Heart of BS13 are launching a closed-loop food composting project for their three-year National Lottery funded community climate action demonstrator project. Learn more from their Climate Action Lead Kirsty Hammond.

We are so excited to be launching our closed loop, food waste composting project. Funding from The National Lottery will be supporting 3 ambitious workstreams:

• Food waste – closing the loop between food consumption, food waste and organic composting.
• Youth advocacy – inviting young people to lead an important dialogue between the BS13 community and local supermarkets to solve the problem of the hundreds of abandoned supermarket trolleys that blight our environment.
• Green education, employment, and futures.

Waste is a significant issue for BS13 residents

Let’s talk about food waste. This project has been developed from the key priorities identified in our community climate action plan. Ensuring that BS13 benefits from climate action opportunities rather than being an afterthought, whilst reducing residents carbon footprint in line with Bristol’s aspirational goal of becoming net zero by 2030.

Throughout the community climate engagement process 100% of the residents we surveyed said that problems with waste were among the most significant issues for BS13, and for this reason we’re delighted to be launching our closed loop food waste composting project.

We are busy setting up a household food waste collection system that aligns with our existing enterprises (a flower farm, climate action hub and kitchen) and aims to reduce the amount of household waste that ends up in landfill. Development is already underway with the sketch designs completed, the e-cargo bike that will collect the food waste being built as we speak and site clearance at Hartcliffe City Farm in full swing as we prepare for the delivery of Heart of BS13’S very own Ridan, our composting machine.

A Ridan Pro composting machine is a hot, aerobic constant throughput composter, capable of dealing with all types of food and biodegradable green waste on site. Turning food waste into nutritious compost that can be used to help us grow our beautiful suitable flowers and delicious produce. Addressing carbon emissions caused by large quantities of food waste entering the general municipal household waste system.

Winning hearts and minds

Food recycling in BS13 is not popular and its relationship to decarbonisation is not widely recognised. Residents and local businesses will join us on this journey, increasing understanding around the importance and benefits of carbon reduction. Furthermore raising awareness of Theory to Action which increases support for closed loop composting and its environmental and enterprise benefits (training, volunteering and green jobs) as well as developing intergenerational knowledge and embedding of food waste reduction.

Through this work we will be winning the hearts and minds of our community by turning waste consumption from the invisible to a clearly visible product (flowers) and demonstrating how a circular economy can repurpose, reuse and reprocess what is currently considered waste in order to provide new raw materials (compost). Our aim is to reduce the pressure on nature, people, and the planet. Changing the ways in which we consume, design and interact.

Our food waste collection model will take a radial street-by-street approach to encourage households to donate their food waste to us. People living close to our composting sites will be encouraged to bring their food scraps to us when they visit for activities and recreation, encouraged by their children who are our community advocates.  For householders living further away from our sites, weekly collections will take place using a Heart of BS13 e-cargo bike, which is carbon saving.

We are setting up a system that will demonstrate and reward circular waste engagement through incentives provided by our Flower Farm (seeds, cuttings, activity days) our Kitchen (providing delicious meals) and our Climate Action Hub (ongoing, free, or low-cost activities throughout the year). The link between food waste, organic compost and increased production will be established, with residents seeing opportunities for training, employment increasing over the years as our enterprises grow.

You can watch a film about our wonderful flower farm and community climate action, with credits to We the Curious.

If you are a local resident or business and would like to be involved or find out more please contact Kirsty.hammond@heartofbs13.org.uk, call 07591636490 or reach out on any of our socials.

 

Watch this short video to hear why Kirsty thinks community-led climate action is important, and what she is most excited about phase 2 of the Community Climate Action Project.