Did you know that the National Norms and Standards for Organic Waste were introduced in South Africa in February 2022? These outline how organic waste should be treated, i.e., through composting or other beneficial uses, rather than being dumped at municipal landfills.

Businesses producing ten tonnes or more of organic waste per day need to fully comply with required standards, while smaller businesses need to register and responsibly manage their organic waste as part of their environmental responsibilities and good governance.

It also means that we need to take responsibility for what we are doing with our organic waste at the individual consumer and household level.

It Starts with You!

We need a mindset shift from viewing organic materials as “waste” to be discarded to something intrinsically valuable for the creation of a sustainable ecosystem that directly impacts our individual and community wellbeing. The truth is that waste is a human invention. We are the only species on earth that doesn’t actually live a zero-waste existence! Thanks to trillions of microbes that are in and around everything, including us, anything that lives gets repurposed and contributes to the growth of new life.

Compost is a Regenerative Substance

When we think about wellness, we need to consider soil quality. No amount of supplementation, exercise, and stress management can make up for food grown in poor-quality, nutrient- and mineral-depleted soil laced with toxic chemicals. Most of us take or have taken probiotics to promote gut health, but have we ever considered that compost is like a probiotic for the earth, which grows the food we consume? The composting cycle is a key component in turning barren land into fertile soil, as it mimics the natural upcycling process of transforming organic material into living, nutrient-available organic matter that directly enhances food nutrition.

Have you ever smelt properly made compost? It’s like smelling the forest floor after rain. Forest bathing is research that has gained popularity within the wellness space and has shown how taking in beneficial environmental substances influences our gut microbiota. We have to then question the absurdity of discarding organic materials (the building blocks of life) in landfills to be left to create methane gas, a GHG up to 86 times more potent than CO2.

How Do We Stop Breaking the Regenerative Loop of Life?

Our current modern agricultural system depletes our soils of life and introduces chemicals with known health risks. So how do we safeguard our future - with properly made compost?! Farm-table-compost-farm is how we need to look at a regenerative system that promotes circularity and a mindset shift from “waste” to valuable resource, whilst emphasising the interconnectedness of nature, animals, and humankind.

If you aren’t already composting at home, let this article be your gentle nudge. If you are unable to compost at home, do some research around where your closest organic waste drop-off point is and get started. If your organisation has not yet taken steps to meet the 2027 Western Cape 100% ban on organic waste materials to municipal landfills, it’s time to get prepared!

What is Wellness Warehouse Doing as a Responsible Organisation on a Green Journey?

• We have an Integrated Waste Management Plan (IWMP) in place.
• All organic waste at our Distribution Centre and Support Office in Cape Town is diverted from landfill and converted into compost through our waste management service provider, Y-waste.
• We encourage all our Distribution Centre and Support Office team members to compost at home. If they are unable to do so, we offer a service whereby all their home organic waste can be brought to the office for collection, and we provide them with bokashi bran to take home and use.
• We have recently become a member of The Organics Recycling Association of South Africa in support of the importance of sustainable organics recycling.
• At a store level, we are actively engaging with shopping centre management to determine what is in place and where infrastructures are lacking when it comes to organic waste diversion from landfill.