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Compost-Helping the environment by composting your waste

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By ethel smith

Easy Peazy

Why bother?

There are lots of items that would normally fill up your trash can, or dustbin, that can be used to make great compost. This means that you :-

  1. Help the environment by producing less waste.
  2. Save yourself money by making your own rich, garden compost.
  3. Dispose fully of what remains of your shredded, personal, documents.


Getting Started

Purpose made composters come in all shapes and sizes these days. There are small ones suitable for postage stamp sized gardens or much larger ones. Decide what will work for you. Of course if you have a large garden space you can just start a compost heap. The trouble with these though is that they can attract rats and other vermin. A nicely lidded composter will be much safer. So:-

  1. Decide on where you will situate your composter.
  2. Try to pick a spot that will get plenty of sunshine when the sun is out.
  3. Purchase the appropriate composter. You may only be able to accommodate a small fat composter or a tall thin one. Research the option.
  4. In the UK many councils offer special deals on composters often charging next to nothing. Check out your local councils website.
  5. Buy a composter that has an opening near the bottom for accessing the compost that is ready. If you do not you will have to tip the whole thing on its end and this can be messy and hard work.
  6. Buy a compost accelerator to get the first pile of leftovers started.

What you CAN put into a composter.

  1. Egg Shells
  2. Used tea bags
  3. Shredded paper such as old newspapers or the contents of your shredder.
  4. Fruit and vegetable peelings.
  5. Leftover, uncooked fruit and vegetables.
  6. Dead Flowers.
  7. Garden clippings and trimmings.
  8. Lawn clippings.
  9. The inner roll from toilet or kitchen paper. Tear this carboard up.
  10. Cardboard and brown paper.
  11. Cardboard egg trays or boxes.

Full round up of what you can put into a composter

What you CANNOT put into your composter.

  1. Shiny coloured paper and card.
  2. Any cooked food.
  3. Dead annual plants as they may have diseases.
  4. Old compost from plants unless you are sure it is disease free.
  5. Animal excrement.
  6. Waste such as plastic, cellophane and the like as it will not rot down.
  7. Meat, fish and cheese
  8. Disposable nappies
  9. Pernicious weeds
  10.  Plastic bags

 

Hints and Tips

  1. It is best to position your composter on a patch of your garden.
  2. Try to pick a spot in your garden or yard that gets plenty of sunshine.
  3. If this is not possible place a few shovelfuls of garden earth at the bottom of your composter.
  4. Try to layer your waste especially at the start.
  5. Tear old newspapers into strips and layer between layers of peelings, flowers and tea bags.
  6. Pour on the accelerator or at least some water.
  7. If your compost becomes to wet or dry adjust the levels of water, wet and dry waste.
  8. Your compost should not be smelly. If it is again consider adding more paper.
  9. Always replace the lid firmly to prevent vermin infestation.
  10. Keep an old wooden broom handle handy to stir the compost from time to time.
  11. Keep adding waste and you will find that although the top may still resemble just leftovers there should be good rich compost at the bottom.
  12. If you do not want the compost yourself trade or sell it around your neighbourhood.

 

Overall

You will get a real buzz when you see what is basically rubbish or trash turned into something beneficial to your garden. Many of your plants will benefit from this rich compost and there is no trekking to the garden centre and paying over the odds for what may be a suspect product.Having your own compost on tap will boost your garden, save you money and help the environment, which these days is the real bonus.

Even if you are not really into gardening composting is a great way of disposing of a lot of your waste and the cost is minimal.


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Comments

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ralwus profile image

ralwus  says:
7 months ago

Oh I like this. I have a nice heap by my garden which this year I have decide to let fallow. Compost is a gardener's gold. I have a huge supply of earth worms in it too and I use a garden spade for turning and I have a shredder/mulcher for leaves and my many tree trimmings and such. this year I only have a few plants scattered about in pots. I do have a few taters coming up that I evidently missed last year. LOL Welcome to hubpages too dear as I am an old hack at it now.

Thanks ethel, you just garnered a new fan.

Peggy W profile image

Peggy W  says:
6 months ago

We used to have a huge compost pile when we had a 1/4 acre in Wisconsin + a huge garden. Need to purchase a container for one in our southern yard now due to space limitations. I agree......compost is gold + helps the environment. Good hub.

ethel smith profile image

ethel smith  says:
6 months ago

Thanks Peggy. We are lucky enough to live in an area where the local council offers bargain price compost bins. It certainly helps ease the fill of their landfill rubbish tips.

midnightbliss profile image

midnightbliss  says:
6 months ago

thanks for the ideas, it is surely a better way of disposing some of our garbage, and we could get something beneficial from it.

ethel smith profile image

ethel smith  says:
6 months ago

Thanks midnightbliss. Yes I agree, anything that will help deplete Landfill sites has to be good.

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