The Monday-Tuesday GAP children enjoyed an excursion to the Capital Scraps Community Compost in Haig Park, today.
With the help of many parent helpers, we walked through Haig Park, then crossed Northbourne Avenue to the Braddon side of Haig Park, and within a few short meters, we arrived at the community compost collection point.
Brook of Capital Scraps met us there on her customised e-bike with a wagon on the front, which she and other volunteers use to collect scraps from the community.
We talked about what can and can’t go into a compost heap, and then opened the lid on the big composter. There was water on the inside of the lid. Was it raining inside the box? No! It was condensation from the steam coming off the compost heap.
We got to climb up Brook’s little steps to peer into the top of the compost and see all the leaves and feel the heat of the pile.
We gathered up all the scraps we had brought from home.
Brook then prepared a bit of a bed of partially composted leaves for our scraps.
We put our scraps on top, then covered them with more partially composted leaves and shreds of egg cartons that we helped to tear into little pieces.
Brook turned the compost with a pitch-fork, and we could see that down inside the compost pile even hard things like acorns had started to crack open and decompose. If we come back in a few weeks, we should see some nice compost that we could use to help our garden plants grow.
It was very interesting to hear about how it worked, and why community composting is important for the environment.
Thanks to Brook, and also to the many parents who accompanied us on our excursion today! We are very grateful.