composting

God made Heaven and Earth then The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it :Genesis Ch2 V15.

Recently in Copenhagen peoples of the World have found the need to review our stewardship of the task given to us with particular emphasis on climate change and our effects on it. Before the summit took place the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland decided that all Churches had to consider the reduction of their carbon footprint by 5%. These are positive steps towards the care of planet, but it is not down to a global or national decision but to personal thoughts on how we all care for God’s great gift.

One problem we have is the amount of waste going to landfill. Nobody wants a landfill site near them but there also is an environmental reason to be concerned about the rubbish in your green bin that goes to landfill. Organic waste, such as fruit and vegetable peelings, rots down in landfill to form methane gas which is a powerful climate change gas. Its effects are twenty three times more potent than carbon dioxide. Luckily you don’t have to wait for inter-governmental organisations to solve all climate change issues; you can play your part and in your own back garden too.

Consider having a compost bin in your garden. You can feed it uncooked vegetable and fruit scraps including potato, carrot and sprout peelings, orange peel, banana skins, tea bags and even the contents of your vacuum cleaner. Garden weeds, grass clippings and paper items such as egg boxes, toilet roll tubes and shredded letters go in too. This will soon turn into rich, healthy compost you can use all round your garden and no methane gas is produced!

WRAP Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Government offers compost bins for as little as £8, and this includes delivery, full instructions on how to compost and a free kitchen caddy. For more details, and to order your bin visit http://www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk/ or ring the order line on 0845 076 0223.