Composting is a great way to reduce the amount of rubbish in your bins when it comes around to kerbside collections. We all know that we need to do our bit, especially in reducing what goes to landfill. Getting a compost bin in your garden is a great first step in significantly reducing waste.
Sheffield City Council do not offer free compost bins to residents, but they do have a partnership with GetComposting, an initiative to reduce waste destined for landfill. Sheffield residents can reduce food waste to help the planet by reducing emissions created by rotting food in landfill sites.
How Much Does A Compost Bin Cost?
Compost bins can vary considerably in price, but at the cheap end you should be able to get one for approximately £30 including delivery through the Get Composting scheme promoted by Veolia and Sheffield City Council. While it’s not free, it could save you a few trips to the tip so could easily pay for itself over time in fuel savings (not to mention being a time saver).
How Do You Make An Inexpensive Compost Bin?
If you don’t want to buy a bin, there are alternatives!
You can make your own compost bin, but it’s not likely to save you much money if that’s your motivation. Unless you happen to have all the materials already, most DIY compost bins tend to be wooden, so you’ll need to buy the materials.
As you can pick up a strong, moulded plastic compost bin for around the £30 mark, the chances are building your own will only appeal to woodwork enthusiasts. If you’d still like to have a go, there are plenty of videos on YouTube to guide you.
Here’s a great example:
If you’re more of a reader, check out Ted’s Woodworking Plans. It contains 16,000 individual plans for building with wood, including a compost bin. It’s not free, but isn’t too expensive either. Don’t worry about the price being in US dollars initially, you can pay in pounds sterling at checkout.
Where Is The Best Place To Site A Compost Bin?
A lot of people hear about the heat generated in compost and make the assumption that their bin needs to be placed somewhere that it gets plenty of sun. It’s fine to be in the sun, but is by no means necessary. The heat generated comes from the microbes feeding on the waste.
One potential downside of too much sun is the compost is in danger of drying out, and your compost will mature more quickly when moist. Too dry or too wet can slow down the decomposition of the contents of your bin.
In terms of surfaces, if possible place your bin on soil, or if you need to place it on concrete, line the bottom of a bin with soil. Ideally in the latter case, use a bin with a base – many are designed to sit directly on the soil bottomless.
How Often Should You Turn A Compost Pile?
Compost needs air to break down properly, otherwise you get many of the same downsides to landfill. These include the release of methane, and generally the contents of your bin can break down much more slowly.
It’s good practice to turn the compost every few days. A good rule of thumb is twice a week. Some composters are mounted on spindles, to make turning really easy, but they do tend to be quite small. Good sized compost bins are too big to build this way – especially if they’re to be kept to a sensible price.
Just make sure to sift up the contents of the bin well, it doesn’t actually need to be turned – you’re just trying to get air into the pile. Note at the same time if the compost mix appears to be drying out – if so, add a bucket of water to the top to soak down.
Do Compost Bins Attract Rats?
Some people have problems with rats visiting their compost – after all it’s a nutritious source of food for them and tend to be quite warm too. While it’s hardly a human’s idea of a comfortable place to visit, to a rat it offers literally the creature comforts they’re looking for.
To reduce the chance of attracting vermin, locate your bin away from areas that provide natural shelter to the animals, like hedgerows, bushes and other places they can easily hide. Simply leaving a border of a foot around the bin will mean you can walk around it and prevent the rats feeling like they’re out of sight when humans are around.
Can You Put Cooked Food In Your Compost?
Cooked food theoretically can be composted although that could increase the chance of the rats we just discussed coming to visit. Similarly, flies can be attracted to cooked items – especially meats. It’s advisable for these reasons to leave composting for raw foods like peelings.
Can Banana Peels Go In Compost?
Just like veg peelings, banana skins make a great ingredient for compost. They break down well over time, and also provide a nutrient rich contribution to the compost at the other end of the process.
Are Eggshells Good For Compost?
Eggshells offer a really important contribution to compost – calcium and protein in particular.
The proteins come from the collagen in the shell’s membrane with the egg. Sometimes you might find that the film comes away (like when you peel a hard boiled egg – but often it remains attached to the inside of the shell.
Calcium, on the other hand makes up a significant chunk of the make up of the egg shell – approximately 40%. That means that just over half of egg shells going into your compost directly provide calcium to the pile.
Is Urine Good For Compost?
For years we’ve been hearing about urine being put into compost, and many people are quite squeamish and think it’s an old wives tale. Actually, there is truth in the benefits of having a bit of wee in the compost pile, however wait a moment before you get watering!
The reason urine helps is it contains a lot of nitrogen, also referring to as an activator in compost. In other words, it helps the microbes to do their thing and get to work breaking everything that’s in the bin down.
Nitrogen however also comes in food peelings, and in fact all sorts of tidbits of waste food you might toss in. Composting is all about balance, and for nitrogen to be useful it’s important that it’s not overdone.
If you tend to have a lot of carbon based waste in your compost – think plant leaves (and even paper and card), extra nitrogen might well be something that can help – so in that case, pee away!
Can Dog Poo Go In Compost?
Plenty of dog owners seem to compost their pet poops, but it’s not something I’d advise. It’s probably accurate to say that there are parts of dog mess that are great in compost, but it’s also true to say there are some fairly nasty bacteria in there too, and some of them can be very damaging to humans.
It’s not a good idea to be encouraging harmful bacteria to grow in your garden bins, so it’s best avoided in compost. Just remember to put dog poop in the correct bin.
What Will Make Compost Break Down Faster?
A common compost question is whether there’s anything you can do to speed the process up. It’s a natural decomposition, but not all composts are created equal. Composting speeds are all about what’s in the bin, and the environmental conditions.
At an absolutely basic level, there are three elements that will make the contents of your bin turn to compost as quickly as possible.
- Moisture
Make sure the compost is damp-to-wet. Drying out means your bin contents can’t break down, too wet and the microbial chemical reactions can’t happen. Too wet tends to happen if too much rain falls into a bin that’s not covered, too dry happens with too much external heat. If you need to add water, do so gradually over time. - Heat
Heat comes from the microbes in the compost, which create the warmth as a by product of what you put into the bin breaking down. It’s not necessarily (although obviously can be) contributed to by the sun directly shining on the bin or compost heap. - Air
Good air content in the bin is important as the microbial breakdown is an aerobic process. If the contents of your bin are too compacted, or there’s simply not enough fresh air in the bin (for example it hasn’t been opened and turned for many days) then the process can become anaerobic, which will produce methane instead, which is a greenhouse gas.
Sheffield residents with gardens can help to do their bit for the environment by getting a cheap compost bin in their garden, and reducing the about of waste in their wheelie bins.
While compost bins aren’t free from the council, they are very affordable, and create nutritious compost for use in the garden later in the year.
