Revolutionary backyard composting initiative nominated for prestigious awards

MEDIA RELEASE

A popular household composting program taking Australia by storm has been announced as a finalist in two prestigious sustainability awards - the Banksia Sustainability Awards and the NSW Green Globe Awards.

Created in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs by Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra Councils in 2010, Compost Revolution is an innovative online education and logistics program helping households recycle food scraps into soil and fertiliser. The digital platform provides residents with free online tutorials and streamlined ordering  of equipment for composting and worm farming delivered to their door.

Provided to other councils by social venture Revolution Apps, Compost Revolution is now a national success with 37 councils and over 26,000 households involved Australia-wide, saving 40 tonnes of food waste from landfill every week.

Overall, the program has helped divert 5,300 tonnes of food waste from landfill, avoid 10,070 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, and saved councils $1.3 million in landfill costs.

Australia sends approximately 4.5 million tonnes of food waste to landfill each year. Once in landfill, the rotting food releases methane and is currently responsible for generating upwards of 3 per cent of Australia’s national greenhouse gas footprint. This is the same amount as the country’s entire civil aviation industry.

Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra’s Compost Revolution Regional Organic Waste Officer, JP Williamson says the online platform helps local councils save on disposal costs and meet landfill reduction targets.

“Since almost half of what we send to landfill is compostable organic material, backyard composting is one way we can easily reduce waste and our climate change impact at a local level.

“People composting means council pays less money at the tip, so we can reinvest this by subsidising compost bins and worm farms for residents, achieving even more savings for the community,” he said.

CEO of Revolution Apps, David Gravina says since 2010, close to 9000 households have received compost bins in the Eastern Suburbs alone.

“Composting and worm farming are positively exploding as more and more people discover how easy it is to make a big difference for the environment while creating their own soil and fertiliser at home.

“Composting is something all of us can do to turn a problem into a valuable resource while doing our bit for the planet. It’s downright revolutionary!” said Mr. Gravina.

Regarded as the most prestigious and longest running sustainability awards in Australia, the Banksia Sustainability Awards and NSW Green Globe Awards showcase people and projects making real progress toward sustainability across Australia and NSW. The winners of the Banksia Sustainability Awards will be announced on 1 November, and the Green Globe Awards on 19 October.

For more information and to order your composting kit, visit compostrevolution.com.au