Walton and District Allotment and Garden Society

How to Compost Successfully & Safely

Good composting isn’t only about building a good bin and correctly mixing the compost. It’s also about what you add to the compost. This article will provide a simple outline of what you can
and can’t compost.

Steps

1. Consider the compost materials that will activate the heat process in your compost. Perfect heat-generating materials include: young weeds (before they develop seeds); comfrey leaves; yarrow; chicken or pigeon manure; grass cuttings; old potting soil etc.
2. Items that will compost well include: fruit and vegetables; fruit and vegetable scraps; coffee grounds and tea leaves (including tea bags - remove staple if you can be bothered); vegetable plant remains; plants; cardboard & cardboard tubes (from foil wraps etc); old flowers (including dried floral displays, minus plastic/foam attachments); old straw and hay; fall (autumn) leaves; rabbit, gerbil and hamster bedding; egg shells; dead plants and weeds; hair (human, dog, cat etc.).
3. Consider other items that can be composted but you may not have thought of before: paper towels; paper bags; sawdust; cotton clothing (torn up).
4. If you live in a colder climate that has a shorter composting season, be careful of adding slow rotting items such as: tough branches, twigs and hedge clippings; wood ash; wood shavings and wood prunings. They can be composted but you may want to compost them separately due to their longer break-down time.
5. Preferably avoid composting: bread, pasta, nuts, cooked food, newspaper. They don’t break down as easily and become quite slimy and can hold up the heating, rotting-down process. (Old nuts left in the garden will disappear quickly if you have squirrels or monkeys around!!)
6. Never compost the following items for reasons of health, hygiene and inability to break down: meat and meat scraps; bones; fish and fish bones; plastic or synthetic fibres; oil or fat; pet faeces; weeds that have gone to seed; diseased plants; disposable diapers (nappies); glossy magazines; coal and coke ash; cat litter. These items should be removed in the normal garbage collection.
7. Follow the reduce, reuse and recycle way of life to reduce the amount of things you have to end up throwing away.

Tips

• Bins can be sourced from Surrey Council, click here for details.
• Locate your compost bin somewhere that is easy to access; so that you & family members will be encouraged to use it.
• Share a composting facility if you live in an apartment complex.
• Have a mini compost bin indoors that you keep near your meal preparation area. Something that is easy to fill up, transport daily to the compost bin and keep clean. You could consider a small plastic container (there are fun tiny garbage cans with lids) or avoid plastic and use something as simple as a glazed terracotta plant saucer - it looks nice, is easy to clean and transports easily.
• For faster break-down, shred leaves, clippings; and crush egg shells.
• Layering is very effective if possible - one layer straw, one layer compostable materials, one layer composting worms (as long as the temperature of your compost does not exceed 25C degrees).
• Contact Elmbridge council if you can’t compost for whatever reason, as they will collect garden waste for composting.