Freeplay’s Encore Player radio makes a splash during record-breaking journey around the world

Freeplay Energy’s Encore Player radio was recently put through its paces by extreme sportsman Sam Greatrex when he took part on a grueling 100-mile rowing expedition from Oxford to London.

The expedition was a warm-up for Sam’s forthcoming attempt to break the world record for the fastest human powered circumnavigation of the world – and his Encore Player will also be going with him then. The bid, titled ‘Lap the World’, will kick off in August 2014 and aims to raise £240,000 for the Macmillan Cancer Support charity.

But first, Sam and his seven crewmates rowed from Oxford to Putney Bridge, London. Sam’s new Encore Player radio kept the team entertained and charged their mobile phones throughout the journey; its robust design, powerful speaker and patented dynamo-powered energy source making it ideal for sustained outdoor use.

Sam Greatrex comments: “I approached Freeplay Energy as there seemed a natural fit between the company and our values of demonstrating sustainable energy management while delivering world leading performance. Having said that, it will also be a life saver to have a radio to listen to while I am making my way around the globe, and the inbuilt light and mobile phone charger will be invaluable. I can even load my favorite tunes onto an SD card and use the Encore Player’s integrated MP3 player.”

John McGrath, Freeplay Energy’s managing director, adds: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to support Sam’s record attempt by donating an Encore Player radio, which is particularly appropriate for use on the ‘Lap the World’ bid, as it too can be fully powered by human energy, via its high-efficiency wind-up mechanism. Of course, if Sam chooses to save all his energy for getting himself around the world, he can use Encore Player’s built-in solar panel to power the multi-band radio, play MP3s or charge his mobile phone.

“We were proud to support Sam both during his initial rowing challenge between Oxford and London, and then as he takes on his amazing ‘Lap the World’ expedition later this year. We wish him all the very best and look forward to watching his progress as he creates a new world record.”

Originally designed for use by the 1.6 billion people worldwide who currently live without access to a regular electricity supply, the solar and dynamo-powered Encore Player is a multi-band radio, MP3 player and recorder, light and mobile phone charger. Weighing just 1.08kg and less than 26cm tall, Encore Player is highly portable and its sturdy, robust design ensures that it is suitable for use in the most rugged of environments.

Encore Player builds on Freeplay’s long experience of pioneering wind-up and solar technology to deliver products that provide information, communication and lighting for people around the world who live off-grid.

Now that Sam has completed his Oxford to London trip, he will continue preparations for his ‘Lap the World’ challenge. This will see him cross 25 countries and five continents in the course of his 18 month journey. He will cycle 18,000 miles and row 14,000 nautical miles in order to break the current record for the fastest human powered circumnavigation of the world, which has only been completed by two other people to ExplorersWeb standards. Sam chose to use the record bid as a fundraising initiative for Macmillan Cancer Support having made a full recovery from the disease following diagnosis at the age of 10.

Sam concludes: “Macmillan Cancer Support provides essential help for families affected by cancer and the money we raise will help the charity to provide more services for more people at a very difficult time in their lives. I am grateful to all the companies and individuals who have, like Freeplay Energy, pledged their support for ‘Lap the World’ and I look forward to achieving a new world record.”

For more information about ‘Lap the World’, visit www.laptheworld.com or go to www.justgiving.com/laptheworld to make a donation.

About Freeplay Energy

Freeplay Energy is the leading manufacturer of windup and solar powered products, specialising in Outdoor Leisure, Emergency Preparedness, and Aid and Development.

Freeplay Energy has been the original and leading global brand of clean, dependable energy products since 1994. Freeplay Energy's patented technology harnesses human, solar and rechargeable energy and converts it into electricity to power unique portable consumer products, replacing conventional disposable batteries that are environmentally toxic and expensive.

The current product range includes radios, flashlights, lanterns, and mobile power devices. Freeplay Energy's products have been distributed throughout the developed and developing worlds by a range of businesses, charities, NGOs and government and UN agencies.

www.freeplayenergy.com.

Full Disclosure Statement: The GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW received no compensation for any component of this article.

