Before buying their Green Cone in 2009, Jack and Joan Milner, from Leicestershire, thought the prospect of being able to safely dispose of all their leftovers sounded almost too good to be true.
‘We were a bit sceptical at first,’ admits Jack. ‘We had already tried having a compost bin but we were not systematic enough to make it work.’
But at the time Leicestershire County Council was offering residents subsidised Cones to encourage them to recycle food waste at home instead of sending it to landfill. So the couple decided to give it a try.
A place in the sun
Under the scheme at the time, the council arranged for Green Cones to be installed on their residents’ behalf since the units must be dug into a hole in the garden.
Once this was done, and the Cone was in place in a sunny spot near the kitchen door, the Milners began to feed it their leftovers, including bones.
‘It wasn’t long before the Green Cone was called ‘George’ (don’t ask us why!) and we fed him daily,’ says Jack.
A pleasant surprise
The couple, now in their eighties, were quickly won over by George’s powers of digestion. ‘We have been very pleasantly surprised.’
Jack and Joan sometimes have to deal with the common problem of visiting dogs and cats leaving a little deposit on their lawn, but ‘George’ has even been efficient at dealing with this.
Most of the waste deposited in the Cone breaks down to become nutritious water that drains from the underground basket into surrounding soil. The Milners have noticed the effect of this soil conditioner on their garden.
A very good buy
Their Cone was placed in an arid spot which sported a few Lily of the Valley flowers and these soon began to flourish, becoming ‘a superb patch two metres in diameter.’
Jack adds that their Cone is now becoming a bit brittle but still ‘completely serviceable’, and it is only now after 13 years that it might need emptying.
‘Overall, George has been a very good buy.’
What’s in a name?
Incidentally, the Milners are not the only customers who have found themselves giving a name to their food waste digester. In our reviews section is a family who named their three Green Johanna Hot Composters Bertha, Belinda and Beryl. Whatever you may wish to call your Cone (and names are not obligatory, we don’t check!) we’re sure life with your own George, or Daisy or Engelburt will be just as good as the Milners’ experience.
And remember, Great Green Systems are here to help if you have any queries or problems.
