New Hope underlines green credentials with £300 sustainability boost
New Hope House is taking practical steps to become greener after receiving a £300 grant from Hertfordshire Community Foundation.
The funding has enabled New Hope to invest in a water butt and water collection system, a hot composting system and a Bokashi composting system.
New Hope House is a 10-bed recovery home supporting people recovering from alcohol and substance misuse.
The new equipment is designed to reduce waste, conserve water and make better use of everyday household and garden resources.
The water butt and collection system will harvest rainwater for use around the house and garden. Rather than allowing rainwater to run away into drains, the system will store it for later use, helping to reduce reliance on mains water for tasks such as watering plants.
The hot composting system will provide a way of recycling suitable garden and organic waste into compost. Through controlled decomposition, waste is broken down to create a nutrient-rich material that can be returned to the garden as a natural soil improver. Composting can reduce the amount of organic waste sent for disposal while helping the community garden to thrive.
The Bokashi composting system offers another way to reduce food waste ending up in landfill. Bokashi uses an indoor, airtight fermentation system to process kitchen scraps such as waste meat, bones, and dairy products. The resulting material can then be incorporated into soil or further composted, helping to keep food waste out of the general waste stream while providing genuine benefits to the growing space at New Hope House.
The three investments aim to make New Hope House more resource-efficient while giving residents an opportunity to take part in practical environmental projects.
For New Hope, the project represents a small but tangible step towards reducing its environmental impact - demonstrating that supporting people on their journey towards independent living can go hand in hand with caring for the environment.
