Turning lemons to lemonade, and waste to compost

Turn your green waste into compost with our new compost and worm farm rebate Earlier this year, we let our community know that the Bunbury Harvey Regional Council that processes food organics and garden organics (FOGO) or the green bin waste, for multiple local governments in the South West closed for the foreseeable future due to contamination and compliance issues. While the combined contamination rates from multiple local governments across the region were high, our residents maintained an excellent track record with FOGO, achieving some of the lowest contamination rates in the South West. Shire of Augusta Margaret River CEO Andrea Selvey said that the team was working hard to find a sustainable, long-term solution. "We want to thank our community for their incredible efforts in sorting their waste correctly and in turn, achieving some of the lowest FOGO contamination rates in the South West." "We share our community's frustration and disappointment that despite these amazing efforts, the closure of the facility has forced this waste to landfill." "We're working really hard alongside the other affected local governments to find a sustainable, long-term solution for our community" said Ms Selvey. Unfortunately, a recent tender coordinated by the Shire of Dardanup on behalf of participating South West local governments was unsuccessful in securing an alternative service provider. We're continuing to identify options and explore next steps. Ms Selvey encouraged residents to keep these great habits up and continue using the three-bin system, while also looking at other ways they could reduce their household waste. "While we work on a long-term solution, we want to turn this into an opportunity to encourage our environmentally conscious and savvy community to look at ways they can reduce their household waste, including home composting and worm farms." "To help residents get started on their home compost or worm farm journey, we're excited to offer our community a new rebate." Composting is nature's way of recycling - a process of turning natural scraps like food scraps, leaves and paper into nutrient-rich compost to help your garden and soil thrive. While worm farms are another way to recycle food scraps by feeding them to hungry worms. Worm farms and composting at home also build amazing habits around earth cycling, gardening and managing food waste. Composting and worm farms are a fantastic way to divert waste from landfill and reduce methane emissions. The rebate will be available on the below eligible products: Bokashi Buckets (up to $50 rebate) Compost Bin (up to $40 rebate) Compost Tumbler (up to $80 rebate) In-ground Worm Farm (up to $40 rebate) Pet Waste Composter (up to $50 rebate) Tiered Worm Farm (up to $80 rebate) Households are limited to two different types of home composting systems within a 5-year period. In addition to the rebate, we will be running community workshops to provide you with the information you need to get your compost or worm farm up and running. The first two workshops will be facilitated by Reconnect to Nature and focused on setting up and maintaining worm farms (both above ground and in-ground). Join us for one of the two workshops located at the Zone Room in the Margaret River Youth Precinct on: Tuesday 11 November, 5pm - 6.30pm Saturday 6 December, 10am - 11.30am The Shire of Augusta Margaret River recently held a Facebook competition to giveaway 10 free home composting systems with one per townsite up for grabs. With over 180 people entering the competition, the new rebate builds on this strong interest. Residents are reminded that they can also take up to 2 cubic metres of uncontaminated bulk green waste to the Davis Road Recycling and Waste Management Facility in Witchcliffe, and turn it into mulch for free. For more information about the home compost and worm farm rebate and workshops, visit: https://www.amrshire.wa.gov.au/compost-rebate