A community group in Castlemaine, Victoria, has built a local composting network that keeps food scraps and garden waste out of landfill, where they would otherwise generate methane. The Yimby group collects buckets from over 650 households and turns the material into compost for local gardens. This grassroots approach avoids the emissions from landfill and returns nutrients to the soil, offering a practical alternative to council-run Fogo bin programs. The group started in 2020 and now has more than 50 volunteers. They collect about 50,000 buckets of organic waste so far. When the local council planned a Fogo bin rollout, Yimby asked for a slower approach to design a system that fits the community. The story shows how local composting can cut methane and build soil carbon without waiting for large infrastructure projects.
