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Being Green at Home – Part One (Composting)

By John King

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Published: 21May2010
Word count: 930
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Barely a day goes by now without the news reporting an ecological issue, be it Polar ice caps melting at an increasing rate or new Carbon reducing initiatives from Central Government. As with much of the news, there’s not much we can really do to stop the ice caps from dropping into the Oceans though. Or is there?

Councils estimate that around 35% of our typical home waste which is thrown out with the rubbish, can be recycled. We’re going to be brave here by saying the figure could possibly be higher still for those who really want to be. The Sunday morning trip to the bottle bank is the ‘norm’ for many of us, but how many have a compost bin in the garden? How many people have 3 compost bins? That’s the optimum number recommended by ecologists and gardeners alike.

Before we go into too much detail as to why you need 3 compost bins, let’s start with why you need one. Any waste which is sent to landfill which rots down naturally, not only takes longer to rot down when mixed with non biodegradable waste, but also releases toxic gases into the environment which helps to deplete the all important ozone layer, which as we know, in turn warms up the planet, melts ice caps, and…well, you know the rest.

Separating your waste at home so your biodegradable items are put in your home compost bin also saves road miles in that the local council’s who collect your waste, don’t have so much to take back to their landfills. As importantly though, the output from the waste itself can be highly beneficial for your home garden. If you separate and mix your biodegradable waste into ‘greens’ and ‘browns’ (more about these in a moment), the waste can typically be turned into good, organic, usable compost for your garden in 6-9 months or so. By returning the waste to the earth, and growing further fruit and vegetables etc in that earth, you’re not only supplying the said fruit and vegetables with all important nutrients, but in the soils that lie to the South of London, you’ll allowing air to enter the heavily compacted clay soils, thus making the ground more fertile for your choice of vegetation. Oh, and of course, this is all free.

The obvious question is ‘why does waste that is rotted I compost bins not emit the same gases as waste in landfill’? The answer is that not only does properly composted material rot down quicker, but when added to the garden, it ‘traps in’ carbon. In effect, the carbon is buried which is why many real environmentalists even go so far as to try and dissuade gardeners from digging their plots because micro amounts of carbon are lost into the atmosphere every time we do.

We mentioned ‘greens’ and ‘browns’. Experts suggest mixing our biodegradable compost waste in an even mixture of ‘brown’ and ‘green’. Green waste is basically vegetable peelings, grass cuttings etc or ‘wet stuff’ whilst browns are things like cereal boxes which have been torn up, the contents of the vacuum cleaner, toilet roll inners and even shredded paper (great way to also protect your identity from being cloned – shred your personal and junk mail!) Heavier ‘twiggy’ type cuttings can be chopped into small chunks, or put through a shredder if you have one.

The reason for suggesting 3 compost bins is because as one is being fed and is filling up, the others can be rotting down. Ideally, you’ll want to ‘turn’ the contents of your compost bin as regularly as possible (there are compost bins available that are mounted on frames allowing the bin to easily be turned over by hand using a handle). By constantly adding new waste, they’ll be little chance of all the waste ever having the chance to rot down.

Experts say that to rot down efficiently and quickly, compost needs two main ingredients – water and heat. If you are able, position your compost bins where they’ll see at least some of the afternoon sunshine. If the bins have slats, air will penetrate and the compost will dry out and won’t rot down properly, so add regular watering cans of rain water from your water butt. Don’t be surprised if you compost heap ‘sweats’. In fact, if it does, the composting process is actually in evidence.

Compost bins themselves don’t have to be expensive and don’t have to look like a Dalek either. Compost bins made to look like beehives and made from recycled pallets are readily available on the Internet and actually add a neat feature to the Country garden. Local councils often offer special deals on the sale of compost bins, it saves them money ultimately so look at your local council website. And of course, you can build your own. Pallets are the most common material for this, but really, any large container with access to add, turn and remove compost with, ideally, no air gaps will do.

There are even rumours that in time, we’ll all be charged for the amount of waste we have the councils collect from our driveways. Therefore reducing the amount we throw away also reduces the bill from the council if this ever is introduced.

In future articles we will explain how to effectively use home made organic compost on your garden which should in turn help you to produce some of the best organic fruit, flowers and vegetables you’ve ever grown.

The author resides in the UK and works in the media industry. He has recently completed a new website for Outdoor Creations, the experts for Kent garden design and Surrey garden design. Visit their site at: Outdoor-Creations.co.uk for excellent information, designs and images.

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