As part of the EWWR, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar [FAA] will be hosting a one day workshop to construct an Urban Garden by re-using metal cans – the participants will together with the volunteers of the eNGO construct these urban gardens with the metal element being re-used acting as a container for a growing medium to allow for the cultivation of herbs and vegetables.

The aim of this initiative is not to simply reuse the metal that would otherwise end up recycled at best but more importantly to kick-off an ingrained long-term approach to waste reduction through the encouragement of urban farming.

Households alone contribute to 42% of total annual food waste – that’s roughly 70kg of food per capita [1]. Eliminating the problem at source is the most viable and truly sustainable solution to this impeding and sadly evitable problem. By growing their own produce in these repurposed metal cans participants will instill a greater understanding of the food cycle to help reduce tendencies of food waste through habits of excessive consumption.

By growing their own produce, participants will also be reducing their consumption of plastic by no longer purchasing packaging simply to consume basil, mint or other herbs and vegetable they can otherwise be growing. Through their repurposed urban garden and home supply of fresh produce, participants would have reduced the extended food cycle to simply ‘grow – consume’, again tackling waste issues at source and reducing waste by reducing packaging created, distributed and dumped.

Finally, participants will be encouraged to use organic waste from their home to make compost thereby turning potential waste into a nutritious growing medium for the produce being grown.

[1] http://www.plascarb.eu/assets/content/20151208_FoodWasteReport_WP9_final_publish.pdf