How to compost at home with these three super easy systems!

By placing all of your food scraps in your home compost bin, your household waste could be reduced by more than 40%.

"When food waste is sent to landfill it rots and releases methane, a harmful greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide". (source: East Waste)

By composting your kitchen and green waste using your very own home compost system, you can save money on expensive fertilisers and soil conditioners, and you'll also be doing your part in helping the environment. Some great forms of home composting systems are: 

A tub is used to collect food scraps, and composting occurs with the extra help of the worms that live in the tub. Their castings and liquid waste also make excellent fertilisers for the garden. Worms dig and aerate the soil, allowing more water to soak in.

With a thriving worm farm, worms can possibly eat up to few kilos of your kitchen waste every week, then turn it into worm castings (rich plant food) and worm tea (liquid fertiliser) that can be used to improve the health of your garden. 

Click here to have a look at this great video with Costa for some more information on worm farms.

2. Bokashi Bucket:

'Bokashi' is a Japanese term meaning ‘fermented organic matter’. The bucket is an eco-friendly composting system designed to be used for almost any household. The Bokashi mix, which is a powder/culture applied to the food scraps, is a product made of sawdust and bran that has been infused with effective micro-organisms. Once fermented it produces both a fertiliser and liquid compost which are great for the garden.

When the compost is ready to go, dig a hole in the garden and bury it. If there is no room in the veggie garden, I dig a hole next to my beautiful bottle brush tree and bury it there. I have also used it as a fertiliser boost for my lemon and mandarin tree which they have loved.

Click here to have a look at the Bokashi website for more information and other great products they offer.

3. Compost bin/pile:

There are many different types of bins and systems around to help you compost the old fashioned way. You can purchase a ready-made bin or make one yourself. A few different types are: compost pile, turning bins, rotation drum, wooden pallet bin etc.

Attention is required to maintain a home compost pile so that it receives the oxygen that it needs. If it’s cared for properly, it will produce far less methane and greenhouse gases than food waste in landfill.

Click here for some more information on composting and also another fantastic video from Costa. As Costa says "having a compost is like bringing a new living and breathing family member into the family."

What do you do with your food scraps at home?

Would love to hear how you turn your food scraps into black gold. Do you have one of the above home compost systems? Or something else? Let us know in the comments. 

Have a look at this picture for how compost works in your garden.

Photo source: Jeffries