The Propagro Windowsill Propagator – Product Review

Propagro Windowsill Propagator, the mini individual plant greenhouse for your windowsill.

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The Plant Pot Propagator is probably the simplest propagator you will ever use except for one that you may fashion yourself by simply using a pot and a plastic bag. Two wire hoops which click together hold a 9cm or 10cm pot away from the ground for good drainage and provide a frame to hold a polythene cover away from the leaves of your cuttings and seedlings whilst providing the warm and humid environment needed for good propagation.

The Propagro Windowsill Propagators are simple to set up; so simple, in fact, that a small child could do it and, once again, instructions are almost superfluous.

Made in the UK from recycled galvanized steel. RRP £8.00 excl delivery. Pack of 3 Propagators.

Yes, it is true that you could, basically, make your own propagators by simply placing the pot into a plastic back and tying up the top. Did that an while it did work to some degree it also caused rot and thus death to a number of seedlings due to the fact that the entirely closed bag does not allow for any ventilation. The Propagro, being open on the bottom, does away with that problem though it does, maybe, require a little more checking as to keeping the soil at the right moisture condition for seeds and seedlings.

© 2014

Is Anaerobic Digestion the Future of Renewable Energy?

With renewable energy sources becoming more popular, could anaerobic digestion offer a viable solution to reducing energy costs?

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

As concerns over the future of the environment due to global warming and reducing levels of non-renewable energy sources such as coal and gas, governments, energy providers and their customers are investing more and more in coming up with viable options for producing renewable, low carbon and environmentally friendly energy. As can be seen on most energy comparison sites, the advancements in the renewable or ‘green’ energy technology are not only helping customers reduce their carbon emissions and protect the environment but also save money on their heating and electricity bills. Scientists and energy providers are constantly working together to develop viable renewable solutions that will increase these benefits. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is one of these.

Much has been said about the more popular ‘green’ energy sources such as solar power and wind. With billions of pounds being poured into the development of these technologies by governments and private investors around the globe, these technologies are well on their way to one day replacing the oil, coal and gas that this planet relies on so heavily. But these are not the only viable options to eliminating non-renewable energy sources. The UK in particular has put together an initiative to increase the amount of energy produced each year from anaerobic digestion.

Put simply, anaerobic digestion is the process by which methane gas is produced when waste is broken down in the absence of oxygen. The technology itself is nothing new. Producers or large amounts of food waste such as farms for example, have been using this method of producing methane gas which can then be burnt to heat houses or power combustion engines for centuries. It is only as recently as 2011, however, that the government has considered AD as an alternative to fossil fuel and has put together an action plan for developing the technology so that it can produce renewable energy on a large scale.

The beauty of AD is that it in effect kills two birds with one stone. Not only is it offer a solution to the problem of finding alternatives to fossil fuels, it also goes some way to solving another increasingly troublesome problem when it comes to the environment; that of waste management. With the population ever on the increase and staggering amounts of food and other biodegradable material being thrown away every year, and landfills growing at an alarming rate, AD at least goes some way to relieving the stress on the environment caused by waste, while actually allowing us to harness the energy produced in the chemical reactions that occur during the decomposition of organic matter.

The Government’s ‘Anaerobic Digestion Strategy and Action Plan’ which was put together in 2011 seeks to put find ways of creating large scale operations that will produce large amounts of renewable energy from sources such as farms and sewage plants that treat biomass in order to produce gas that can then be used to create heat and power, while reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfill.

By 2020 it hopes to reduce the amount of food waste and slurry that is sent to landfill by instead using it to power the country through the use of AD. It envisions that around 5 megatons of food waste and 20 – 60 megatons of animal waste could be used to create approximately 3.5 terawatts of energy, which is enough to power over 913,000 households annually.

There are still a number of barriers to overcome, including finding the space for new AD plants to be erected and the development of new technology as well as a number of legislative difficulties, however, with the help of incentive such as the Feed-in-Tariff, the Renewables Obligation and the Renewable Heat Incentive, all of which give businesses and industries financial incentives to recycle waste products in order to create renewable energy, anaerobic digestion is becoming ever closer to becoming a viable option.

