Here’s a great way to learn more about composting, save money and make a difference in your community!
South Dublin County Council and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council will launch a Master Composter Programme on 14th April at 6pm.
Master Composters are community volunteers who promote food & garden waste prevention and encourage people to compost at home. All of this saves money while improving the environment.
30 volunteers are invited to join this exciting new initiative funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.
International home composting expert, Craig Benton, known as Doctor Compost, will lead an action packed and exciting hands-on training programme over four evening workshops and three weekend field days.
From this training you will learn about how waste is managed in Ireland, how to prevent garden and food waste and how to compost using at least six different composting systems. As part of the training, participants will build a home composting demonstration site that can be used to show people the various methods of composting and how to use compost around the garden. All volunteers successfully completing the training will receive a free composting bin and pitch fork.
After the training, volunteers are expected to contribute at least 30 hours of outreach time within the following year. At the end of the training, volunteers will create their own outreach plan working individually or with other volunteers to get the word out to the community. In other words, Master Composters can choose what kind of outreach they will do. They can work with school children, within their neighbourhood or church, or be available to support the programme’s participation in community events, fairs or festivals.
Master Composters will have access to a variety of educational tools to help them with their community outreach, including:
· a home composting demonstration site
· an outreach slide show detailing the why, what and how of waste prevention and home composting, plus tools and bins for hands-on workshops
· a series of “how to” brochures
· a portable display to attract attention
· an extensive website with all relevant information, ideas, plans, methods plus a member area where Master Composters can share experiences and support one another.
South Dublin County Council and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council as well as project team staff will be there to co-ordinate and support volunteer outreach efforts and activities as needed.
One of the benefits of the programme is the opportunity to meet like-minded people and have fun making a difference in your community. You will feel good as you help people save money and do the right thing for our environment.
For further info call Sorcha O Brien, Environmental Awareness Officer with South Dublin County Council at 01 4149000 ext 4288 or Kate Hynes, Environmental Awareness Officer with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council at 01 2054344.
