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Mucking In ­ Irish Gardeners Get Composting

For release 31 July 2002

A survey of visitors to the recent Garden Heaven Show in Dublin, has
revealed that 79% of gardeners compost their organic kitchen and garden
waste. Making the effort to cut down on waste in our dustbins is just as
important for wildlife as turning the lawn into a flowery meadow, because
the enormous amount of material from each household ultimately goes into
landfill sites which were once habitats for birds and other wild creatures.
The survey also revealed that the majority of people are using compost bins
to recycle the waste which they purchased from their local authority.

The survey was conducted by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC)
as part of their Peat-free Garden Campaign. IPCC's Conservation Officer,
Noreen Mc Loughlin states that "the outcome of the Garden Heaven Show survey
is very encouraging, as it demonstrates that the public are becoming more
conscious of the waste that they generate. This seems to be especially true
for gardeners"

The 21% of gardeners who are not composting, have never thought about it,
but the recent Government announcement that households will have to pay by
weight for the amount of waste they throw out, should encourage them to
compost, as a quarter of all waste is organic and can be composted. IPCC
hope that the increasing number of people composting their organic waste,
will mean a significant reduction in the use of moss peat in the garden.
Home-made compost is a far superior gardening product to peat ­ and its
free! Garden compost improves the ability of the soil to retain water, it
can be used as a mulch to cut down on weeding and it can be added to the
soil to improve structure. Peat has been used by gardeners for soil
improving and mulching for years. "It has been a tragic waste and has
caused immense damage to our wild boglands", says Noreen McLoughlin.

Compost bins can be purchased at a subsidised rate from local authorities.
Once a household starts to compost, they will quickly see the effect on the
amount of rubbish in the dustbin ­ a reminder that they are making a
substantial contribution to wildlife survival. It's easy to get started ­
just collect 1 bucket of fresh weeds, 1 bucket of shrub clippings or
prunings, 1 bucket of dead heads, 2 buckets of grass clippings and 1 bucket
of kitchen scraps. Mix well, place it in the bin and in 6 months time you
will have wonderful garden compost to use.

A factsheet on the Peat-free Garden Campaign is available from the IPCC, 119
Capel St., Dublin 1, (01) 8722384, or visit the website at www.ipcc.ie.

ENDS

____________________________________
Irish Peatland Conservation Council
119 Capel Street
Dublin 1
Ireland

Tel & Fax +353-1-8722397
Tel +353-1-8722384
e-mail: bogs@ipcc.ie
web: www.ipcc.ie

Action for Bogs & Wildlife