The thing to remember is that the gas produced by anaerobic digestion (AD) is methane, predominately, which, in fact, is nothing else but natural gas.. the very same stuff that we are drilling for and extracting from the North Sea and other places.

The beauty is that methane can be produced by AD from sewage and from landfills and, theoretically, every single farm, sewage works and landfill site could be an electricity generating plant.

The first Edison power stations were meant to be powered by methane gas from the sewers but the oil industry put an and to that and that by more means than simply being cheap.

Over a sewage plant not far from my home five flares are burning constantly, day and night, flaring off the methane releases. Instead of flaring the stuff off it should be put to use for the flaring, or worse still the simple venting, as done on even the largest landfill in the county, is worse for the environment than burning the gas to generate power.

In addition to AD for the production of electricity we must take also a leaf out of the book of the Swedes and go down the waste to energy route instead of paying them to take out waste that we cannot recycle and burn it in their waste to energy plants.

But that is something where the likes of Friends of the Earth always rant and rave against with statements such as “we need to recycle more”. And while it is true that we still have to get down to recycling more of our waste at least, until such a time that we have an almost zero waste society burning it sanitarily, with the flue gasses being scrubbed, for the production of energy is by far better than dumping the stuff in holes in the grounds, and that aside from the fact that we are running out of said holes in the ground.

Time we got real and used the resources that we have instead of fracking for shale oil and gas and destroying the environment that way.

© 2014

Living deliberately

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

• Slow down

• Live more in tune with Nature (again)

• Reduce your impact on the environment

Deliberate living or living deliberately means purposely and purposefully changing the way we live and how we do things.

When we live deliberately we (start to) become more attuned to everything around us and we begin to live more in tune with Nature and also with our fellow man.

To live (more) deliberate also means to slow down and that means slowing down in all things. Life today simply is too fast and this leads to stress, to anxiety, and to other issues. Everyone is, it seems, in a mad rush. The question is only “in a mad rush to where and why?”

We really need to slow down in all things and learn to live (more) deliberate, instead of just rushing about – like proverbial headless chickens almost. Let's slow down again to a more human pace and approach things differently. The rat race is nothing to aspire to.

However, most people are like hamsters in wheels or rats in the proverbial rat race, getting nowhere necessarily fast but getting stressed out on the way. Stopping this treadmill will enable each and everyone of us to life a happier and more fulfilled life, and also give us time and energy to connect with others and with Nature.

We must stop competing with each other and instead learn to cooperate honestly and ensure that everyone makes it. It is not a war, a race, a competition.

Next we come to living more in tune with Nature (again) and I do say the again in fact deliberately – pardon the pun – as we have gotten so far removed from Nature, our Mother, that it is almost unbelievable.

Our children and young people have no idea where their food comes from and in more that one instance I have heard of children being presented with vegetables with soil still on them replying that on no account would they eat those as “there is dirt of them”. They have little to no comprehension that potatoes, carrots, and all other vegetables grow in the soil or out of the soil, what they call “dirt”.

Get in touch with Nature. Go for a walk in the park or the wood and also do a little food growing by way of gardening. Even on a balcony it is possible to grow a fair amount of fresh food yourself. If you have a yard even better for you can grow still more and can thus become to some degree self-sufficient in food production. You will be amazed how much good food you can grow in even a small space. There is nothing better than being able to put food on the plate that you (and yours) have grown.

Reducing our impact on the environment is also a result and an aim of living more deliberately. If we chose not to drive, for instance, and chose to walk or use the bicycle instead our environmental footprint is considerably reduced and even more so if we consumer less and live with what we have rather than buying new all the time. In addition to that it keeps us fit, gets us closer, in many instances, to Nature, and saves us money too.

Giving up on the bottle water madness also is part of living deliberately and, once again, will save us money and is good for the Planet, and not just by reducing the amount of plastic bottles that go into landfill. Get a reusable water bottle and fill it up with tap water.

