Compost your food waste

Composting at home for one year can save global warming gases equivalent to all the CO2 your kettle produces over the same time.

The benefits of composting at home:

• Saves energy and avoids carbon emissions from making fertilisers. It also reduces climate impacts by capturing and storing carbon in soil.
• Produces a free, fertiliser that supports soil health by improving soil structure and increasing soil fertility.
• Reduces the need to buy commercial compost which can cause habitat destruction in its production.
• Saves your local council money through having reduced waste to collect and dispose of so your council tax can be spent on other services.

Not only does composting at home create free fertiliser to use in your garden, it also benefits biodiversity by:

• Providing a habitat for lots of creatures including worms, mites, and millions of microscopic bacteria
• It's a vital living ecosystem that sustains wildlife and plants, especially useful if you're planning to grow your own food.

Depending on what type of compost bin you have will depend on what type of organic matter you can process, and how quickly it will decompose and be ready for use. The most popular home composting method for householders is home composting in an open-bottomed container.

Home compost bins can deal with softer garden waste, some (uncoated) paper and cardboard and some food waste e.g. fruit and vegetable peelings. You should aim for a 50:50 mix of green nitrogen rich ingredients (e.g. grass cuttings, fruit and vegetable peelings) and brown carbon-rich ingredients (e.g. egg boxes, newspapers, woody prunings). Wormeries, small digesters, and bokashi deal solely with food waste.