International Compost Awareness Week 2022
International Compost Awareness Week, or ICAW for short, is all about raising public awareness of the importance of composting our food and other garden waste, as well as focusing on all the benefits composting can bring.
Here at Open Source Arts we are committed to reducing our impacts on the environment and we are always looking for more sustainable ways to be so we can better protect the environment and natural world, creating a safer, healthier world!
That is why we just decided to introduce our own composting and food waste disposal systems to divert food waste away from landfill and avoid the production of greenhouse gases, such as methane and carbon dioxide (CO2), that only add to global warming and the climate crisis.
By reducing our food waste and making sure it is composted, and not sent straight to landfill, we hope to be helping to make healthier soil that brings us all more nutritious food, cleaner air and a healthier climate!
We were shocked to discover that each tonne of food waste going to landfill contributes an estimated 3.79 tonnes of CO2e, which means that just 1kg is responsible for 3.8kg of CO2e emissions – that’s equivalent to almost 64 miles of train travel in the UK. If we prevent just kg of food waste from reaching landfill a week that’s nearly 200kg of CO2e a year!
Quick Definition: CO2e stands for carbon dioxide equivalent and is a unit used to measure the global warming potential and climate effects of all greenhouse gas emissions. For example, methane is around 25 times more powerful at warming the planet than carbon dioxide so 1kg of methane is equivalent to 25kg of CO2e.
We’re now so happy to see our food waste going towards creating healthier soil which produces more nutrient rich, healthier crops for local communities and beyond. Not only does diverting food waste from landfill prevent greenhouse gas emissions but it also increases the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere by our soil and stored in the soil through a process called carbon sequestration as it feeds soil microbes!
This ICAW we are reflecting on the environmental benefits of composting, and encourage everyone to think about starting to compost their own food scraps and garden waste. Collectively, we can divert so much food waste from landfill and help prevent the production of lots of emissions.
In Leeds, we are lucky enough to have a host of composting options. Whether you’ve got your own garden with space for a Leeds City Council composter, can make it down to Kirkstall Abbey Park to access their community compost heap, want compost collected from your door by Plate2Plate Compost or have someone you can connect with nearby who’s sharing their compost heap via ShareWaste. There’s something that can help everyone to compost!
This International Compost Awareness Week let’s tackle the food waste problem together and all do our little bit to shout about the importance of adding your food scraps to the recipe for healthier soil and climate. Together, by taking small actions at home by composting, we can create a Leeds where composting is easily possible.
Quick Fire Facts
- Food waste sent to landfill cannot compost and instead rots, releasing carbon dioxide and methane
- Methane is between 20 and 28 times more powerful at warming the planet than CO2 and can be dramatically reduced by composting organics not sending them to landfill
- Soil health and how many nutritious plants it can produce is dependent on the level of compost and other garden waste it has – compost can add many different nutrients to all soils aiding plant growth
- Adding compost to soil can turn any soil into a carbon sink – this means making soil into something that absorbs carbon from the atmosphere and stores it
- By acting together, communities across Leeds and beyond can help bring about systems level action that will make composting easier for everyone and the done thing.
Contact Us
Open Source Arts
Unit 1a Aire Place Mills
143 Kirkstall Road
LS3 1JL
01132 468 975
