Did you know that annually, we recycle over 250 tonnes of food waste, transforming it into ‘soil food’, a super nutritious, rich fertiliser just perfect for your garden?
This includes fish offal, green waste and coffee grounds from our traders.
Pretty cool, hey?
Our green rehydration machine, Gaia, transforms the waste into fertiliser in just ten hours, allowing the Market to recycle 80% of its waste streams.
Also, the water evaporated from the waste is harvested and used to service the Market’s bathrooms. This adds up to nearly 25 kilolitres of water annually, too.
The Gaia machine, installed at the Market in July 2017, dehydrates bone, fish, offal and coffee grounds, fermenting the ingredients overnight into a nutrient-dense product called Green Earth SoilFoodTM. This wonder product has a high level of nitrogen, calcium and concentrated nutrients that the Market supplies as a plant fertiliser to service the local community.
We’re also donating 100% of the proceeds to Cultivating Community, a local charity providing opportunities for public and community housing tenants and others living in poverty to grow their own food in community gardens.
The green rehydration machine forms just one of the Market’s sustainability strategies being rolled out right now.
Shoppers are also able to take home some of this garden magic, for a gold coin donation. We’ve got a cute farmer’s market stand setup in Market Square, complete with a good old-fashioned honesty box, to encourage shoppers to take advantage of Green Earth SoilFoodTM while also supporting Cultivating Community – all you need is a gold coin donation.
To date, we have raised $2,000 which has assisted their After School Cooking Program: a fun, free cooking program that teaches vital healthy life skills to kids without them really noticing, they just love to cook! The menu reflects the tastes and cultures of the children who love to suggest favourites from home.
This program will commence in 2020 with the Youth and Child Services hub in Stonnington.
Cultivating Communities
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