The Community Compost Bins program, implemented by the government of Bahía Blanca (Buenos Aires, Argentina) has the objective of increasing the environmental awareness of the population and, in this way, reducing the amount of waste that reaches final disposal.
In squares, parks and other public spaces, the Municipality installed boxes of one cubic meter that can receive organic material of vegetable origin. Through composting, they aim towards the biological transformation of these remains into fertilizer or nutrients for the soil. The process is achieved thanks to beneficial microorganisms -such as bacteria, fungi and insects-, in the presence of air and humidity. It does not produce strong odors or health risks for people.
What is composted? Wet or green residues, such as peels, fruit and vegetable remains, grass, coffee, infusions and food-stained napkins (that have not been used for cleaning). Dry or brown waste is also used, which includes dry leaves from trees, grass and dry remains of plants, shredded branches, nut shells, eggshells (it is the only accepted animal waste), and paper or cardboard without inks or plastics. .
From the local government they clarified that the objective of the community compost bins is rather educational, in addition to processing volume of material. “It’s a way for people to see the process and to ask those who do maintenance what to do with the waste,” they said at the Undersecretary for Environmental Management, led by Gastón Andrés Lucatini.
A cooperative visits each public space daily and checks that the content of the compost bins in the city is adequate. The workers remove the elements that should not go, clean the place and do the task of turning to aerate the mixture and that it is composted accordingly. When the time comes, they proceed with the harvest, empty the crate and leave it available to receive more material.
The harvested compost is sieved and put into bags to be delivered, in part, to the public. Over time, it is used to enrich the soil of squares and parks. In addition, the compost bins are linked to different institutions, such as company B “MetroPallets“, and receive different public and private contributions. For example, the municipal trade school also participated in the assembly of some points.
Source: More Community
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Source: inncontext.net