Food waste recycling through community composting
BEN & BEARTHA: A COMMUNITY'S COMPOST LOVE STORY
In Ben & bEartha (or Ben and Bertha) we follow the story of passionate composter Ben Bushell of Community Compost, Nelson (https://communitycompost.co.nz/). Ben’s taking community composting to the next level!
Why is composting important? What is aerobic composting? How can mechanical composting support the need for food waste solutions? And what’s the story with “community composting” anyway?
Through the inspiring story of Ben and his passionate composting community, we get to know bEartha. An automatic composting machine that’s about to revolutionise small scale commercial composting.
Click here if you’d prefer to watch ‘Ben & bEartha’ on YouTube.Watch the trailer for Ben & bEartha
More about the Ben & bEartha film and community composting
Ben and his team are offering a method of composting food scraps that could enable an entire city to be recycling food waste. And at the same time building a community of people who share a passion for creating a more beautiful world.
What is community composting?
Bens’ community composting program is a beacon of hope for many in the area. It’s a food scrap collection service using compost buckets distributed to local food businesses. It’s a composting process that has bEartha – an automated community-scale compost turner – at its heart. It’s an incredible team of volunteer community composters. And it’s turning local food waste materials into a finished compost.
It’s also returning valuable organic matter to the local soil when used by the city’s gardening and horticultural contractors. As composting programs go, it’s a shining example. A signpost to what’s possible when local people come together to create local solutions.
Why is composting important?
So even if community composting isn’t your thing yet, here’s a story that might surprise you. Might spark a fire for shared food scraps, compost piles, and microbes. And if small scale community composting’s already one of your great loves? Then we reckon this community-focused story is going to stir up your passion for a good compost heap!
Food waste recycling and community composting in particular might seem like small acts in the face of such a global issue. But food waste composting can play a crucial role in addressing climate change, reducing waste, and creating a regenerative food system. Let’s give it centre stage.
What people are saying about Ben & bEartha
I cried when the first compost came out of bEartha! Not only was it beautiful compost, and in just a week, but I’d been following Ben’s journey and it must have been such a relief after everything that had happened. Jordan and Antoinette you have captured yet another inspiring story and reminded us again that so much is possible. Thank you to you both, and to Ben and the composting team from Whakatū.
– Haana Willcox, Vimeo
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People from Community Compost featured in Ben & bEartha
Ben Bushell, Community Compost founder
Ben is the charismatic founder of Community Compost in Whakatū, Nelson. He started the composting service when he realised the need for recycling food waste instead of it going into landfill.
Kate Howard, Community Compost volunteer
Shea Dawson, Community Compost engineer
What role can community composting play in food waste recycling?
- Food waste composting is a critical solution to the impact of food waste on climate change – and one we can all be a part of.
- Community composting to manage city-wide food waste is not only possible. It also creates huge benefits by building a community and empowering people to take part in positive solutions to our global crises.
- bEartha is a template for a method of composting that can be replicated anywhere that funding can be sourced. We need city and regional councils to get behind initiatives like this!
- Ben Bushell, the subject of this film, is available to discuss setting up a bEartha in your town. Or perhaps the uniqueness of your context requires a different approach than this particular bEartha? It’s all about creatively addressing our response to the issues! You can reach out to Ben and his team at communitycompost.co.nz.
“I was at the Nelson Saturday market and noticed how much food waste was going in the bins there…the enormity of how much organics was going to landfill. There’s 20,000 houses in Nelson and my ambition was to do it all…I felt like this was my opportunity to give back to the world that has given me so much.”
– Ben Bushell, Community Compost
Links to resources about Community Compost, how to make compost and food waste recycling
Links to information about Nelson’s Community Compost and its composting program
- Community Compost website detailing their composting service and Compost Club
- Instagram feed for Community Compost featuring their automatic composting machine
- Follow Community Compost’s food waste recycling journey and connect with their team of composters on Facebook
Links to more about bEartha the compost turner and the need for food waste composting
- ‘Creating a composting machine – a tale of invention’ – RNZ interview with Ben Bushell
- ‘Nelson community compost scheme aims to avoid waste’ – Stuff article on Community Compost’s composting service
- ‘Why our food scraps are being driven hundreds of kilometres out of town’ – The Spinoff article about food waste recycling
Links to resources about how to make compost
- We love Kiwi gardener Kath Irvine’s Easy Peasy Compost article for tips on making great compost at home.
- If you prefer a video to learn how to make compost, Morag Gamble of the Permaculture Institute offers the in-depth guide 5 Ways to Compost.
- This is a link to a fabulous online book by Home Grown Permaculture called Home Composting in Hobart (but of course, you don’t need to be in Hobart for it to work for you too!).
More about Ben Bushell, the driving force behind Community Compost
Ben Bushell is a dedicated advocate for environmental sustainability. He’s also the passionate mind behind Community Compost and the composting machine he named bEartha. With a deep commitment to community composting, Ben is leading the way in collecting food scraps for composting at a city-wide scale. And in the process building a community that cares for our planet.
A leading voice in community composting
Ben Bushell has earned his reputation as a composting champion. He’s spent years driving local compost initiatives and sharing his expertise on food waste solutions. As a driving force behind Community Compost, he has continually emphasised the importance of community composting programmes, believing that with the help of a local composting service, food scraps need never go to waste.
Ben’s mission extends beyond methods of composting alone. He’s building a composting community around compost heap collaboration and organic matter recycling. What can you achieve when you combine compost bins, a collection service, and a composting programme? A sense of community responsibility and shared environmental stewardship.
From food scraps to finished compost – a vision for sustainable living
The heart of Ben’s work is the transformation of food scraps into finished compost. Through his dedication to composting food, he showcases how organic materials can be turned into valuable compost. His community composters highlight the many benefits of diverting food waste from landfills.
Ben envisions a world where composting and recycling food waste are an integral part of responsible living. And through Community Compost, he’s shown the value of local food waste solutions and community scale composting. Join Ben as he leads the way in transforming food scraps into a resource for our planet’s future.
Other films you might like
Closing the Loop
Take a tour of a family’s simple composting toilet setup and learn how this system can safely manage human waste and turn it into a beautiful resource!
The Plummery
This incredible backyard permaculture garden measuring only 100sq/m (1076 sq feet) produces over 400kg/900 pounds of food year-round!
From Finance to Farmer
Take a tour of a thriving food forest that, in just three years, is providing an abundance of produce for the couple who planted it.
Quicklinks for this page
- More about the Ben & bEartha film and community composting
- What people are saying about Ben & bEartha
- Help us make more films like this
- People from Community Compost featured in Ben & bEartha
- What role can community composting play in food waste recycling?
- Links to resources about community composting and food waste recycling
- More about Ben Bushell, the driving force behind Community Compost
- Other Happen Films documentaries you might enjoy
- Share your thoughts about community composting and the Ben & bEartha film
Why make this film about community composting?
“The enormous quantity of food scraps dumped in the world’s many landfills day after day is a huge contributor to climate change. The methane generated from anaerobic decomposition is a potent greenhouse gas.
“Right now, governments are making decisions about the future of food waste. But the proposed solutions tend to be large-scale, centralised, and wasteful in themselves. So we’re passionate about empowering communities to provide these solutions instead. Solutions that value compost as a precious resource, and create and strengthen social connections. Solutions that provide meaningful work and operate within a circular economy model.
– Jordan Osmond and Antoinette Wilson,
Happen Films
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