Liverpool Council encourages residents to compost with new star
There’s something different about Ozzie the cockroach — and it’s not just that he can grow as large as the palm of a hand.
Liverpool
Don't miss out on the headlines from Liverpool. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Waste management might be the talk of the town right now, but Ozzie the cockroach already knows all about it.
The giant burrowing cockroach, native to Australia and typically found in tropical Queensland, recently joined Liverpool Council as an educator on household composting.
Ozzie’s diet is made up of eucalyptus leaves which, after digestion, are then turned into compost to enrich soil in bushland.
Liverpool Council waste education officer Sarah Grixti said Ozzie was recruited to promote household composting and reduce waste sent to landfill.
She said the species played an important role in the bush ecosystem.
“He’s actually really important to the Australian ecosystem because very few animals have the ability to compost eucalyptus leaves in particular,” Ms Grixti said.
“Most people associate cockroaches with the cockroaches they see in their house and rightly so. They’re German and American cockroaches for the most part and they eat food waste, which is why they’re coming into the home.
“(Ozzie is) very different. His feet aren’t sticky like a regular cockroach. They’re more for digging rather than sticking to anything. He’s not capable of walking up walls or anything like that.”
The species can burrow as much as a metre underground, live up to 11 years and grow to the size of an adult palm.
It is the second largest cockroach in the world after the Bolivian cockroach.
Ozzie is the star of adult composting workshops and often visits local schools to kickstart conversations on composting.
Liverpool Council supports residents’ home composting by offering a $50 rebate for any compost bin or worm farm purchased, workshops, and troubleshooting and information resources.
Visit liverpool.nsw.gov.au/services/waste-and-recycling/compost-and-worm-farming for more information.
Horror timeline lays bare teen’s six hours of hell in alleged gang rape
A teenage girl’s Christmas shopping trip turned into a six-hour ordeal which will torment her for life after police allege she was gang-raped by four males. This is how police allege it happened.
‘Life or death’: Alarm over city judges ruling on bush bail cases
A plan to have city magistrates remotely dealing with bail applications from the country has raised alarm about fairness and the possibility of recidivist offenders getting out more often.