Home compost : turn green rubbish into something useful!

The world is getting more green-aware by the day – and there’s no need for your household to be left behind. With warm weather (sometimes) here, it might be time to get a compost bin started in your backyard or at your community garden…

If you take a closer look at what you’re throwing away, you’ll probably find a lot of garden waste and food rubbish from your kitchen. Nearly half of all household rubbish in Australia is from the kitchen or garden, meaning there’s plenty of room for reducing how much we throw into our landfills every year!

What is compost?

Composting has been around for 4,000 years, so it definitely works. Using food scraps, lawn clippings and cuttings from your garden, you can easily create a home compost heap. Once set up, tiny critters, including bacteria, fungi and worms will feed on the organic materials you provide and break them down into basic nutrients, ready to be put back into your garden as a natural fertiliser. Compost replenishes the nutrients in your garden soil and also encourages soil to hold on to water more effectively, a definite benefit for drought-affected areas.

How do I get started?

It’s actually easier than you think. All you need is a little space outdoors (around one metre square is ideal) and some bricks or timber to create an enclosed area. Remember to leave gaps for aeration, keep one side easy to access and cover the heap with a lid to protect it from heat and rain. A plastic bin is a good alternative for those without much space. Cover the top with a lid and leave the container bottom open, in direct contact with the soil. Turn your compost heap every few weeks, or every week if you’re using a plastic bin.

What can I put in my home compost?

Lawn clippings, leaves and green waste from the garden is ideal, as well as natural household kitchen waste such as fruit and vegetable skins, egg shells, tea leaves and coffee grounds. Non-bleached paper and cardboard, straw, sawdust and egg cartons are good too and will provide some dry matter to keep the moisture level just right.

Anything that’s no-go for a composting?

Avoid adding meat, chicken or fish scraps, as well as any other animal products, such as cheese and milk products. Also try to limit the amount of citrus, chilli or onion as worms don’t find these foods appealing. Bread, cracker biscuits and pastries are not helpful either, as they can attract mice and rats. Noxious weeds are also best left out, as are contributions from your pet, metal, plastic, glass, chemicals, treated wood and other non-biodegradables.

Um, doesn’t compost smell bad?

No, it should smell ‘earthy’ – as long as you’ve achieved a good balance in terms of moisture and air! Allow enough air into the mix to let the microbes do their work; build a bin with slatted sides to allow airflow and to turn the compost mix regularly. To avoid making your compost heap too damp, add a balance of green food scraps and drier waste, as mentioned earlier.

Help, it’s not working!

To test how you’re doing, take a look at the moisture level regularly (it shouldn’t be too wet or too dry) and also gauge the heat being produced (bustling organisms will make your compost warm). Here’s what to do if your compost heap is:

• Too wet – add sawdust or other dry material
• Too dry – add a sprinkle of water
• Too cool – add vegetable scraps as a source of nitrogen to encourage efficient microbe activity
• Too hot – turn the compost with a spade and/or spread the mixture out to cool
• Too many flies – enclose your compost heap and turn the mix over regularly

Your finished product should be dark, crumbly and soil-like – homemade compost is perfect for adding to your garden soil as a natural fertiliser, either on the surface or dug into the garden before planting. The high level of nutrients in homemade compost will boost the health of your soil and reduce the size of your weekly rubbish collection too.

Talk to your local nursery about home composting and find supplies to start your own compost heap or bin: