Unley is proud of the many areas that, despite our size, we are clear leaders at. There is one area that we are lagging behind with though.

As reported on the back page of the current edition of Unley Life the amount of food waste and composite paper in Unley wast bins according to a recent survey (November 2013) was 53%. The State average is only 40%.

If every Unley householder composted organic matter currently going into land fill, it would

SAVE more than $ 1,000 worth of food – enough to feed the average household for over a month;
SAVE almost $ 100,000 in waste management costs and transport costs; and
PREVENT almost 3,000 tonnes of material going to landfill.

The article goes on to provide tips on scraping the plate back a bit. Worth the read.

These results remind me of the debate we still have not had and which I commented on around this time last year about fortnightly collections. While we insist on the blue bins being picked up weekly and that smelly food products should not be left for 2 weeks then I question why the percentage, both State and Unley, aren’t greater than 40% and 54% respectively.

“FOOD” for thought!