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Home composting
About one third of household waste is kitchen and garden waste that can be composted. Home composting is an easy and effective way of putting this waste to good use, while saving you money.
Get started:
- Choose a compost bin. Compost bins come in a range of shapes and sizes and are widely available in retail outlets throughout Galway City.
- Choose a spot with easy access to your kitchen and available water. Place the bin on soil or grass (in direct contact with the ground) and in partial shade.
- To make rich compost you need a good mix of greens and browns. Greens are fresh, soft, moist materials, such as grass and food scraps. They are rich in nitrogen and help get the composting process started. Browns are dry, hard materials, such as leaves and woody material. They are rich in carbon and give body to the compost.
- Place a coarse mixture (garden cuttings, loose soil, torn up cardboard, sand etc), about 20 cm deep, in the bottom of the container. This layer allows air to circulate.
- Place approximately equal amounts of greens and browns in your compost bin, in alternate layers. The greater the variety of organic waste used in composting, the better the compost.
- Items suitable for composting include: fruit, vegetables, vegetable peelings, left over cooked foods, stale bread, coffee grinds, tea leaves, egg shells, paper, newspaper, cardboard, grass, leaves.
- Items not suitable for home composting include metal, plastic, glass, chemical products and oil. In addition, meat, bones and dairy products are not suitable for home composting.
- Please note that all food waste, including meat, bones and dairy products, are accepted in the brown bin as they will degrade in the composting facility in Carrowbrowne. They are not suitable for home composting.
- Add some soil and then mix the materials. Close the bin securely and then let nature do its work. It takes between nine and twelve months for your compost to become ready for use. Keep adding greens and browns to top up your compost.
- Remember to turn the compost heap every few weeks to circulate air and distribute moisture.
- Water is essential but the compost heap must never become too wet. As a general rule, if you take a handful of compost and squeeze it, the compost should not drip but your hand should be damp. If your compost is too wet, allow air to circulate by adding dry material, such as sawdust or old soil. If your compost is too dry, dampen with water that has been left to stand to expel any chlorine present.
- Don’t leave food scraps on top of your pile, it will only attract flies; instead put a layer of leaves or soil on top of the scraps.
- To keep odour away ensure that you keep a good mixture of greens and browns. If odour does occur, add extra brown material to your pile.
- The compost is ready when it doesn’t look like any of the things you put in it. It should be dark brown, crumbly and with no unpleasant odours. Don’t worry too much about small pieces of twigs or egg shells that haven’t fully composted, that’s completely normal and the garden itself and the worms in the soil will look after these.
Why home compost?
- the expense and pollution caused by transporting waste to a treatment facility is avoided
- vital nutrients are returned to the soil
- dependance in chemical fertilisers and pesticides which are harmful to garden wildlife and the environment is reduced
- soil structure, condition and water holding capacity is improved.