Mulch ado about nothing: The story of a hot, steamy crush that ends in waste

If DJ Cerys Matthews is to be believed I'm in love with my garden. She says love feels like not having enough hours in the day.

That's why at 11:30 the other night I found myself googling 'free compost Hackney'.

And, like all the best contrived romances, things just fell into place. The first result was 'Free Compost in Hackney' - which directed me to a pile of, yes, free compost in Hackney that would be waiting at a secondary school down the road the very next day.

Prudes look away now - here comes the hot and steamy bit.

Next morning I turned up at the school to find what looked like a massive brown sow suckling a litter of Hackney residents. Locals with shovels and rubble bags scooping out the hot, moist, smelly compost from the bottom of the pile.

I took what's mine - literally:  it could have been food scraps from my own table. The Hackney scheme is giving us back the food waste that's collected from our doorsteps, now in a useable form.

I also took a leaflet from the friendly council staff. It told me there are new electrical waste recycling banks coming to the borough. It feels like things are stirring.

Back home I made the bed. The compost went in the ground, and a handful of plants began to get their grubby little fingers into it.

At work on Monday an email came round from a colleague offering an old teasmaid and microwave. Turns out he doesn't live in Hackney, so he doesn't have access to our new electrical waste banks.

He did find a good home for his teasmaid and microwave though - and because re-use is the best life choice for old goods, we can chalk that up as a match made in heaven.

The end

PS Dear Hackney Council - I love you for trying hard on recycling. Separation is hard to do, and you've got some of the biggest challenges of any local authority, including lots of high-rise flats. But you're making sure our recycling gets a new lease of life by separating the waste when you collect it, which Friends of the Earth's rubbish agony aunt tells me is the way to go. And you're even expanding recycling services. You could do with more help from the Government though - how about joining our campaign and telling David Cameron to talk half as much rubbish?

Adam Bradbury, Publishing & New Media Team