With increasing concerns about mankind’s effects on the planet we should all try to do our bit to reduce the amount of refuse we cannot recycle, even in the garden. Fortunately, most councils are encouraging us to address these issues and, over the past couple of years, the majority of households have been provided with green bins in which to put most of our garden refuse. This includes grass cuttings, branches, twigs and weeds etc.
But does it need to stop there?
Composting
As discussed in other articles contained in this website, composting not only reduces the impact we have on the environment, but it is also very beneficial to our gardens in terms of the regeneration and re-growth it provides and, hopefully, these articles will have had the effect of making us look at what exactly we do throw out each week and how we can reduce that and reuse and recycle some of that waste in the form of compost.
However, not everything that can be classed as garden refuse is able to be recycled at home in the form of a compost heap. Nevertheless, there is much we can still do to reduce its impact further.
Green Bins
The green bins that have been introduced over the past few years should be used for the green matter and small branches etc where composting isn’t a viable solution. This garden ‘waste’ can then be taken by the council to large recycling plants where it can be treated and used as fertilizer on farms for example.
Get the Tree Experts in
For those of us who have large trees in the garden which may have died, the correct way of disposal is to call up a local garden clearance service, i.e. a tree feller or lopper which you should be able to find in your Yellow Pages. They will come and fell your tree(s) and most of them have a ‘chipper’ that can shred larger branches into wood shavings which they can take away and which can then be used in other applications so, in effect, you are indirectly helping to recycle even more of your garden refuse.
Be Creative
Have a good look around your garden and see if there is anything there that could be reused in some way. Old carpets and cardboard boxes etc that you may have thrown out can be turned into mulch which can be spread over areas in your garden which will deter weeds.
If you’re a dab hand at DIY, why not make your own compost bin or maybe a bench to sit on in the summer months or a picnic or bird table out of any dead tree trunks or old wooden pallets you might have knocking around?
There is much we can all do to reduce the amount of garden refuse we generate and some will obviously be able to do much more than others. The important thing is that we all try to do as much recycling as we can and to think first before simply taking the easy option of chucking things into the general household waste bin for the council to take care of. With most councils at least providing us with green bins for free and often brown bins for composting too (for a small price), we can, if we choose to, make a dramatic contribution to the reduction of our garden waste which in turn will only benefit our environment.
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