Home Composting

A great way of diverting biodegradable waste from landfill; Information and advice

Home composting using a traditional bin or heap is an easy way to reduce the amount of waste that you put into your rubbish bin. A third of the average dustbin is taken up with potentially compostable materials - two thirds, if you include paper and cardboard. Apart from the traditionally compostable materials (paper, card, garden waste, raw fruit and vegetable peelings), you may be surprised by some of the materials that can be composted, such as hair cuttings, egg shells and vacuum cleaner bag contents – see the lists below for more.

Why compost at home?

• Making your own compost can:
• Help protect your local environment.
• Reduce waste going to landfill.
• Save you money.
• Help your garden grow naturally.

How to compost

1. Get a composter: Compost is best made in a homemade composter or a home compost bin; alternatively you can just make it in a heap. Several garden centres in Richmondshire sell compost bins; you can find these in local directories and via web based search engines.
2. Site your composter: Put your composter in the garden on bare soil. This allows micro-organisms to enter the composter and break down the fresh material. Warmth aids the composting process, so site your composter in the sunlight if you can. Composters can be placed on concrete but they should then have a layer of soil or existing compost on the bottom to allow worms to colonise. Note that the concrete may get stained where the composter is sited; it is not recommended to site composters on decking.
3. Add materials: Add your compostable waste in equal volumes of greens and browns – see ‘What can be composted’ below. Composting works best if you add a lot of fresh materials at once, although it will take time to breakdown.
4. Accelerate: If you want your composting process speeded up, add some soil or some finished compost. Young nettles are an excellent compost accelerator.
5. Ready to use: If you continue to add a good mixture of materials you should have a good quality finished product to use on your garden within 6 to 18 months.
6. If not ready: If when removing your compost for use, you find some un-composted material, simply put it back into your composter.

What can be composted?

Greens

• Greens contain nitrogen and are quick to rot. They provide your compost with moisture.
• Uncooked fruit and vegetable peelings and leftovers
• Tea bags
• Plant pruning’s
• Fallen leaves
• Soft hedge clippings
• Old plants and flowers
• Coffee grounds and filter paper
• Rhubarb leaves
• Weeds and nettles (avoid persistent weeds and weeds in seed)
• Grass cuttings (not too much as their high nitrogen content can kill worms – worms are one of the organisms required to produce good compost)

Browns

• Dried leaves and garden clippings
• Corn cobs and stalks
• Straw and hay
• Twigs (you may want to cut these into smaller pieces)
• Egg shells
• Shredded confidential paper and printed card (cereal boxes)
• Balled up paper and card (not in big chunks, but enough to provide air pockets)
• Egg boxes and toilet roll tubes (whole to provide air pockets)
• Bedding from vegetarian pets, e.g. rabbits and guinea pigs
• Feathers
• Wool (possibly cut up old clothes), string, cotton thread and small pieces of carpet
• Vacuum cleaner waste
• Tumble drier lint
• Pine needles and cone (slow to compost – don’t put too much in)
• Ash from wood, paper or lump wood charcoal.

Do NOT Compost

• Cooked food
• Meat (cooked or uncooked) or any material prepared with meat
• Fish
• Dairy (cheese, cream, yogurt etc.)
• Coal ash
• Cat or dog food
• Cat litter/dog excrement

Using the compost

Homemade compost will improve light, dry and sandy soils as well as heavy, clay soils and can be used almost anywhere on the garden. Here is just some of the ways you can use your product compost:

• To enrich your borders by spreading a 5cm layer of compost over the existing soil, or digging the compost into the soil before planting.
• On flowerbeds by digging a 10cm layer of compost into the soil before planting.
• As mulch (compost which is not fully broken down) by adding a layer of about 5cm over your flowerbeds.
• Around trees by spreading a 5-10cm layer around the roots (not too close to the base of the tree).
• Replenishing pots by removing the top layer of existing soil and replacing with freshly made compost.
• Feeding your lawn by mixing with sand and spreading a thin layer of about 2.5cm over the lawn.
• Healthy herbs and vegetables by simply adding compost around the base of the plants.

Further information, hints and tips

• When considering what you can compost, bear in mind that anything that was once living can be composted, except coal. Although coal is made from organisms that were once living, the high levels of sulphur in coal ash will poison the soil.
• If you find you can't use the compost you produce, give it away to gardener friends or neighbours.
• Composting does NOT attract pests such as rats and mice as long as you ensure that no cooked food waste is going in to the compost bin.
• Your compost heap should not smell. If it does it is lacking in air and should be stirred. Stirring is a useful activity for composting as it speeds up Alternatively, you may find it easier to re-site your composter and shovel the part-composted waste into it adding browns or greens if needed.
• The right mix is generally 50:50 by volume (size) of greens and browns, as detailed above.
• Do NOT water your compost bin, if you get the right mix, there should be enough moisture in the materials. If your compost is too dry, add more greens. If it is too wet, add more browns.
• Warmth aids the composting process, so site your composter in the sunlight if you can.
• Large items with no air holes will compost quicker if broken or chopped into smaller pieces. Whereas items that have air holes are best left whole, since air is needed in the compost bins, e.g. from the list things that will create air pockets are whole egg boxes (not crushed) and balled up paper (not shredded, although shredded paper can be composted it just won’t create air pockets).the process.

Purchasing a compost bin

Compost bins can be purchased through the Even Greener low cost compost bin scheme. 220 litre compost bins are available for £10, with 330 litre compost bins are available for £13. Residents can purchase a second bin for just half the cost (buy one get one half price).

To purchase a compost bin, visit www.getcomposting.com or contact Even Greener on 0844 571 4444

Even Greener also offer other products that can deal with kitchen and garden waste. These include a range of wormeries, bokashi units and kitchen caddies for collecting kitchen waste. To find out more about the range of units available, or to purchase a unit visit www.getcomposting.com

 

 

 

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