to agricultural soils. It is also really important for the local community to know that the MaxAir kitchen top bins and biobags have been specially designed to make sure food scraps do not smell – and they really do work," Ms Dilkara said.

The benefits of the City to Soil collections include that it will:

• Support local farmers
• Reduce waste to landfill (and therefore prolong the life of Council’s landfill and save money)
• Improve agricultural soils
• Help address climate change

The City to Soil collections will encourage local residents to ‘become part of the solution’.

MEDIA INTERVIEWS:
Please contact Goulburn Mulwaree Council’s Facilities Manager David Rayner on 02 4823 4488 or Groundswell Project Manager Simone Dilkara on 0447 273 099.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Please contact Goulburn Mulwaree Council’s Communications Unit on 4823 4412 or
4823 4548.

Media Link - Interest Swells in Groundswell

Released on 19 May 2008.

A program aimed at reducing green waste dumped at Goulburn Waste Depot and helping local farmers is gaining momentum – and Goulburn Mulwaree Council is leading the way.

Groundswell – City to Soil is a program that will allow Goulburn Mulwaree residents to put food scraps in a handy container which is kept in their kitchen. The container, which is lined with a special Biobag, can be emptied into the green waste bin. It is then collected, processed and made into compost, which is distributed to local farmers.

Council will lead the Groundswell project, with Palerang, Queanbeyan and Lachlan councils to take part. The project has received $1.86 million over three years from the NSW Environment Trust.

Groundswell’s Project Manager, Simone Dilkara, along with Goulburn Mulwaree Council staff and Gerry Gillespie from the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, have been trialling various methods to find the best composting process for the combined food and garden waste. They have also been testing the Biobags to ensure they can handle the most noxious odours.

"We have been trialling the Biobags with all the most awful things you can imagine, meat and fish bones, and they are working very well. We think that residents will be really happy with the Biobags and Maxair baskets," she said.

Ms Dilkara has a close connection with Goulburn. Born in the city, her family lived here in the 1960s and 70s, with her parents Bob and Beverley Woodman working in the area. She attended West Goulburn Primary, and was one of the first students at Wollondilly Public when it first opened.

Her family later moved to a small farm near Geary’s Gap and she has continued to work in and around Goulburn for the past 10 years, initially in the area health service as the Youth Program Coordinator and then for the NSW Premier’s Department as the project manager for the Regional Coordination Program.

"The Groundswell project combines my keen interest in sustainable agriculture, regional development and project management. It is a pleasure to be working for Goulburn Mulwaree Council on such an important project with so much potential," she said.

MEDIA INTERVIEWS: Please contact Goulburn Mulwaree Council’s Manager of Facilities David Rayner on 4823 4402 or Groundswell Project Manager Simone Dilkara on 0447 273 099.
MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Please contact Goulburn Mulwaree Council’s Communications Unit on 4823 4412 or 4823 4548.


Follow this link to see the original media release on Groundswell - City to Soil on the Goulburn Mulwaree Council website.

Groundswell Project goes www

Welcome to the City to Soil blog. Soon you will be able to see what is happening in the Groundswell project, and how each of the four Councils are going with setting up their City to Soil collections.

What is the Groundswell project you ask?

And what is City to Soil?

All will be revealed very soon!