In an effort to divert as much waste from the landfill as possible and to encourage sustainable lifestyle habits, Johannesburg-based waste management company, Whole Earth Recycling, has launched a new curbside food waste collection service.
Whole Earth Organic Farm turns kitchen scraps into compost.
Whole Earth Organic Farm collects your organic food waste weekly and, at month-end, you receive it right back as a bag of nutrient-rich compost to feed your garden, herbs or pot plants. They recycle over 120 tons of recyclable waste every month.
Who knew saving the planet could be so easy?
The big issue of waste in South Africa
South Africa is experiencing a critical waste challenge — and experts concur that it’s up to citizens, legislation and businesses, like Whole Earth Recycling and Whole Earth Organic Farm, to work together to fix it.
It’s estimated that South Africa generates more than 122 million tons of waste a year, equating to roughly R25.2 billion worth of dumped waste.
Of this, 90% is disposed of in over-capacitated landfill sites and only 10% is recycled. Almost 40% of all waste that ends up in South African landfills is organic and biodegradable. This refers to organic food scraps like potato peels, apple cores, eggshells, coffee grounds, loose tea, citrus peels, bread crusts and, yes, all the food that goes funny in your fridge and simply gets “chucked” in the bin, even fish, meat and bones can be added!
Yet organic waste, of any kind, doesn’t belong in a landfill. Breaking down anaerobically, this waste, compressed under the weight of yet more waste, slowly decomposes and produces methane: a harmful greenhouse gas directly linked to climate change.
Organic waste also creates leachate, a pollutant that can run into local water sources at landfills if not managed properly. And, most notably, when organic waste is landfilled, it represents a significant loss of nutrients that could be used for compost and soil fertilisation.
Taking the mess out of home composting
Compost heaps
As we all become more conscious of climate change and the need to do our bit to save our planet, adopting more sustainable lifestyle habits is becoming no longer a choice but a necessity.
‘While home composting is an essential and impactful habit, it’s difficult and intimidating to do it alone,’ says Carmen Jordaan, Co-Founder of Whole Earth Organic Farm. ‘In addition to not knowing where or how to start, many people who want to compost their organic waste at home have the practical constraints of living in a small space; as well as concerns over it being messy, smelly, difficult to manage and attracting unwanted guests such as rats!”
Whole Earth Organic Farm’s service removes your waste weekly and rewards you at the end of each month with a 2kg bag of nutrient-rich organic compost, which you can use to get your hands dirty (in the best way) by feeding your favourite green friends: whether that be your garden, your veggie patch, your window-sill herbs or your pot plants.
How to take part
Being an eco-warrior has never been simpler. Currently available and rolling out to certain suburbs in Johannesburg. Whole Earth Organic Farm hopes to extend this new, exciting, much-needed offering to more areas, and possibly nationwide, in the near future. If you’d like to find out more about the new organic kitchen waste collection and composting service, visit www.wholeearth.co.za.
ALSO READ: SA’s sandfish on the brink of extinction but farmers coming to the rescue
