Hi everyone, I hope you are doing as well as possible in these uncertain times. This April, I will be taking part in Edventure Frome's start-up challenge with a small group of young people and the goal of starting a community initiative that will benefit Frome and the environment at large. For those of you unfamiliar with the amazing work of Edventure, find out more here: https://edventurefrome.org/.
I have set myself the fundraising challenge of walking the distance (not the actual route!) from Frome to my hometown on the west coast of Ireland, from the start of the new year until the start of the project, roughly 535km/333 miles over 3 months. I understand things are difficult and that it may be hard to contribute, but even the smallest amount will help. If you're in the position to donate a bit more, it would be invaluable to this project.
The Project
We will be setting up a commercial, community-based food waste collection & composting enterprise with the aim of tackling the issues of food waste & soil fertility. Unused food will be collected from Frome businesses and processed into high quality, ‘alive’ compost, which can be sold to growers & as a domestic gardening product.
At present, significant amounts of vegetable & food ‘waste’ are collected in Frome & leave the town for landfill, bio-digestion or large-scale composting with significant travel involved. The compost generated in this process is often scorched & of low biodiversity. Soil health is decreasing at an alarming rate around the world. Healthy soils are important to growing food, sustaining life & the nutrient cycle, & are also an important part of the carbon cycle. How we preserve & improve soil health is a vital component of combating climate change & growing resilience. Frome has ambitious zero carbon targets, which recovery of the material could play into alongside benefits for soil fertility, local food production & education across the town.
