Help our community compost club grow

by Compost Club in Lewes, East Sussex, United Kingdom

Total raised £21,053

raised so far

124

supporters

Healthy soil. Healthy plants. Healthy humans. Help us intercept more food waste, emission free with an electric van and new composters.

by Compost Club in Lewes, East Sussex, United Kingdom

We're still collecting donations

On the 11th April 2022 we'd raised £20,115 with 111 supporters in 42 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.

 New stretch target

Wow!

Now that we are stretch funding we can add an additional composter for every £5,000 to add 60 new households each.

If we can add 2 more of these composters then we will be able to add to our team and start creating green jobs.

We can also use these additional funds to make places available for people on low incomes and do more work in community gardens.

Thank you all so much!


Compost Club is a community compost scheme based in Lewes, but covering Brighton & Hove as well as the surrounding areas. Our members live right across East Sussex and in coming together we are currently diverting around 80,000 litres of food waste from landfill or incineration. Instead we produce a living compost that is peat free and full of the beneficial biology that feeds healthy soil through nutrient cycling. We do all the compost production locally so as to minimise compost miles and operate on a human scale without any use of power other than that of humans and the naturally occurring bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, micro arthropods and worms.

This produces a compost which is beyond the usual plastic bag organic matter usually bought at garden centres and DIY stores. Compost is currently available in our reusable food waste buckets or in hessian sacks as we are committed to not using single use plastics, to the extent that our plastic food waste collection buckets are even reclaimed from the construction industry.

Our members are a mix of domestic households and some amazing local businesses such as The Real Junk Food Project, YouJuice, and The Roundhill among many others. Members receive compost back every spring with the surplus made available for sale to generate funds throughout the year.

We also do work in the wider community, helping out at local community gardens with both time and compost as well as provide opportunity for talks and demonstrations.

OUR IMPACT SO FAR

We currently compost the equivalent of over 200 households food waste per month. Which is around 80,000 litres per year. If this food waste went to landfill it would produce carbon equivalent emissions of somewhere in the region of 37,000 kilograms.

Another impact is that the compost we produce has the power to regenerate soil and sequester carbon due to the process which allows for the production of humus.

We have been able to spend time at Lewes FC, assisting Bradley Pritchard (a player on the men’s team) to set up a community growing project inside the stadium which also now includes compost tumblers to compost food waste that the club generates and produce our own compost for the garden.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Our only reliance on any fossil fuels is that of the collection vehicle. We currently make use of our founder Michael’s diesel family car/van and the dream is to be fully regenerative by going emission free and getting an electric van. This will completely removes our reliance on any fossil fuels which feels like a real win! Rest assured that the charging of the vehicle will be from a renewable energy provider.

We also want to facilitate the demand for our food waste collection service as we get so many enquiries and have been over subscribed since we started this venture.

WHAT WILL WE DO WITH THE MONEY RAISED FROM YOUR SUPPORT?

With the space in Lewes kindly offered to us by the revolutionary property developer Human Nature we are able to set up knowing that we have some security there and can add additional members to produce so much more compost.

The first £13,000 will to go towards the purchase of an electric van for our food waste collections which will have the Compost Club logo on it as well as a thank you panel which could feature your name and be spotted around town on it's collection route.

The next £5,000 will be used on a Ridan composting unit to increase our composting capacity by 60 households per month.

Our stretch 

For every additional £5,000 we can add a Ridan composting unit which will accommodate 60 households food waste, meaning we can add 60 new members per unit! Another of these would mean intercepting around 18,000 litres of food waste per year and the sooner we add units and therefore members, we can set about creating more green jobs and grow our team with the membership fees that are generated.

An additional £1,000 will be used to improve the essential composting equipment and infrastructure at Compost Club HQ to make it a better environment to work and volunteer in as well as offer the education we have planned. There is nothing like connecting to the earth through composting and community gardening for one’s mental and physical wellbeing and we really hope to facilitate that connection going forwards.

£13,000 Electric collection van

£5,000 Ridan composter

£1,000 composting equipment and HQ improvements

If we reach our target we will also qualify for some additional match funding which will be spent on more Ridan composters.

