Easy composting for everyone, beginners included

Composting is a great way to recycle your wastes at home, and it isn’t daunting once you know the main guidelines.

The secret to success in composting is meeting four basic requirements: food, water, air, and warmth. Doing so is easier than it might sound!

Food and Water requirement

The food is compostable waste such as kitchen scraps and leafy wastes from the garden.

Your food should be balanced in two macronutrients, carbon and nitrogen. The usual term for it is the C/N ratio, and you start to run into problems if there’s too much of either one.

Kitchen scraps vary from day to day, but put together over a one week period, the total is often reasonably balanced in carbon and nitrogen. In addition, it is typically wet enough for composting. This mean everyday kitchen scraps are a convenient balanced feed, provided you have a compost bin that’s equipped to handle them.

Air and Warmth requirement

Composting can’t be done without air (oxygen) and warmth.

Traditional compost bins and tumblers must be mixed (aerated) to provide oxygen. Irregular aeration can cause the compost to become acidic, or even spoiled.

Higher temperatures also make composting go faster. Did you know an insulated compost bin keeps wastes hotter for faster composting?

Unfortunately, traditional compost systems are often uninsulated to cut manufacturing costs. The downside is slower composting at colder temperature than an insulated alternative.

Less work with the right compost bin

Traditional compost bins and tumblers are suitable for garden wastes, which require significantly less aeration than kitchen scraps.

An insulated Bioverter is better for everyday kitchen scraps. Designed to handle your scraps as the main waste input, it produces rich compost without any mixing. Perfect for beginners through to gardening pros.