By Mikayla van Loon
Kilsyth’s very own compost hub has officially been launched after months of planning and building by volunteers.
Housed at The Bridge House gardens on Durham Road, the establishment of the compost hub was a partnership between Community Alliance for Waste Reduction and Sustainability (CAWRS) and Japara Neighbourhood House, funded by the Recycling Victoria Communities Fund, delivered by Sustainability Victoria on behalf of the Victorian Government.
CAWRS co-project manager Max Godber said for many people living in the urban parts of the Yarra Ranges, they may not have the ability to compost at home but this project gives an alternative.
“If you don’t have a compost bin at home, let’s be honest, composting at home is not for everyone. You need space. You need time. And you need the appropriate knowledge,” he said.
“So the compost hub is the next best thing because there is that sense of contribution and sense of participation that people feel whenever they are part of these community based spaces.”
Japara board chairperson Mark Doubleday said this was just the first project of many for the community space to reinvigorate the gardens and bring people together.
“Japara is very pleased to be a part of this project. We know many in the community want to do the right thing and learn about sustainable living and also volunteer to help establish community opportunities,” he said.
“Sometimes we all just need a bit of information and encouragement from others to grow greater sustainability practices and ways of reducing waste – it can be a lot of fun.”
Max said there were three main goals that both CAWRS and Japara are focused on achieving.
“One is to help enable your community and primarily volunteer based organisations and groups to divert as much compostable and organic waste from landfill as possible,” he said.
“The second one is, recycling is not a new concept but the messaging around it is very confusing, and it changes from municipality to municipality. So how can we break down that barrier of language and messaging?
“The third one is working with traditional owner groups to get the message out there, to raise greater awareness about what it means to care for Country.”
As one of 10 compost hubs being established across three council areas, including the Yarra Ranges, Maroondah and Cardinia, Max said the Yarra Ranges was the only LGA to not have a food organics and garden organics (FOGO) system in place to allow residents to compost scraps.
“Even in Maroondah and Cardinia, where people can put food scraps into their garden waste bin they’re choosing not to.
“Their garden waste bin is only collected on a fortnightly basis, so there is still a demand. There’s still a need for these compost hubs even in municipalities where there is a FOGO system in place.”
Changing people’s habits to create more sustainable practices is one of the main challenges the compost hub is facing but Max and Mark hope it’s a step in the right direction to starting the conversation.
“It’s about changing behaviour and changing the thinking to a cycle economy rather than linear which is really the key factor and behaviour changes are the hardest thing to do and I actually think that’s the hardest part of climate change and sustainability,” Mark said.
The compost hub will operate on an opt-in basis where people sign up for free and can use a compost caddy to bring food scraps to a larger waste bin. Volunteers will then, on a weekly roster, add the organic waste to the compost bins and maintain the turning over of the compost.
Mark said this will function as part of the revitalisation of The Bridge House where sustainability is a major focus and will incorporate the growing of a community garden.
“The Community Sustainable Food Garden Project is the first step of a longer-term plan to establish The Bridge as a local hub for the community to learn and develop sustainable living and food practices,” he said.
It will also offer opportunities for education and training, as well as eventually be used as part of a canteen service for visitors to the reserve.
To register your interest in becoming a member of the Kilsyth Compost Hub, go to https://forms.gle/hspAk376YGgkKzz29
