A community café on Horfield Common has become the first in Bristol to recycle all of its food waste on site, marking a significant milestone for local sustainability. The community garden, adjacent to the cafe, has recently installed a second HotBin composter, enabling the team to process 100% of café food waste just metres from where it is produced.
Both the café and the garden are part of the Ardagh Community Trust (ACT), a local charity dedicated to community wellbeing, sustainability and inclusive local facilities. Alongside its social enterprises, the ACT hosts a wide range of events and activities, which it does with a tiny core team and the help of a small army of volunteers. It receives no central funding, so relies on grant applications, fundraising campaigns and on-site income generating activities.
“We’re excited to have achieved this long-held ambition,” said Sol Harmsworth, head gardener at the ACT. “It’s the result of vision and teamwork from café staff, Rich and garden volunteers and our longest-standing trustee, Fiona Wright, who have all worked together to raise funds, train staff and change practices to make the dream a reality.”
Fiona added, “Between the two HotBin composters (nicknamed Pinky and Perky) we can now recycle all the café’s food waste, saving over 30 tonnes of CO₂ each year. That’s the equivalent carbon sequestered by 35 acres of forest a year, or 75,000 miles in an average car.”
The second composter was formally inaugurated on November 14 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, during an official visit from a representative of the Royal Horticultural Society as part of the ‘In Your Neighbourhood’ awards. The scheme, under the Britain in Bloom umbrella, recognises projects excelling in community participation, environmental responsibility and gardening achievement.
The Lord Mayor of Bristol, Councillor Henry Michallat, joined staff, volunteers and visitors at the ceremony, held inside one of the garden’s polytunnels, metres away from the on-site café.
The Ardagh Community Trust’s CEO, Christine Storry, celebrated the achievement: “Community, sustainability and health are three of the pillars of our work here at the Ardagh, and this seemingly simple achievement brings all of these together in a meaningful way.
“We have many more schemes like this in the pipeline. We may be small, but we have big ambitions.”