Testimonials from the Community

Compilation of emails regarding Compost Recycling Depot

As an apartment dweller with a small balcony I do not have the space for a worm farm or composting unit and use the aerobins to dispose of my vegetable and fruit waste weekly.  As a two person household that enjoys a healthy diet high in fruit and vegetables, since discovering the aerobins we have significantly reduced the amount of waste that goes into our main general waste bin, even as a couple who eat 'nose to tail' as best we can. We have been utilising this service for approximately three years.

Having access to these bins is very important to our community and I would be really upset if the service was removed.Please feel free to get in touch should you require any further support to help maintain this service, and thank you for your current operation of it.

Kind regards, Kathryn

As an apartment dweller, contributing to Finbar composting is one of the very few ways I can realise my commitment to trying my best to make sustainable choices. I walk my kitchen waste to Finbar from River St every week. Without this option, much of this material would end up in land fill, generating greenhouse gases and contributing to global warming.

I really hope the composting facility remains as a very important aspect of helping local residents contribute to the sustainability of our planet as we move into an uncertain future.

Thank you.  Brigitte

The Finbar sustainability program and its associated activities, represent a unique way of encouraging urban food growing and sustainable practices in my local community. I have recently attended gardening workshops, where I received veggie seeds (now being grown and feeding my family) and advice, and am planning to attend the upcoming ones. Katherine has also visited my small garden space and provided valuable assistance to enable me to use the area more efficiently so I can grow more food and attract bees. I am also planning on using Finbar compost in the future when I obtain more raised garden beds for veggie growing.  Knowing Finbar's gardening program and Katherine's expertise are just up the road in my local community is very reassuring. I feel that together we can improve the quality of soil and gardens of Richmond and continue to make it a more sustainable place to live.

Thanks Katherine                                            

Just a quick note of appreciation  for all the important work Finbar Neighbourhood House provides for our community. I am surprised that community projects - such as composting -  which are clearly popular, promote community involvement, learning opportunities and are progressively great for the environment would be considered non essential?
In my mind, the composting and all related projects are outstanding examples of fostering community involvement and there should be more opportunities for community composting throughout Yarra - not less!.

Warm regards, Sarah

Hello,
We often use the compost bins at Finbar house, it would be a shame to lose these facilities. We bring our kids down and pick up and empty the buckets. They know to put all the compost into the buckets and separate the rubbish at home, and they learn about composting. We then mix the liquid for our garden at home. Unless we all had our own compost bins, we wouldn’t be able to at all, compounding the problem of full bins.

Thanks Jess

Finbar's community composting program, I  feel is an integral part of (at least) the Richmond community. It gives most of the residents and opportunity to not only learn about food waste and environmental impacts, but also a place to put it into practice.

It is definitely a must have on so many different levels. In fact, Finbar should actively promote the composting program and market this leadership in the community

Thanks Ange

Until Yarra Council can provide a food waste solution for all households in Richmond, the compost service that Finbar provides is absolutely essential.

Thanks Craig

Hi
The composting, plants and recycling are my only interactions with Finbar and they are an excellent community service. I love the opportunity to adopt new plants, pick up some lemons and compost my vegetable scraps. Equally a garden is always over producing so to drop off seeds and herbs or to recycle pots knowing they go to people who appreciate them brings me a community feeling. I have tried out many new things as a result. Equally when I drop off extras there is something about seeing how quickly they are ‘adopted’ too knowing they are spreading some joy somewhere new.

These services sustain me and are a big part of who I am. Throughout 2020 I would walk past every day to see what was there and it was the highlight of my day. The best one was some Jerusalem artichokes - totally delicious and a great delicacy. If you know who left them there please pass on my thanks. They were left there by a regular contributor with a hand written description.

I am back at work now and don’t get there as often now (even though I live in Kent st) but I continue to drop off my compost and keep an eye out for new things.

The ability to recycle has become a focus for me too and I am of the view that all waste is of value if we can find the right home for it. I save my batteries, cables etc and take them here too. Yarra is very deficient in these services so they are needed for sure. Please bring back the collections for bread tags and bottle lids.

Please do continue all of this. No where else local offers a way for gardeners to connect and share with one another in our own way and recycling is a much needed focus. I like knowing others around me are into gardening too as this looks like a popular service

Catherine

I just saw a question on the Facebook page about composting at Finbar and I'd just like to show my appreciation and support for the continuation of the community composting program. I use it weekly as I live in a block of apartments with no worm bins. I would hate to see such a wonderful public service discontinued!

Thanks very much, Cas

We love having community composting, worm juice, collections, etc. at Finbar. We live on Hollick st and are members, I've been waiting for more worm juice, and keen to share seeds. There's nowhere else like it, it's fantastic to have those activities close by.

Thank you. Alexis

We now have our own composting system as we have a backyard, but when we lived in flats, the communal composting at finbar allowed us to dispose of our scraps without adding to landfill. We couldn't afford a house with a backyard but we still have strong ideas about caring for our planet. your communal services are especially important in an inner city suburb such as Richmond where people often have limited outdoor space for composting or are renting and are prevented from having a compost bin.

We also use the seed sharing scheme and often pick up a small packet of seeds when walking by and sprinkle in our garden to watch them grow. I also drop off jars and containers for worm wee and composting, saving these items from landfill.We also regularly use the recycling service for those items which are hard to recycle elsewhere: bread tags, bottle tops, ring pulls etc.The work you have done at finbar on these initiatives makes your house central to our community wellbeing and contribution to planetary health. Your work is literally our future.

Thank you Becky

We are residents in Richmond and regular users of the composting program at Finbar House. The 24/7 drop off/pick up system works very well for us, and enables us to compost our food waste in a way that we could not do otherwise. We don't have any garden or capacity for worm farm at our residence.

On the occasions that the drop off system has not been available, we have been able to deposit our food waste in the aerobins that are still made accessible at Finbar House.The composting system at Finbar is invaluable to the local community - please don't reduce it in any way.

Kind regards, Michelle