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Why NOW is the Best Time to Compost at Home

Stratford-on-Avon District Council new recycling service, when fully implemented from April 2009, will include food composting service in your green bin. Until then, here are some useful facts and tips about composting at home and reducing biodegradable waste going to landfill.

A staggering 60%* of the rubbish we generate is biodegradable!
Composting your bio-degradable waste at home means considerably less rubbish has to be collected and transported to disposal sites plus you have the compost to use on your own garden.

* Compost bins and heaps - take garden waste and uncooked vegetable and fruit scraps from the kitchen and can produce a compost that is useful in the garden.
* Wormeries - take cooked and uncooked vegetable and fruit scraps and some small amounts of meat scraps. They produce fine compost and a liquid plant feed that when diluted with water can be used to feed pot plants and hanging baskets.
* Digesters - take all kitchen scraps and plate scraps, uncooked or cooked, including meat, fish, bones, dairy products and fruit and vegetable remains. Digesters do not produce any compost, they simply provide a way to dispose of kitchen scraps without putting them in the bin by turning them into water, carbon dioxide and nutrients.

These methods and practices contribute towards;
* lower transportation costs,
* lower use of non renewable fuel,
* less pollution,
* fewer lorries on our roads,
* less pollution from landfill site and means that our requirements for these sites will be reduced.

Autumn tips on composting:
* Problem: too many autumn leaves
Solution: Leaves take a long time to break-down and therefore add them sparingly to the compost bin or heaps. The smaller the leaves, the better they will break-down, so try to cut them up with the blades of your lawnmower before composting. Leaf mould is a fabulous, cheap and easy to create soil conditioner. Information about making leaf mould can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/soil_makeleafmould1.shtml
* Problem: too much windfall fruit
Solution: Squash the fruit to help it break-down and place it on your compost heap mixed in with dry materials such as cardboard, fallen leaves, wood chippings, lavatory rolls and tea bags to trap air and to increase decomposition in your heap.

* www.foe.co.uk/resource/factsheets/eu_landfill_directive.pdf
Please note that Household waste recycling centres will still be accepting green waste.

To find your nearest site, visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/Web/corporate/pages.nsf/Links/F95720164E975CAE80256CEE0051A53B

For information on compost bins and purchasing, please visit:
www.warwickshire.gov.uk/web/corporate/pages.nsf/(DisplayLinks)/EA6CA3867079394380257228003FF794

For tips on composting, please visit:
http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/Web/corporate/pages.nsf/Links/AC672189A70D9D3680256A4D0036A81D

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