We’re delighted with our latest eco-friendly additions to our garden – a water collection system and hot composter.
Kindly donated by a local farmer, our water collection system is enabling us to store run-off water from the guttering of our garden building, enabling us to recycle gallons of rainwater and use it to irrigate our plants and vegetables.
This will save us hundreds of pounds every year in water bills as our gardens, polytunnel, vegetable beds and containers become very thirsty during dry spells.
As well as watering our gardens, we also need to feed our plants and vegetables and can now do this at a reduced cost, thanks to our brand-new hot composter. shown in the above photo with companions Karl and Marek (left to right).
Located just near our companions’ kitchen, the hot composter makes a nutritious plant food from waste organic food such as vegetable peelings and leftovers from companions’ meals, as well as grass clippings and other garden trimmings.
Hot composting bins are specifically designed to trap and retain the heat given off by microorganisms as they break down food waste. This system speeds up the decomposition process and allows you to compost a wider variety of food waste, including meat, fish, bones and cooked food. Hot composting is perfect for communities like ours that have larger quantities of food and organic waste, allowing us to compost our waste all-year round.
Long-term benefits
This fantastic large capacity composter cost £600 but has only been in operation for three months and has already saved us £300 in compost and plant fertilizer.
Issy Baker, our Wellbeing and Development Worker said: “Here at Emmaus Village Carlton, the emphasis is always on finding more and more ways to reuse, recycle and reduce our carbon footprint.
“Our water collection system and hot composter are vital ways in which we can save money as well as the environment, reusing and recycling our natural resources and organic materials for the long-term benefit of the community.”
Green credentials recognised
Firmly committed to reusing and recycling as much as possible, our social enterprise entails reselling tonnes of donated items and recycling large quantities of metal and wood.
Our greatest success story has been in textiles and books; in the last year (July 22 to June 23) we sent over 160 tonnes of textiles and books to recycling or resell providers. This is a significant increase on previous years which has been made possible thanks to our staff, companions and volunteers all buying into the ethos behind it.
Not only does this produce much-needed revenue for our charity, to help us provide brighter futures for people affected by homelessness, but it’s ethically important to protect our environment and reduce our carbon footprint.
These green efforts were recently recognised by our nomination for the Reuse Organisation of the Year award, hosted by the Reuse Network. This is the UK’s only membership body dedicated to charitable and voluntary reuse organisations like ours, who are helping reduce poverty, tackle waste and build brighter futures for all.
Pictured: Our new water collection tanks.