St Albans City and District Council is giving away 10 tonnes of free compost to mark National Compost Awareness Week this week, (1st – 7th May) which is aimed at encouraging people to recycle their waste for composting.

Residents will be entitled to take away up to three bags full of peat-free compost on Sunday 8th May from the Enterprise depot at Ronson Way, St Albans, between 12 noon and 4pm.

Shovels will be provided, but residents are asked to bring their own bags to load compost into their cars. Council staff will be on hand to provide useful tips on composting.

The compost has been supplied for free by Agrivert, an organic waste management company which takes green waste collected by the Council from households in the District.

Cllr Allan Siao Ming Witherick, said: “It might be made of rubbish, but at the same time compost is incredibly useful to gardners and you normally have to pay for the stuff.  So composting at home makes a lot of sense, even before we consider the Environmental impacts.”

Not only does home composting help to reduce the amount of garden and household waste that is sent to landfill, it also produces nutritious peat-free compost which can be used on flower beds and vegetable plots, patio planters, hanging baskets and even window boxes. Home composting also helps to protect lowland peat bogs and their wildlife as both are threatened by the extraction of peat for garden compost.

Compost is a nutrient-rich, food product that will improve soil structure, maintain moisture levels, create the right chemical balance in the soil and help suppress plant disease.

Anyone with outside space can have a go at composting and with 30% of the contents of an average UK household bin suitable for composting there is a ready supply of waste to use. For example, you can put vegetable peelings, grass cuttings, hay and cardboard in your compost bin.

If you are interested in taking up home composting, you can purchase home compost bins for as little as £15 for a 220 litre model and £18 for the larger 330 litre model from sites. More information is available from websites such as www.getcomposting.com or by calling 0844 571 4444.

If you do not have the space to compost at home, you can put green waste in your green wheelie bin which will be collected by the Council and recycled for compost.