What a great initiative by these councils. There are many other councils on the list, offering discounted bins rather than free ones. The tutorial alone is worth doing, even if you aren't eligible. Enjoy.
FREE Compost Bin or Wormfarm 4 Residents of Randwick, Waverley, Wollondilly & Woollahra Councils
Last edited 31/01/2014 - 01:30
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$49.95 doesn't sound very discounted
You're really starting to get on my nerves jv. You and another user, who I won't mention again, have made a habit of posting comments on my deals that degrade my content and try to make a mockery of my posts.
What's your point with the $49.95? The post specifically identifies 4 councils that offer this for free. I don't give a flying hoot about the other councils, and I only made mention of them in case people were wondering why they were on the expanded list. In fact, I actually took the time to go through each one to ensure they were free!
Seriously mate, you should start going to bed a little earlier, or perhaps come up with some posts of your own for a change.
Thanks for taking the time to do all that. We all (well, most of us) really appreciate it!
Should we ban JV Broden style??
I hardly neg sorry, but you step over the LINE this time jv.
For councils showing % off rrp, rrp is, it seems, $70 for an Eco Master 300 and $34 for a 'Revolver' Compost Aerator. It's an alright price if you were already wanting to get those anyway. Not for me this time, though.
Sutherland Shire council and Hurstville Council run free composting courses and these include a free bin when completing them (usually pick up from Bunnings).
Can't find the SSC one right now, but Hurstville's is http://www.hurstville.nsw.gov.au/Worm-Farming.html.
Check your local council and see if they offer the same courses.
Pax
Got my free bin. Thanks OP
This deal is rubbish… ;-P
Great initiative, and great deal. FYI though the "discounted" prices for those councils that aren't giving them away free, are the normal prices that they would charge for this anyway - you can just rock up and get it at that price without bothering with the tutorial, although I still recommend going through it anyway 'coz it's pretty good.
thanks, did the quiz so I guess I will get a worm farm now, great post cheers
Wah! My council not listed (Sutherland)
really appreciate this posting - had heard previously about this for our council (waverley) but hadn't yet got around to it. Now done.
My wife got a worm farm for free. She's been wanting one of them for a while now so she's happy. Thanks OP! :)
Are these any good for balcony gardening?
For limited space I suggest use bokashi bucket :) My potted plants on the balcony are loving the bokashi compost juice.
TOTALLY!
Provided you have a sheltered position to put the worm farm, yes, they're great for balcony/small gardens. I used to use one in my apartment. They do recommend keeping it in the laundry or garage if you can (cooler, and out of the sun).
Some further advice: the worm farms you get here are somewhat less than ideal - being basically sealed plastic tubs. They don't let nearly enough air into the compost, potentially causing problems. I've detailed some of my experiences with the system here, which includes advice that I've learned from having one for over 4 years now: http://www.thrifterrific.com/2010/11/worm-farming/
Important one: try and get live worms in their own cast from a proper place like a community garden centre, and not those boxes you get from Bunnings.
Make sure you know what you are getting into with some of these types of offers. Some councils have had free compost or worm farms but with fine print. The fine print being they only pick up your normal bin once a fortnight.
(Not saying this is the case with the ones in this deal, i haven't checked)
How would that work in practise? Do the garbos have a list of houses to skip and check the bin numbers before they empty them into the truck?
They change the bin lid to a different color.
Someone please convince me doing home composting is worth the effort. I know it is the right thing to do for waste reduction - but it looks like a lot of effort, fine tuning and mucking around - ie you need to be pretty dedicated to it. I've been wondering about it for a while but didn't know much about it until reading the tutorials - I though you just chucked your food scraps in the compost bin and that was that. I know it is not the conservation-orientated approach, but it seems much easier just to carry on using seasol or to buy compost / garden products for the garden and to carry on chucking my food scraps in the rubbish. No flaming if you don't like my attitude please - at least I'm being honest and asking to be convinced.
LOL. Good one - that would be a great solution. Nope - my wife doesn't like working with 'yucky stuff' so it would definitely be my job.
Someone please convince me doing home composting is worth the effort.
You're a good candidate for Bokashi. If food scraps are all you're likely to be composting, it's probably the least effort for a great return. Simply put, just pop in your foodscraps each day, sprinkle with bokashi powder, squash it down a bit, pop on the lid and walk away. Every few days you can drain off the liquid that is produced ….. it's seriously, liquid gold for your plants -greens them noticeably overnight.
Roughly every 3 months or so, depending on how much foodscraps you have, you'll simply need to bury the contents in the garden where they will break down very rapidly, improving your soil.
Next best option for you is a worm farm. Other than keeping out vermin, and making sure not to feed them things you shouldn't, there's really not a lot of work involved.
Thanks mate. Read up about that. Reading the tutorial again it says compost is too rich for Aussie natives - which basically all of my plants are - so probably not much point now. We have an 80-90 sqm yard - mostly lawn, with some lilly pilly's, grasses and a banana tree around the perimeter. Other than that most of the yard is Sir Walter Buffalo lawn. I'm thinking of making a vegetable patch - mainly for the kids. Perhaps then will be a good time to revisit this idea.
Compost is too rich for most native plants,
Is a huge generalisation.
We have an 80-90 sqm yard - mostly lawn, with some lilly pilly's, grasses and a banana tree around the perimeter.
No plants that you've mentioned are at any risk from overdosing with phosphorus. The only natives that are finicky when it comes to fertiliser are those that are members of the proteaceae family, for instance, grevilleas, banksias, hakeas etc. Lilly pillies and grasses are perfectly fine with regular fertilisers.
Yeah the local council advertised this program. The cost of posting the damn thing was more expensive that going to the local Bunnings and just buying the damn thing.
Got me 1000 worms and a free small compost kitchen bucket.. filled out the survey twice and made two seperate orders
has anyone been notified to pickup a bin from the council yet?