Many local councils now collect materials for composting as part of their standard kerbside collections, but home composting is a great way of recycling your organic waste and saving yourself the cost of buying in compost or similar fertilisers for your garden (don’t use peat based composts as the loss of peat bogs is a serious environmental issue). Home composting is very simple and cheap to set up and in no time you will be able to at least ‘subsidise’ your personal compost requirements.
A considerable amount of kitchen and garden waste can be used for home composting, reducing the amount you need to put out for the bin men. Kitchen waste such as vegetable peelings, fruit waste, crushed eggshells and tea bags can be composted but do not include cooked vegetables, any meat or dairy products and no cat litter or dog poo. Whilst cooked and meat products from your kitchen can be composted commercially and may be collected by your refuse collectors, these are not suitable for home composting. You can also include cardboard egg boxes and scrunched up paper.
In addition much of your garden waste can be added to your compost bin including plant prunings, grass cuttings and fallen leaves. Do not, however, include diseased plants and avoid weeds as their seeds may remain in the compost.
In order to start home composting you will need a compost bin for your garden and more information can be found on these by clicking here. It is also a good idea to get a small kitchen caddy which you can then fill before taking your suitable waste out to the compost bin in the garden.
For more information and tips on home composting, visit The Composting Association at www.compost.org.uk
