Local litter campaigner and Transition Stroud Director Gill Thomas is launching an innovative pilot project we need your support with – the UK’s first community-scale composting trial to sanitise dog waste for food growing.

The project aims to tackle the persistent issue of dog waste in our area by transforming it into a valuable resource through composting. Current guidance states it can’t be safely composted, but new research suggests otherwise. So this project will test whether dog waste can be sanitised safely under UK climatic conditions using a series of controlled trials to investigate this and different treatment paths. A first for Stroud – but also the UK!

Project Background

Gill has been working towards this for a while now by running a series of home tests and building partnerships with local and national organisations including Play school for Dogs, Pet Impact, National Trust Cotswolds, Dog Friendly Magazine, Garden Organic and University of Gloucestershire. You can see her recent interview with BBC Points West about the project below.

But gathering the scientific evidence means securing lab tests and composting equipment to see if it’s possible to demonstrate safety. So Gill is now fundraising to help cover these costs – can you help make the target?

So far, £700 has been raised towards this project from local supporters – and we’re now looking to raise a further £5,000 through our new crowdfunder, and another £5,000 through grants. If you or your business wants to be part of this pilot project, please get in touch.

Every ‘deposit’ helps – so please be one of our Scooper Heroes so we can help Gill turn this great idea into a nationally significant citizen science first!