Garden waste
Compost at school
Composting is a great way to keep garden cuttings, prunings and classroom fruit waste out of the rubbish bin. Learn more about composting at school at www.recyclenow.com/schools/compost.
Wormeries
A wormery is a small, self-contained unit that will compost soft, organic kitchen waste such as vegetable peelings, coffee grounds and stale bread. Worms are pets and require feeding during long school holidays. They also need to be kept somewhere sheltered and warm in winter.
Buy your own
Standard sized wormeries and compost bins cannot process large quantities of fruit waste but they make a great educational tool.
Subsidised wormeries and compost bins are available to buy from Townmead Road Re-use and Recycling Centre or compost bins can be purchased online from getcomposting.com.
Garden waste service
If you don’t have space for a compost bin, you can keep leaves out of landfill by using our garden waste service.
Hire a bin from only £50 a year for a 240 litre bin or £230 a year for an 1100 litre bin. For small volumes of green waste, you can purchase garden waste sacks for only £14.00 for 10 (plus £1.37 postage).
Payments by card or direct debit.
Telephone: 08456 122 660
wasteandrecycling@richmond.gov.uk
Ideas for autumn leaf fall
- Make an art project - Use the reds, yellows and oranges to create autumnal works of art.
- Create a wildlife haven - Pile up leaves and fallen branches to protect our native species such as hedgehogs, stag beetles, robins and bats.
- Mow them - This helps them break down over winter
- Hoard them - Use them throughout the year as brown material in your compost
- Compost them - Alternate layers of shredded leaves and green materials in your compost bin and aerate or turn the pile every so often.
- Make leaf compost - here’s two easy methods:
- Pile your leaves at least three feet wide and tall – the bigger the better! Keep moist throughout the year.
- Fill a bag with leaves, moisten and seal. Make a few air holes and check the bag every month or two, adding water if dry. After six months to a year, you will have leaf compost!