Ditch the one-way coffee cups at the take-out coffee joint and take your own coffee shop machine usable reusable coffee cup instead, such as Australian designed and made, with the exception of the silicone band, KeepCup. While there are many reusable coffee mugs out there that can be had most do not fit under the machines and thus the barista will have to use a throw-away cup with which to fill up your reusable mug.

Furthermore pick up a book – or several, but one after the other only – and read and I do mean here real books, the paper kind of books, and also learn to make things with your own hands, be this knitting, sewing, woodcarving or what-have-you. This all connects us with what is important. And, whenever possible spend the time with people in the real world and not – only – the virtual one. You could also do some volunteering.

© 2014

The people must liberate themselves

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

No organization of the working class – how ever well intentioned – and especially no party in the political sense can do this task for them. And all too often then, if tried, it becomes a “top down” approach no better than what went before; at times even worse.

All too often such attempt is, however, made to hasten the process of liberating the working class. This liberation is not a liberation at all but just a jump from the frying pan into the fire, exchanging one master, the capitalist ruling class, for another, the political party.

Nationalization of industry and means of production is one of those attempts, then calling it “owned by the people” though it is rather “owned by the state”. This is not was was and is meant by “the means of production in the hands of the workers”. It just transfers the means of production from being in the hands of the capitalists into the hands of the state, with the workers just exchanging the previous master for a new one in the form of the state.

The means of production and the land must indeed be placed into the hands of those who do the work and not the state. Nationalization does not put the means of production and the land into the hands of the people who work the machines and the land but it is but a transfer from ordinary capitalism to state capitalism. In fact, the state itself is something that needs to be abolished if the people are to be free, but that is another story.

The liberation of the proletariat and the peasantry, of the masses, must come from and be done by the grassroots and will require leadership of high caliber. This has to be a leadership that guides and nurtures rather than one that imposes its way and views onto the masses. The party is not always right, as we have seen often enough in the past.

Change, and this is true for political change as well as change in other quarters, cannot be imposed on the people from above (by force of arms or coercion) how ever well intentioned. It must come from the roots through proper nurturing by those who have seen the light of the new dawn.

© 2014

Homeland Security: Don't use IE due to bug

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The US Department of Homeland security is advising Americans not to use the Internet Explorer Web browser until a fix is found for a serious security flaw that came to light over the weekend of May3 to 4, 2014.

The bug was announced on Saturday, May 3, 2014 by FireEye Research Labs, an Internet security software company based in Milpitas, Calif.

"We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem," the Department of Homeland Security's United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team said in a post on the morning of Monday, May 5, 2014.

It recommended that users and administrators "consider employing an alternative Web browser until an official update is available."

The security flaw allows malicious hackers to get around security protections in the Windows operating system. They then can be infected when visiting a compromised website.

Because the hack uses a corrupted Adobe Flash file to attack the victim's computer, users can avoid it by turning off Adobe Flash.

"The attack will not work without Adobe Flash," FireEye said. "Disabling the Flash plugin within IE will prevent the exploit from functioning." While the bug affects all versions of Internet Explorer 6 through 11 it is currently targeting IE9 and IE10, FireEye stated. The attacks do not appear to be widespread at this time. Microsoft said it was "aware of limited, targeted attacks that attempt to exploit" the vulnerability.

These are called "watering-hole attacks," said Satnam Narang, a threat researcher with computer security company Symantec in Mountain View, Calif.

Rather than directly reach out to a victim, the hackers inject their code into a "normal, everyday website" that the victim visits, he said. Code hidden on the site then infects their computers.

"It's called a watering-hole attack because if you're a lion, you go to the watering hole because you know that's where the animals go to drink." FireEye said the hackers exploiting the bug are calling their campaign "Operation Clandestine Fox."

Microsoft confirmed Saturday that it is working to fix the code that allows Internet Explorer versions 6 through 11 to be exploited by the vulnerability. As of Monday morning, no fix had been posted.

Microsoft typically releases security patches on the second Tuesday of each month, what's known as Patch Tuesday. The next one is Tuesday, May 14. Whether the company will release a patch for this vulnerability before that is not as yet known.

