Waste not, compost more with food scrap program

Cafe trash is being turned into permaculture treasure in a new program making the most of the Sunshine Coast’s food waste.

Yandina Community Gardens food waste loop project officer Emily Boyd has been collecting scraps from local businesses to use in an organic waste management system. Picture: Stuart Cumming

Cafe trash is being turned into permaculture treasure in a new program making the most of the Sunshine Coast’s food waste.

Yandina Community Gardens president Colleen Bichel is excited about the prospects of food waste loop program, being led by fellow community gardens member Emily Boyd.

They have secured a total of $34,000 in Federal Government funding to run the food collection program as well as introduce a black soldier fly waste management system.

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“One of the key factors in permaculture, which is what our garden is based on, is looking after your soil,” Ms Bichel said.

“A great way to ensure that your soil is healthy is to compost.

“So we are always looking for projects and increasing the amount of compost we can provide and produce.”

Yandina Community Gardens food waste loop project officer Emily Boyd and Fairfax MP Ted O'Brien count the worms in an organic waste management system. Picture: Stuart Cumming

Miss Boyd said 10 Yandina businesses had agreed to keep their organic waste for collection in the program.

“We have three different compost systems to process this waste, that’s the worm farm, our hot- aerobic compost system and our black soldier fly larvae system,” Miss Boyd said.

“We imagine a world where none of this food waste is actually getting wasted, in fact it’s getting turned into a fantastic fertiliser and soil amendment we can sell back to the local Yandina community and use at the gardens as well.

“Without the funding we wouldn’t have been able to kick start this program, which is a vision for the Yandina community we’ve had for a long time.”

Anyone keen to learn more about composting is welcome to visit the gardens, view the different composting systems and take away some tips and tricks about composting at home. Community workshops are also planned to educate people about the new black soldier fly system.

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