TouchyPeely is a project in incubation. It will be a website to bring together two types of people: those without a garden who want to save their kitchen peelings from landfill, and those who have a garden or allotment and want peelings for their compost bin.
Sounds familiar? The idea first came in the guise of Social Compost, in March 2008.
How It Works
A visitor to the website enters their postcode and then browses a map of their local area. This informs them which of their neighbours are offering peelings or a compost heap to put them in. The visitor then adds themselves to the map, or connects with another user. They could browse the forum or blog, or purchase their own bin.
TouchyPeely brings the community together, raises environmental consciousness, empowers people to take action and, in the process, reduces the burden on landfill waste. And it’s so simple that my mum could use it.
The site will be promoted to allotment and gardening groups first, to create a demand for peelings. Alongside word-of-mouth marketing, a social media campaign will be made on social networks such as Facebook and UnLtdWorld. We could offer products such as compost bins, and host a forum and blog for sharing experiences and advice.
Your Feedback
A number of people have expressed interest in it so far, including the chairperson of a London allotment group.
When the idea was submitted to London’s Social Innovation Camp, it attracted a number of encouraging comments and was written about on several blogs:
- Rosie Sherry:
I personally love the idea and will be supporting it in whatever way I can.
- Tim Davies:
Great idea. We’ve just agreed with the local Quaker Meeting House that we can use their compost heap… but it took us ages to find somewhere we could compost.
- Leif Kendall:
As someone who religiously cleans, sorts and recycles rubbish, I hate to chuck out so much good fodder.
- Jonathan Melhiush:
I’m the same situation right now. I must admit I’ve tried as hard to find somebody with a compost bin, it just seems like too much effort.
We’d love to hear your thoughts.