Lots of publicity and activity is around encouraging the protection of our natural resources by increasing the level of recycling. More and more people are realising the benefits of making their own compost these days. It reduces household waste thereby reducing landfill and harmful emissions to say nothing of producing your own free fertiliser and soil improver.
There are various types of compost bins to choose from depending on your preference and required size. Either a simple slatted wooden composter or a plastic version with a lid will do the job perfectly well, or you could invest in a tumbler to speed up the whole process.
Wooden Bins
The advantage of having a more traditional square wooden compost bin is that the slatted sides ensure air gets into the compost and the wide opening at the top makes it easier to turn the compost when necessary to speed up the process. Wood is obviously a more natural material for the garden. You can cover the top to keep the rain out with either polythene sheeting, tarpaulin or an old piece carpet. If you have the space, its ideal to have two of these bins together, then as the first compost heap becomes ready to use, you can start the process off again in the other bin.
Plastic Bins
The plastic type compost bins are usually smaller so need less space and less maintenance. You can keep adding kitchen and garden waste onto the top then eventually when the bottom of the pile is composted it can be used from the door in the base. This method can be slower to produce good compost and you need to ensure the right mix of waste goes into it, but it’s a good cost effective method of composting.
Tumblers
Using a tumbler can speed up the process of composting to give you quality compost in a much shorter time. Simply fill the tumbler with your garden and kitchen waste and then turn the drum every day or so. This will do the all important job of aerating the compost. Once the bin is full and the composting process starts, you won’t be able to add to it, so make sure you have alternative storage until the tumbler can be used again.
Kitchen Composters
To save endless trips to the compost bin with small amounts of kitchen waste use a container in the kitchen to collect up your fruit and veg peelings and other valuable food waste. There are various decorative kitchen composters on the market in different sizes, many come withan odour reducing carbon filter fitted to the lid to avoid any unpleasant smells in the kitchen. Compostable liners are also a good idea to cut down on cleaning time.
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