Kington Lady Hawkins School is Sh-ready to compost

Lady Hawkins School in Kington has struck lucky after Debbie Smith from Eardisley kindly donated the garden shredder which she won in a competition run by Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council, to the school.

The competition, run during Compost Awareness Week in May, was aimed at encouraging more people to compost.

The Waste Management team were running roadshows in Compost Awareness Week to encourage residents to take up home composting and to help those already composting to do so more effectively.

Staff offered residents in Herefordshire and Worcestershire the chance to climb on board the recycling bus and view the composting exhibition, as well as enter the competition to win a garden shredder.

Debbie Smith, who has a son in Year 10 at the school, was the name drawn from the hat to take home the Bosch AXT RAPID 2000, which was donated by BOSCH and is ideal for the rapid shredding of green and woody garden waste.

David Smith, geography teacher at Lady Hawkins School, said: “We are always grateful for donations and the shredder will be a great benefit to us because we have a lot of trees in the grounds which need regular trimming and the mulch will be good for putting on our flowerbeds.

“We are also starting to develop an eco-classroom which we want to use as a vehicle to promote sustainable living and we will use the shredder to show pupils the benefit of home composting and how the compost can be used to grow vegetables.

“The school already grows its own vegetables and the pupils have already tasted self-grown potatoes, broad beans and courgettes in school meals,” he added.

Viktoria Salisbury, project development officer for composting, said: "We try to encourage residents to take up home composting to reduce the amount of waste which has to be sent to landfill. Using a home shredder is a great way to keep your garden tidy and also to improve your compost, as well as saving you time in having to take garden waste to a household waste site.

"By offering residents the chance to enter a competition to win a garden shredder we hoped to encourage more people to use garden shredders to deal with their garden waste at home and to produce a valuable product which can be used in their garden.

“The really nice thing with this example is that Mrs Smith has kindly donated her prize to the Lady Hawkins School, meaning that they can compost more effectively on site and also that the children can learn even more about composting."

The material produced after using a shredder can be added to your compost bin and will help to provide the right mix of 'greens' and 'browns' to help the compost to rot down quickly. The shreddings can also be used as a mulch to conserve water and suppress weeds in your garden.

Those seeking more advice on composting at home should contact the Waste Management team on 01905 766883 or visit http://www.wastemissionimpossible.org.uk/