Community composting

admin
, 29 April 2025
Community composting
Community Compost Solutions © Graham Ellis

Graham Ellis

Founder of Community Compost Solutions

In 2021, my wife and I moved to Rye and joined the Rye Community Garden where I got stuck into helping to revive the compost. Six plastic bins, full of dried out sticks and leaves, were not composting at all, so I replaced them with nine pallet bins, and it's grown from there.

Over the next year, I started to pick up coffee grounds twice a week from 12 businesses across Rye, including the Lime Kiln Café at the Rye Harbour Discovery Centre. Since then, we've managed to divert over 40 tonnes of organic matter that would have ended up travelling many carbon-polluting miles to distant sites. Instead, it's been turned into large quantities of top-class live compost, which has remained in the community, benefiting Rye Community Garden, Tilling Green Community Garden, three Rye Community Fruit Orchards and several gardeners. This is just one of the ‘solutions’ that our local company offers, to help reduce waste and carbon emissions and lower the impacts of climate change - by reducing waste and nourishing soil, we can create a healthier and more sustainable environment for ourselves and future generations.

Graham at Rye Community Garden
Graham at Rye Community Garden © Dena Ellis

Composting is a natural process, but conditions have to be just right to create the right mix of materials and aeration. That's why the same materials will not compost when dumped in landfill, instead expelling harmful gases and toxic waste by-products. Our own little composting enterprise saves over 600kg of CO2e emissions per tonne - that's huge.

In 2023, I looked to expand our venture, by securing a base yard behind Tilling Green Community Centre, where we set up many more compost bins and registered ourselves as a Community Interest Company (CIC). We now have three directors and several regular volunteers involved who help me out.

So what does the future hold? Our mission is to continue to inspire and support residents and small businesses to reduce their organic waste, while addressing the climate crisis and improving health and wellbeing through composting. We run workshops and offer programs to promote the installation of appropriate micro-scale composting in small businesses, community organisations, schools and residences in East Sussex. We have an alternative brown bin service, collecting organic waste to turn it into a nutrient-rich resource for local community gardens to use. We are also developing a local grass-roots model, promoting sustainable practise, which we are hoping we can share with other communities to easily replicate. After all, community composting supports a community’s social, economic and environmental well-being - so it touches everything!

If you'd like to find out more, or get involved, please head to our Facebook page,  www.communitycompost.uk or give me a call on 07733 433004.

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782590860.94360 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782590860.96950.0259Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782590860.96970.0002Server address: 216.73.216.31
1782590860.96970Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782590860.96980Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/community-composting
    [s] => community-composting
    [1] => community-composting
)
1782590860.97010.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782590860.9710.001 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782590860.97270.0017 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782590860.97320.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782590860.97520.002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22360296
1782590860.97580.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22360296
1782590860.97630.0005 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-27 20:07:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-27 20:07:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782590860.97750.0012 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='community-composting')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 20:07:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782590860.98010.0025 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782590860.98060.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3694 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 20:07:00'
1782590860.98140.0008 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782590860.98190.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782590860.98250.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=73 LIMIT 1
1782590860.9830.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=70 LIMIT 1
1782590860.98330.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=50 LIMIT 1
1782590860.98380.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782590860.9840.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782590860.98490.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 20:07:00' AND postSlug='community-composting'
1782590861.01140.0265Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782590861.01180.0004 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782590861.01330.0015Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782590861.01350.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782590861.01450.001 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782590861.0160.0015 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782590861.01950.0035 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782590861.020.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782590861.02290.0029Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782590861.02290 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782590861.02340.0005 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782590861.02370.0002 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782590861.02610.0024 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782590861.02710.0011 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782590861.0280.0008 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782590861.03060.0026 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782590861.03150.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782590861.0340.0025 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782590861.03450.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782590861.03480.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782590861.03560.0008Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782590861.0360.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='community-composting')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 20:07:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782590861.03980.0038 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782590861.04020.0004 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782590861.04370.0035Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782590861.04470.001 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3694 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782590861.10210.0574 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782590861.10230.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782590861.10280.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782590861.10360.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782590861.10420.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782590861.10550.0013 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782590861.10780.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782590861.10830.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782590861.11070.0024 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782590861.11180.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782590861.11240.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782590861.1130.0006 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782590861.1160.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782590861.11640.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782590861.11830.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782590861.12080.0025 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782590861.12140.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782590861.12190.0004 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782590861.12410.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782590861.12450.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782590861.12650.0019 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782590861.12910.0027 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782590861.12990.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782590861.13050.0006 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782590861.13260.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782590861.13320.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782590861.13510.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782590861.13640.0013Request time: 0.1939
1782590861.13640Process time: 0.1938
1782590861.13650Memory: 1.6312