About 55% of PC computers run one of those versions of Internet Explorer, according to the technology research firm NetMarketShare. About 25% run either IE9 or IE10.

Computer users who are running the Windows XP operating system are out of luck. Microsoft discontinued support of the system on April 8.

Symantec is offering XP users tools to protect themselves, which it has made available on its blog.

The time it seems to take Microsoft to patch any vulnerabilities when they are discovered is, in my opinion, very worrying indeed as other browser developers seems to be much faster when it comes to problems.

While the Department of Homeland Security said that it recommends that users and administrators "consider employing an alternative Web browser until an official update is available" they they give no suggests therefore I will do so. Safer options to IE do exist. There is first of all Mozilla Firefox and then there is also Google Chrome and Opera and (1) those browsers are Open Source, predominately, such a Firefox for sure and Chrome is also based on Open Source with some Google specific code and (2) they are all, it would appear, far safer that Internet Explorer, which seems to have one serious problem after the other.

So, in order to protect your systems, I can but suggest to dump Internet Explorer into the nearest trash bin and to install, even on corporate systems, Mozilla Firefox or other safer browsers. We can all see that Microsoft does not really care as to what happens as it is now Wednesday, May 7, 2014 and no fix has, so far, been offered from the folks at Redmond.

© 2014

Is your lasagna neighing?

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

German school students found horse meat in a great number of samples to be beef

In a DNA study conducted by students of a German high school most samples tested contained meat, and not just traces, other than beef and often – in a great percentage of them – the entire beef was not beef at all but horse.

And it may not just be your lasagne or your burger that may be neighing; nay – pardon the pun – even the piece of steak on your plate may, as it may be horse dressed up as beef.

According to some butchers it is difficult to nigh impossible even for them to determine as to whether it is beef or horse as they, no longer, at least not in Britain and other parts of the EU, slaughter and butcher the whole animal but receive the meat already cut up from the abattoir, the slaughterhouse. And thus many a horse dressed up as a bovine enters the food chain.

While there is nothing wrong, per se, with eating horse meat bar that the eating of horse to some people is a religious and cultural taboo, meat that comes from race horse is not fit for human consumption as it is full of drugs dangerous to humans. Furthermore is it serious fraud on the consumer to sell horse as beef, as kilo of horse meat is about 20 cents compared to whatever a kilo of beef is; in the UK it is the equivalent of 4 Euro or thereabouts. Those prices are wholesale from the abattoir to the neat retailer and not the price the consumer is being charges. For beef in Britain that is in the range of 10 Euro per kilo depending on type of beef.

Despite the fact that industry is supposed to be cleaning up its act it would appear little to nothing is being done. Governments tell us everything is hunky-dory and the problems are solved and that was before the tests conducted by those German high school students and – in the main – the media at home and abroad is keeping rather silent about the findings by those pupils. Obviously, government makes sure of that. Couldn't have the people know that despite all assurances the truth is a different one and it is not but traces of horse DNA but horse dressed up as beef all the way.

The findings by those German students make me glad that soon after the scandal broke in Eire and Britain I switched from a meat eater to a vegetarian as I do not wish to knowingly or unknowingly eat horse, the eating of which is taboo in the culture of my people.

© 2014

Reuse

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Before we even as much as consider recycling an item we should look to see if we can reuse it

Reusing uses far less energy – more often than not zero energy – than does recycling and it can save money too, our own money! Many items can be reused – from carrier bags and clothes, through to books and furniture.

Some tips for reusing household items (this list is by no means complete:

• try to repair things before throwing them away;

• save wrapping paper and gift boxes to use again;

• take old magazines to your local doctors' or dentists’ surgery;

• use yoghurt pots and egg cartons to plant seedlings and plastic bottles cut in half for planters or bird feeders; you can also use plastic bottles, with just the bottom cut off, as plant propagators, e.g. cloches;

• reuse envelopes by putting labels over old addresses;

• use the back of larger envelopes that cannot be reused easily in the above way, such as those window envelopes, as note pages;

• if paper has only been written or printed on one side, why not use the other side for messages, notes and lists?

