Compost for cash and conservation

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 524, 22 February 1994, Page 5

Compost for cash and conservation

Concern for the environment has prompted an Ohakune couple to lobby the Ruapehu District Council to install a commercial shredder at the Ohakune dump. Kai and Heidi Hagener are dismayed by the amount of organic waste - grass and hedge clippings, trees, garden and vegetable waste, and much more that is finding its way to the dump. They say the local council is missing out on a wonderful money-making enterprise. The couple maintain that the dumping of plant waste is a mis-use of land fill area and energy. The purchase of a shredder and the provision of a composting site at the dump would enable the council to convert plant waste into a valuable source of compost according to Kai, who said the practice worked well in their native Germany.

The resultant material was then bagged up and sold, allowing the council to recoup operating costs and dramatically reducing the use of commercially-made chemi-cal-ridden fertillizer. Mr Hagener said the value and richness of the compost is increased by the addition of top soil and mineral-rich garden refuse. Heat-generating activators such as comfrey and grass clippings are added to speed up the decomposing process that can take between two and 12 months to produce an organically rich end product. TheHageners' 5.5 hp shredder importedfrom Germany is in constant use in their own back yard, transforming material from their table and garden and a massive pile of organic refuse supplied by friends, into compost to feed back into their garden.