OrganicDisposalInitiative

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Howdy all, I hope this is OK to post here. When I posted my introduction to the forum, there seemed to be some positive comments on the type of small business I run so I thought I would just give a brief overview for you guys in case you were interested.

So, like i mentioned in my introduction, I live in a little coastal town on the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia called Tiddy Widdy Beach, which is around 4-4.5 km from Ardrossan. I moved here going on 2 years ago. I was originally living in the big smoke of Adelaide but I had to move due to health and personal reasons and found myself here due to having family friends located half an hour a way.

These areas, and the surrounding towns along the coast, are well known for crabbing/raking, squid and fishing. The reason I mention this in particular is due to the fact that during the certain seasons, you will find that a lot of people, mainly tourists, tend to dispose of their crab shells, old bait and all that by just throwing it among the sand dunes and I see that as throwing away good, usable material for the garden. Now, Ardrossan and Tiddy Widdy Beach are heavily involved with KAB (Keep Australia Beautiful) and what is known as the Tidy Towns Awards. These awards encourage, motivate and celebrate sustainability achievements of rural and regional communities across Australia. I had an interest in gardening since a young age when I used to spend time with my Pa, but never had the opportunity of a proper sized garden to be able to grow my own food but out here I found that opportunity and wanted to give back.

Now, my business is based around the similar principles of a recycling depot were you take your cans, bottles, metal scrap etc., but for certain types of organic waste (on a smaller scale with the eventual growth of something bigger). Basically, I had seen a part of recycling that gets overlooked by many, but has huge beneficial properties to the garden but also the environment. It may not be much, but it all adds up.

I take certain organic material such as eggshells, banana skins, fish bodies, crab shells, old bait, newspapers etc., purchase them from the community by the kg and then in turn, turn it all into a usable product that the community can use on their gardens. The monetary value for these items aren't enough to retire on, but I look as it as being something for young kids to get involved in for a little extra pocket money, but also helping to educate them on being sustainable and environmentally aware.

My business isn't limited to just this, I also offer consultations to help people be more sustainable around their own gardens, but also educating them at the same time. I also do monthly compost buckets to general garden maintenance, to irrigation, to caring for your own poultry (chooks, quails) with everything having a sustainable and organic approach to these (IE no chemicals or pesticides used, using your own soil and building that with local, organic material etc.)

Hopefully this isn't too long winded and I hope this gives you a decent overview of my small business.


cheers
Jacob
 

Universalpuzzle

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Sounds inventive and an easy business idea.. well done and clever!
 
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ClissAT

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Hi Jacob. I also like the idea of reusing, upcycling, making better use of organic waste.
It sounds like your product would be very concentrated.
Do you pasteurize for retail sale or just sell locally?
An up and coming new business opportunity is above ground burial of household pet bodies, horses and humans.
The laws are in the process of being rewritten to allow this kind of service.
Horses and pets can be composted in open fields on impervious surfaces but humans have to be composted in sealed crates.
A starter is added, then the body covered with a sufficient volume of compostable material to exclude vermin and vapours.
Your product would fit as the starter being so high in sea borne materials.
At the end of a certain time period depending on the size of the body, the owners can return to collect the compost for use in their garden. Not sure about the human compost. Maybe that still has to be buried 6ftdeep!
I don't see what the difference is between horse compost and human compost but people get funny about dead humans! o_O:p But it's ok to sprinkle their ashes on your garden!
 
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