• jars and bottles can be reused to store homemade jams and pickles. Old jars can also be used for storing items such as nails, sugar and pasta, or you can decorate them to use as candle holders or pen pots;

• an empty Snapple® or other similar glass bottle makes a great reusable water bottle. No need to buy one;

• empty and cleaned up tin cans also can be reused in a number of ways and one great reuse is to use them as pencil bins; but they can also serve as scoops for potting soil, chicken feed, etc.;

• reuse old containers and buy refills for sturdy packs such as washing powders, liquids, salt and so on, and

• buy cotton cloths for the kitchen clean-up instead of disposable kitchen roll. But then again, why buy, necessarily. How about reusing the old cotton T-shirt that no longer can be worn because it is too small into kitchen cloths?

• Old T-shirts and other cotton garments no longer suitable for wear, including socks, can become dusting cloths (dusters);

There was a time when no one had to be told about reuse, it was just something you did. You did not even think about it. Everyone did and it was a way to save money at home and in the office.

Much of this reuse, that is true, was born and borne out of necessity of having to make ends meet and save money, and this was and is especially true for those that were at the bottom of the scale. But it is something we should all do as it not only saves us money but may be good – nay is good – for the Planet.

Today, however, we seem to have been so brainwashed that we can only think of the recycling bin and have absolutely no idea, at least not the majority, of how to see a reuse potential in things. We could learn a lot from children; they instinctively, it seems, find a reuse for something.

I have had the great fortune, at least see it as that, and maybe I could even call it a privilege, to have grown up with reuse even though it was very much out of necessity and thus value everything and try to find a reuse for everything that otherwise might end up in the trash – even if it is the recycling bin.

The reuse mindset, and that's what it is, has only one serious drawback and that is that you need a rather large barn for all those things you end up keeping – or want to keep – because they may come in handy some day.

But, even though many people reckon that those things don't come handy, the truth is that they do immediately after you have thrown them away because you have not needed them for the last five years or such.

Another reuse is to pick up useful things that others have either thrown away or and especially those things that people have lost and fail to return for. Oh yes, and the latter does include the occasional currency, and even a penny can come in handy.

© 2014

Recycling is bad

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Recycling makes people believe that they do good for the Planet, but is that really so?

Recycling is bad for the Planet and I do mean that. I know that that sounds strange but the way that recycling is managed and operated makes it so.

Now that products can be recycled and their components be reclaimed – by law in many countries – people think that it it fine to buy a new gadget, even though their old one still works perfectly, as they can recycle it.

The very recyclability of almost everything nowadays, though being a good thing in a way (and no, I am not contradicting), is making consumers believe that they can just go on consuming regardless as the products can be recycled.

In place of recyclability – or in conjunction with it – we must bring back repairability and the latter is much more important and must have much greater priority even than the former. Things must be made again in such a manner and fashion that they can be easily repaired when the go wrong, as used to be the case not so many decades ago. Corporations, however, make everything now in such a way that repair is either impossible or too costly compared to buying new in order to sell us the same product time and again. This must change and it must change now!

The problem, as we could call it, is the fact though that neither local authorities nor central government and even less so industry are going to entertain this idea in the same way, despite giving lip-service, they also do not like reuse much. Recycling gives governments income from recyclables they collect which you, as citizen, have also so very kindly cleaned and sorted often to make it easier for them.

Now industry, even though very reluctant at first, likes the idea of everything being recyclable thus making the consumer feel good throwing his “old” stuff away and buying new as the goods and their components can be recycled.

Recycling is not energy neutral, however, in comparison to reuse and a lot more energy hungry than would be repair. But the latter two do not keep the economy growing, so the government economists and others.

Repair would, and they never seem to think about it, if products would be repairable again, create new sector – well, not new really, we we once had it already – in the economy, that of, well, repair, of workshops fixing this or that as not everyone would be capable or willing of fixing things themselves.

