Category Archive

Clothes and home textiles Everyone in Surrey can recycle clothes and home textiles. What can I recycle? If you're clearing out your old clothes and home textiles, there's no need to put them in the bin when it's easy to bag them up and recycle them. These can be recycled as long as they are clean and dry. Yes please… Continue Reading Clothes and home textiles

Make your own compost bin or heap Making your own compost bin or heap means that you can design it to suit you and your garden. If you can use recycled material it will save you money too and you don't have to be a DIY expert. Open heap The simplest way of composting is to just start piling material… Continue Reading Make your own compost bin or heap

Compost troubleshooting If you are having any problems with composting, below are suggestions to help you resolve some of the most common composting issues. Not getting any compost? The most common reason for not getting any compost is not having the right moisture level in the bin. You should aim for a 50:50 mix of green materials like grass that provide moisture and brown… Continue Reading Compost troubleshooting

How to compost Composting is easy if you follow these steps: Find the right siteYou can either buy a compost bin  or a food waste digester, build a bin, or find a corner for a heap. Once you've decided on the type of composter you want, you need to decide where to put it. Bare soil is the ideal location, but if it is on… Continue Reading How to compost

What to compost For composting to work properly you need green nitrogen rich ingredients, which add moisture and brown carbon rich ingredients that create air pockets. The key to getting this right lies in balancing the greens and browns in a 50:50 mix. If your compost is too wet and gives off an odour, add more browns. If it's too… Continue Reading What to compost

Home composting The best thing to do with garden and food waste is to compost it at home. Grass cuttings, dried leaves, twigs and vegetable peelings can be put into a compost bin or heap or a hot composter to produce a nutrient-rich, peat-free compost that can be used to help gardens grow. Meat, fish, dairy, bones and cooked food… Continue Reading Home composting

Garden waste collection services All district and borough councils in Surrey offer a fortnightly garden waste collection service, for a small annual fee. If you don't create a lot of garden waste, why not talk to a neighbour about sharing a subscription? Select your district or borough from the drop down list to visit their website and see more details… Continue Reading Garden waste collection services

Community recycling centres For full information on opening dates and times, and waste types accepted at each site, please check Surrey County Council’s website. It is important to know if your garden waste is taken to a recycling centre by someone else they could be charged, as this is not a free service for commercial businesses, like paid gardeners. Make… Continue Reading Community recycling centres

Garden waste Garden waste like grass cuttings, hedge trimmings or fallen leaves can usually be recycled in three ways: by composting at home, subscribing to your local garden waste collection service or taking it to a community recycling centre. Your garden waste should never be thrown away as general waste, as this is bad for the environment and expensive for the tax payer.… Continue Reading Garden waste

Planning and portions Planning your meals and getting your portion sizes right are two easy ways to make sure you're not wasting food. Here are some ways to help you plan and measure perfect portions: How to plan your meals Write out a weekly meal plan – and ask your family to help you come up with ideas. When writing… Continue Reading Planning and portions