Turning Trash into Treasure:
Pilot Home Composting Project Launched
December 6, 2007
With help from the USAID-funded Supporting Activities that Value the Environment (SAVE) project, the community of Beyarmudu/Pergamos is working to tackle its solid waste by turning trash into treasure! A home composting pilot program was launched on 6 December 2007 to inform and inspire local residents to turn their household and garden waste into organic compost. The composting pilot program will demonstrate a productive and environmentally-friendly way to dispose of organic household waste, which in the area can account for up to half of all household trash. In addition to reducing the amount of refuse being dumped in strained local dump sites, compost can be used as a natural fertilizer to improve soil conditions and gardens.
SAVE works to build local capacity to better protect and manage Cyprus’ valuable natural and cultural resources. Along with the composting units, SAVE will provide training and technical expertise and support for the six month pilot composting program.
Composting is nature's way of recycling decomposable organic materials into a rich soil supplement. Home composting is the controlled decomposition of organic material such as vegetable food waste and garden refuse such as leaves, twigs, and grass clippings. The breakdown or decomposition of this organic material is caused by the natural action of hundreds of different types of bacteria, fungi and other organisms feeding on the material in the composting bin. Finished compost looks like soil – it is dark brown and crumbly and it
smells like a forest floor just after a rain.
Anyone interested in finding out more about home composting can contact SAVE at save-info@irgltd.com. A Home Composting Guide developed by SAVE will also be available soon for download at http://www.save-irg.com.
Like all U.S. government programs in Cyprus, SAVE is aimed at facilitating reunification of the island, including through encouraging responsible economic growth and sound environmental management.
With help from the USAID-funded Supporting Activities that Value the Environment (SAVE) project, the community of Beyarmudu/Pergamos is working to tackle its solid waste by turning trash into treasure! A home composting pilot program was launched on 6 December 2007 to inform and inspire local residents to turn their household and garden waste into organic compost. The composting pilot program will demonstrate a productive and environmentally-friendly way to dispose of organic household waste, which in the area can account for up to half of all household trash. In addition to reducing the amount of refuse being dumped in strained local dump sites, compost can be used as a natural fertilizer to improve soil conditions and gardens.
Composting is nature's way of recycling decomposable organic materials into a rich soil supplement. Home composting is the controlled decomposition of organic material such as vegetable food waste and garden refuse such as leaves, twigs, and grass clippings. The breakdown or decomposition of this organic material is caused by the natural action of hundreds of different types of bacteria, fungi and other organisms feeding on the material in the composting bin. Finished compost looks like soil – it is dark brown and crumbly and it
smells like a forest floor just after a rain.