Compost at home
23 February 2007
Composting at home is one of the best forms of recycling. Most people could shrink the size of their weekly rubbish bag by about 40% by composting – there’s no need for polluting transportation and you get a fantastic fertiliser for your garden for free.
Anything in a landfill site that can rot (organic waste) produces methane gas – this is 20 times more potent than CO2 in terms of global climate change. By composting at home, you are preventing this organic waste from ending up in a landfill site.
Composting is really easy. Things that can go into the compost bin include: Uncooked fruit / veg waste, grass clippings, leaves, bedding plants, teabags, coffee grounds, paper, card. Avoid putting in any cooked food, cat or dog litter, perennial weeds or weeds with seeds.
The key to great compost is to make sure that you get a good mix of materials. If there are too many ‘wet’ ingredients (fruit / veg waste, grass clippings etc) the bin will be starved of oxygen and go slimy and smelly. Make sure you mix in ‘dry’ ingredients such as paper / card, soiled pet bedding and drier garden prunings. Most of us generate plenty of unwanted cardboard which could be put to good use in a compost bin. Loo rolls, egg boxes, cereal packets etc are ideal (ripped up small and scrunched to trap air spaces).
Conversely if you have too many ‘dry’ ingredients you may find that your bin is sitting their doing nothing. In this case try and mix in some more ‘wet’ things, or use an activator such as human urine. Aim for a mixture of about half and half and try to chop materials up as small as you can.
In our local area, you can get a compost bin delivered to your door at very low cost through the ‘Compost at Home’ campaign. The scheme is run by Warwickshire County Council and WRAP and bins are available starting from £8, including delivery. See www.recyclenow.com/compost or call: 0845 077 0757. If you have any questions about composting, you can contact you home composting advisor Penny Holmes by e-mailing penny.holmes@wrap.org.uk