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Hamilton City Council and the Hamilton Permaculture Trust carried our a four-week trial with 10 households to find out what deters people from putting their organic waste - such as kitchen food scraps, garden weeds and grass clippings - into a compost bin. Each household was given a black plastic compost bin at the beginning of the trial in exchange for their participation.
The 10 households, made up of large families from single parent families to flatting households, were visited weekly by the Hamilton Permaculture Trust to identify and record household behaviours that prevent the use of compost bins.
Once the compost bin, a collection container in kitchen and a system were in place, most households became interested in the recycling and believed it to be a worthwhile practice. The main barrier was found to be the cost of purchasing a compost bin in the first place, or the getting the knowledge required to construct one and set it up from scratch.
There was a noticeable difference in the amount of waste going out to the weekly kerbside collection. For most households it was 30% to 50% less than before. | 
