I purchased a couple of bags of organic garden soil mix from Bunnings I think it’s there home brand and it’s full of rubbish eg. paint chips, silicon, cut up plastic etc.
Is this safe to grow food in and should I be taking it back since it doesn’t sound so organic?
Most organic compost is from local councils. Ones sold in SA are generally from Marion and NAWMA. As a result, you'll inevitably get bits in it.
NAWMA send theirs to Peats as an example https://www.nawma.sa.gov.au/fogo
Thanks for posting this.
I will never buy potting mix/compost/garden soil again.
It says you can dispose pet poo/human hair in the green bin which they supply to that garden shop to turn into compost.
You cant use dog/cat poo in the garden if your planting editable crops. I can’t remember why but I remember it being a big no.
I can’t remember why
Pathogens
you can put poo into commercial compost as it is heat treated to kill the pathogens. It's not like a home compost bin.
Cheap compost / potting mix isn't worth it. Look ath e cheapest stuff and the most expensive and buy something in the middle.
Many years ago I spoke out about the practice of turning green waste into mulch due to the possible risk of spreading invasive weed seeds.
I was told to keep my mouth shut if I wanted to keep working in the environmental sector.
That was when I realized that a large portion of the environmental sector was a clown show of mentally ill alarmists and greedy hypocrites looking to make money.
You need to use it and then get the produce analyzed to tell if it's safe.
take it back. did you really need to ask?
It's what happens when people put rubbish in their green bin
.
Which is why I've mostly given up on store bought potting mix - you're at the mercy of whatever was put into green waste bins. All sorts of toxic (to plants) chemicals and weed poisons etc.
Yes never again! I had no idea. I thought organic meant clean and safe. Absolutely disgusting.
what was the brand?
Can't be organic when its mixed with plastic etc. Return it and name the brand so others have that information.
I returned it and the staff pretended to be a bit concerned but they continued to let people buy the rest off the shelf.
Are you expecting them to strip the shelves of that product across all stores nationally?
If that's what you're expecting having returned an unsatisfactory product, you'd need to do more about it than simply complain on this forum or to one Bunnings staff member.
Too often people feel that they're doing 'something about something' when all they're really doing is complaining about it to someone else. You complaining is not action - raise it with the proper standards authority.
Relevant standard you need to be aware of is Australian Standard AS4454
If you feel that it doesn't meet the standard then you can escalate it with the relevant authority, if you really want.
Take it back if you're not happy. Bunnings have a very good return system.