In the former East Germany, the German Democratic Republic, to give it its proper name, there was a real and proper repair sector that was part of the economy and contributed greatly to it but also and especially to keeping things going for as long as possible.

Many products made in the GDR still work to this very day and they can still be, as long as one has the skills and tools be kept going for many years to come. Today such repairs will have to, in the main, be carried out by the user as the repairmen and -women who once did that work no longer exist.

Because East Germany was short of resources products were made in such a way that they would last as long as possible and also and especially so that they could be repaired if they did break down. Unlike in the capitalist West where, ever since around the late 1970s everything was made with a built-in obsolescence and in a way that prevents repair to ensure that people have to buy new all the time.

It is repairability that we need much more than recyclability, though ideally both combined for when the last rites must be given to a product as will be required at some stage. Recyclability on its own is not good enough. In fact it is bad; period!

© 2014

Give it a grow – International Compost Week

Easy, environmentally friendly and a great way to reduce your waste by up to a third, home composting is something we can all do, yet 60% of us have never tried it.

International Compost Awareness Week which runs from Monday 5th to Sunday 11th May aims to show people how simple home composting is and demonstrate the great results that can be achieved by turning your organic waste into nutrient-rich homemade compost.

Recycle for Wales is encouraging households in Wales to get involved by taking the opportunity to try composting for themselves. About a third of your waste can be composted at home, saving energy and resources and benefiting your garden and your pocket.

Vegetable peelings, prunings, paper and a list of other things from your kitchen and garden will decompose easily and naturally in a compost bin, leaving you less waste to bag up and put out for collection and further processing.

The free compost will enrich borders and vegetable patches, plant up patio containers and act as a soil conditioner to improve your lawn.

Dan Finch National Communications Officer for Recycle for Wales said: “Many people don’t realize how simple it is to home compost or just how much of their household waste can actually be composted. You can start today by picking up a discounted compost bin, available from your local council.”

Cameron Stewart from Blackwood has been an avid composter for years.

He said: “It’s really easy to start composting. All you need is a compost bin, which isn’t very expensive or some screwed together pallets like I’m using. Then all you need is a mixture of rotting components such as weeds, flowers, grass clippings known as fast rotters, and some slow rotters such as egg shells and wood prunings to create a good compost. The most effort required in making compost is turning the compost mixture over with a fork from time to time to let some air get in, to help everything break down”

“Once you start making your own compost you will never go back to buying it from a DIY store. It’s convenient to get to, saves you money, and you will have the added satisfaction of knowing you helped create it while reducing waste at the same time.”

“We hardly use our food waste bins because most of what would go in there is composted or goes in my newly formed wormery”

Home composting helps ensure that organic household waste doesn’t end up in landfill. Not only is this a waste of natural resources but it also takes up increasingly limited landfill space. What’s more, you’ll be left with a product that has everything your plants need to flourish and stay looking beautiful and healthy.

If you don’t have a garden, remember that you can still recycle all food waste, such as vegetable peelings, fruit cores, teabags and egg shells by using your council weekly food waste recycling collection service. Or if you fancy being creative with your leftovers visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for recipe ideas or download the mobile app.

Activities taking place during International Compost Week

Isle of Anglesey County Council

Free compost bin giveaways at:

• Llangefni market - Thursday 1^st May between 9.30am and 2pm

• Holyhead market – Monday 12^th May between 9.30am - 2pm.

Carmarthenshire County Council

· £5 compost bin public sale at Co-op Crosshands – Wednesday 7th May, 9am-2pm

· Composting sessions for teachers in National Botanic Garden – Thursday 8th May

· Promotional stand at Carmarthen Growers Association event at Carmarthen Park – Saturday 10 May

For information about times please contact Carmarthenshire County Council on 01267 234567

For further information about composting and to read about how Cameron composts at home visit www.recycleforwales.org.uk

Source: Waste Awareness Wales

Full Disclosure Statement: The GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW received no compensation for any component of this article.

This article is for your information only and the GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW does not (necessarily) approve, endorse or recommend the product, service, company or organization mentioned.