HOW TO COMPOST

BETWEEN 30 and 40 per cent of the contents of your dustbin are compostable.

Anything that was once alive and has not been cooked is suitable.

For little effort, in a year’s time you will have plant food for your garden and tubs, and you will have saved your back from lugging heavier binbags or wheelie bins to the kerbside. Give it a go.

BUY A BIN

THE cheapest way is to get a bin made from recycled plastic through your local council, especially if you live in County Durham. Most councils are part of the Government’s Waste Resources Action Programme (Wrap), which offers discounted bins. The amount of discount depends on where you live.

For instance, a 220-litre bin costs £39 plus postage from the manufacturers.

However, from Durham County Council it is only £8, plus you get the chance to order a kitchen caddy – in which you collect and carry your compostables – for £2.50. In the five Tees Valley unitary councils’ area, though, the same bin is £17 and the bargain caddy is £4. In North Yorkshire and York, the bin is £27 and the caddy is £4. You can order by phoning your council or by calling 0845- 076-0223.

You can also order via your council’s website or through the Wrap website at recyclenow.com. The Wrap website appears not to know precise council boundaries and offers Durham bargains to postcodes from Darlington and north North Yorkshire!

SITING YOUR BIN

IT needs to go on bare soil where it will catch the sun for a few hours – the warmth speeds up the composting process. It also needs to be easily accessible so you can drop your kitchen waste into it while wearing your pyjamas. You may like to place a sturdy piece of wire mesh beneath the bin to deter rats from burrowing in. The bin, if properly used, will not attract vermin, although they are likely to have a good look at anything that is plonked on their patch.

STARTING OFF

IT is best to place a few spadefuls of soil at the bottom of the bin so that worms and bacteria are present. Then a layer of sticks will aid with drainage.

After that, you put a layer of “greens”, about 30cm thick, followed by a similar layer of “browns”. The greens rot quickly and go mushy; the browns take longer and are drier. Together, they make perfect compost. The art of composting is to get this balance right.

GREENS

● Grass cuttings and young weeds;
● Raw veg and fruit peelings;
● Nettles;
● Teabags, ground coffee and filter paper;
● Waste household paper, preferably shredded. BROWNS
● Cardboard – cereal and egg boxes or toilet rolls, but preferably shredded or scrunched;
● Woody prunings, sticks and leaves;
● Pet bedding and dirt, from hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, poultry etc.

DO NOT PUT IN…

● Cooked leftovers – they will attract vermin;
● Meat, dairy products or fish;
● Used nappies, or cat or dog faeces;
● Coated paper or used tissues;
● Diseased plants or weeds with seedheads.

MAKING YOUR COMPOST

WITH 50 per cent greens and 50 per cent brown, all you have to do is sit back and wait, probably for a year. For about £5, you can get a bottle of accelerator which is supposed to quicken the process. A little love and attention may also speed up the composting and create a better outcome. You may like to turn your compost every six months to get the air in. Failing that, ram a broomhandle in and give it a good stir. After a year, dig it out from the bottom of your bin.

Some composting notes...

● There is a great debate about teabags, because the bags themselves are very difficult to compost – particularly the pyramidshaped ones. Some people rip open the bag, get the leaves out and throw the paper away.
● There is also debate about the merits of corks, from wine bottles, which take decades to rot. However, because they are full of tiny holes, they help aerate the compost and provide a home for organisms doing the composting.
● If your compost is too wet and sludgy, mix in some more browns.
● If your compost is too dry, mix in some grass cuttings and a little water.

Your urine, diluted to one part to 20 of water, is very good as it contains nitrogen.
● Wood ash, which contains potassium and lime, is a very dry brown. Coal or coke ash is useless.
● Crush your eggshells. They don’t decompose, but contain useful minerals (as do mussel shells).
● Your hair and nail clippings are good sources of nitrogen and compostable.
● The dust out of a vacuum cleaner is a very dry brown.
● Fluff from a tumble drier is also a very dry brown – but only if it is wool or cotton. Man-made fibres won’t rot.
● Placing worms in the bin will help.
● During summer, fruit flies take up residence in your bin, flying out in an irritating cloud when you take the lid off. Sprinkling a thin layer of soil over the compost will get rid of them.
● Compost tends to be slightly alkaline – beware when putting it near acidloving plants.