REWARDS

£5 Good vibes

£10 A copy of our How To: Hot Compost booklet plus good vibes

£18 A Compost Club tote bag

£20 A bag of living compost, How To: Hot Compost booklet plus good vibes

£25 A Compost Club t-shirt (available in white and sand XS to XXL)

£30 A place on one of our 1.5 hour online Soil food web workshops plus Q&A

£30 A place on one of our 1 hour in person composting tours and talks at Compost HQ

£30 Donate a place on one of our 1 hour in person composting tours and talks at Compost HQ to someone on a low income

£100 Your name on the thank you panel on the new Electric Compost Club collection van, a place on an online course for yourself or somebody on a low income, a bag of living compost, How To: Hot Compost booklet and good vibes

£170 Donate a 12 month membership to someone on a low income plus your name on the thank you panel on the new electric compost club collection van

£170 12 month membership for your household plus your name on the thank you panel on the new electric compost club collection van

£250 A talk on the soil food web and composting plus Q&A for you and your community.

£600 A corporate sponsorship of a compost unit with your logo displayed alongside Compost Club’s plus your name on the thank you panel of the new electric compost club collection van.

Or enter custom amount

Rewards

This project offered rewards

£600 or more

Sponsor a composter

Add a corporate sponsorship to a large Ridan or one of our large Joraform tumblers. Have your name or logo featured on the unit where it will be seen across our social media and any visits to site as well as your name on the thank you panel of our new electric Compost Club van.

£5 or more

Good vibes

You will receive good vibes from the bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, micro arthropods and worms in our compost.

£10 or more

How To: Hot Compost

A copy of our How To: Hot Compost booklet plus good vibes from the bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, micro arthropods and worms. Printed on 100% recycled material and a limited, individually numbered first print of 1,000.

£18 or more

Compost Club tote bag

Organic cotton tote bag. Twill weave (170gsm). 37x42cm. Compost Club logo

£20 or more

Living Compost

A 1.5kg bag of living compost inoculum in a hessian sack. A copy of our How To: Hot Compost booklet plus good vibes from the bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, micro arthropods and worms. Printed on 100% recycled material and a limited, individually numbered first print of 1,000.

£25 or more

T-shirt

Compost Club t-shirt. Certified organic cotton 155g/m2. Not tested on animals and no animal-derived products. Printed in the UK and made in a renewable energy powered factory. Let us know your size. (XS-XXL)

£30 or more

Online soil food web workshop

A place on a 1.5 hour soil food web workshop which uncovers the secret life within a living soil and reveals how nutrient cycling works. To be arranged and fulfilled by end of 2022

£30 or more

In person composting talk and Compost HQ tour

A 1 hour talk about the soil food web, the cycling of nutrients and look at our method of composting with a tour of Compost HQ plus a Q&A as part of a group up to 10. For yourself or donate to someone on a low income. To be booked in and fulfilled by end of 2022

£100 or more

Personal thank you on our electric van

Have your name printed on a dedicated thank you panel on the new electric Compost Club van. A place on an online or in person course for yourself or someone on a low income. A bag of living compost. A copy of our How To: Hot Compost booklet plus good vibes from the bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, micro arthropods and worms. Printed on 100% recycled material and a limited, individually numbered first print of 1,000.

£170 or more

12 month membership plus electric van thank you

A 12 month domestic membership to Compost Club. You will receive one of our sealable buckets to fill with your food waste and have it replaced with a clean one every 3 weeks. Every Spring you will receive some living compost back to use in your garden or donate it to a local community garden. You will also have your name featured on the thank you panel of the new electric Compost Club collection van.

£170 or more

Donate a 12 month Compost Club membership

Fund a 12 month domestic membership to Compost Club for someone on a low income. They will receive one of our sealable buckets to fill with their food waste and have it replaced with a clean one every 3 weeks. Every Spring they will receive some living compost back to use in their garden or donate it to a local community garden. You will also have your name featured on the thank you panel of the new electric Compost Club collection van.

£250 or more

A presentation and Q&A for you and your community

An in person presentation on the soil food web and composting for you and your community group including a Q&A session. To be arranged and delivered by end of 2022.

Show your support

Payment and personal details are protected