A unique, modern garden designed and developed by three Ayrshire Councils with support from Zero Waste Scotland was one of the highlights at this weekend's Ayr Flower Show, after winning two prestigious awards. Both the premier Provost MacDonald Trophy and Gold Medal, were awarded by the judging panel to the "Love Food Hate Waste Garden".
The innovative design for the "Love Food Hate Waste Garden" was developed to deliver a message of domestic sustainability. The garden demonstrated a unique take on the life cycle of food, showing the journey from garden vegetable patch, to kitchen, to compost bin. This was delivered in conjunction with messages from the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, and the Compost at Home campaign which outlined ways in which the public could reduce the amount of waste they were sending to landfill.
The Love Food Hate Waste Garden incorporates the use of recycled materials to enhance its overall sustainability. The kitchen area, furniture and garden features were constructed from wood generated from treeworks originating in Kilmarnock's Dean Castle Country Park, and the kitchen sink and fridge freezer have been reclaimed from recycling centres.
During the show the three Councils were all on hand at a trade stand beside the garden promoting home composting and the Councils' waste services. Zero Waste Advisers and campaign staff from Zero Waste Scotland were also available throughout the three day event to speak to the public and offer information and advice on ways in which they could reduce their food waste and save some money.
A spokesperson for the three Councils comments: "Our garden was designed to enable show visitors to relate how taking positive action in their own gardens and kitchens can reduce waste sent to landfill. By growing your own vegetables and herbs and by only picking what you need fresh from the garden, levels of food waste will reduce. Similarly by planning ahead and by storing fresh produce correctly, little food waste will be generated. To help you focus on creating tasty meals from leftovers there are lots of useful tips and recipes available via the Love Food Hate Waste campaign. And, to complete the loop, a home composter provides the ideal home for your peelings."
The three Ayrshire Councils have been working in partnership since 2004 on a joint sustainable waste management project. Together the Councils aim to encourage and enable the public to reduce, reuse and recycle wherever possible in order to reach Scottish Government targets for diverting waste from landfill and recycling and achieving a Zero Waste community across Ayrshire.
Zero Waste Scotland launched its Love Food Hate Waste campaign in 2007 with the aim of helping Scottish households reduce food waste and save money. In Scotland we throw away a whopping 566,000 tonnes of food waste every year, most of which could have been eaten if it had been planned, stored and managed better. This is an expensive habit and costs each household an average of £430 a year! Wasted food is not only a waste of money, it's also a major contributor to climate change. Producing, transporting and storing food uses a lot of energy, water and packaging, which is all wasted if the food gets thrown away uneaten. If this avoidable food waste had been consumed, it would prevent the equivalent of 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year in Scotland, which would have the same effect as taking one car in every four off Scotland's roads. The Love Food Hate Waste website: www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk offers a host of hints and tips to reduce food waste and has a great selection of tasty recipe ideas.
Composting at home transforms kitchen and garden waste into a great nutrient rich soil conditioner for the garden. It's also a great way of reducing the amount of waste which is sent to landfill.
Zero Waste Scotland's compost bins are subsidised by the Scottish Government so can be purchased from as little as £8. For further information visit www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk or call 0845 076 0223.