Residents told to compost to save energy

Research shows that households in England throw away four million tonnes of waste every year that could have been composted.
If this was done 1.5 million tonnes of C02 equivalent emissions would would be saved, the same as taking more than 450,000 cars off the roads.
Arthur Potts Dawson, Executive Chef at top eco-friendly Acorn House said: "Composting is one of the easiest and most fulfilling things you can do to help the environment, but many people are unaware of the impact it can have or think it is too complicated to do. Nothing could be further from the truth.
"At Acorn House we compost 100 percent of our suitable waste on site and use the compost we make to grow herbs and other vegetables to serve in the restaurant. I also ensure that any compost I buy is peat-free, as I'm fully aware of the damage caused to peat bogs and their wildlife through peat extraction for garden compost. It gets great results, and needn't cost the earth."
Since the campaign started in 2004, Recycle Now has sold 2 million compost bins across the UK, and over 30,000 in Buckinghamshire as more and more people start to compost at home.
Research shows that of those who have bought bags, almost 60 per cent have started growing their own fruit and veg in the last year..
Carl Nicols head of home composting at Recycle Now, said: "here has been a dramatic increase in home composting over the past year as people have got the grow your own vegetables bug to help beat the recession. However even regular home composters still send an average nearly 70kg of compostable food waste to landfill each year - that's the weight of a medium sized adult. Simple steps such as composting at home and switching to peat-free compost containing recycled materials can make a huge difference."
For more information on how to get involved, visit www.recyclenow.com/compost