Put food waste to good use by turning it into nutrient rich compost for green spaces

In support of Food Waste Action Week 2025 Redbridge Council is offering free composting workshops so local people can turn their food waste into soil enriching nutrients that help flowers and plants to grow.

Around a third of waste produced in Redbridge is organic waste, including food. Households can help reduce this figure by composting, which is nature's process of recycling food and other organic waste into nutrient rich sustenance for gardens and green spaces.

On average, a household can reduce their waste by at least 30% through composting.

To help households start their composting journey during Food Waste Action Week (March 17 –23), Redbridge Council is running two workshops at their newly launched community composting sites at Goodmayes Park, and Seven Kings Park:

Saturday 22 March

• Goodmayes Park: 1.30pm-2.30pm, Park Keeper’s compound, Aberdour Road, Goodmayes
• Seven Kings Park: 3pm-4pm, Park Keeper’s compound, Epsom Road, Ilford

There is no need to book a spot, you can just turn up.

The workshops will give composting demonstrations, information on what can and can’t be composted, and the environmental and financial benefits of composting whether it’s done through community composting sites, or via home composting.

Composting at home for just one year can save global warming gases equivalent to all the CO2 an average household kettle produces annually, or a washing machine produces in three months. It’s a great way to reduce your household waste and free up your bins.

For those who are unable to compost at home due to lack of outside space,

community composting sites such as those at Goodmayes Park, and Seven Kings Park are particularly ideal.

The two park-based composting sites take a variety of uncooked fruit and vegetables, tea bags, coffee grounds and dead flowers – all helping create nutrient rich compost which can be used to help keep the borough’s parks and green spaces flourishing. Each site will have posters informing people of the full list of what can and can’t be composted.

The Council is also supporting local people living in flats to set up shared composting bins and community gardens, enabling households who do not have access to a garden to get involved, reduce waste and increase green spaces in the borough.

For more information on this or if you would like to set your own shared composting bin up, please contact the council on ourneighbourhood@redbridge.gov.uk

Joey Ceunen, a keen composter from Wanstead, said: “My husband and I are very mindful of waste and its negative impact on our environment. If we all make small changes to reduce waste, then together we can have a bigger impact towards creating a more environmentally friendly borough.

“For us, composting is an effective way to minimise our organic household waste and set a good example for our children about being environmentally responsible. We regularly used the communal composting bin a short walk away, but we felt that having one directly at our building, The Hollies, would encourage more neighbours to get involved.

“With the support of the Council, we set up a composting bin in our shared gardens, and it has been an enormous success. Not only are more residents now composting their waste, it has also fostered a stronger sense of community within our building. Additionally, the compost helps nurture and grow our shared gardens, creating a pleasant environment that everyone can enjoy.”

Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability, Cllr Jo Blackman said: “Composting is a great way for organic waste to make a positive impact on the environment. Not only does it help reduce household waste, but it helps cultivate thriving healthy green spaces that boost local biodiversity. Composting is a great example of how we can work together as a community to reduce waste and create a greener Redbridge.”

If you can’t make the composting workshops run by Redbridge Council, there is also a free online Garden Organics home composting course being offered to local people: https://eastlondonwaste.gov.uk/homecomposttraining/

To find out more about composting, or to purchase a compost bin go to: www.redbridge.gov.uk/bins-waste-and-recycling/garden-waste/home-composting/

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