Composting

Composting at home is a cheap, environmentally friendly and easy way to manage your garden waste. It has the benefit of producing nutrient rich compost you can then use for your plants. You will need a home composter or you can build your own. You can buy a basic composter for just £15.

Compost is easy to make and use. You want to aim for a good mix of both ‘green’ and ‘brown’ material.

Greens include plant cuttings, weeds, grass cuttings, hedge clippings, cut flowers, animal manure with straw, fruit and veg peelings.

Browns include autumn leaves, cardboard, egg boxes, egg shells, paper bags, wool, straw, vacuum cleaner contents, used kitchen roll.

Avoid putting dog poo, cat litter, cooked food, bones, plastic packaging and coal ash in your compost bin.

It will take around 12 months for your compost to be ready to use. It will be dark brown, slightly moist with a crumbly texture and smell earthy. Expect it to have twigs and bits of egg shell in it, unlike shop bought compost, but it is good to use.

You can sift out larger bits and return them to your compost bin to take a bit longer to break down.

Find out how to compost, including what items you can put in your bin on the Recycle Now website.