Home composting requires placing a compost bin in a sunny, well-drained spot. The bin needs greens like food scraps for nitrogen and moisture, as well as browns like cardboard and leaves for carbon and structure. With the right mix of materials and ensuring air flow, the compost will break down over time due to worms, beetles and microbes. Problems can arise if the mix is too wet or dry, or if it becomes anaerobic without enough oxygen.

1. Home Composting

2. Compost Bins There are numerous types of compost bin They can all work just as well as each other

3. 3 Main Steps to Composting Step One - Placing your bin Step Two - What can go in Step Three - Making good compost

4. Step One - Placing your bin The bins are best sited on a level, well drained spot This allows excess water to drain out This allows better aeration Worms can get in easier Placing a compost bin in a partially sunny spot can help speed up the composting process

5. Step Two - What can go in? The compost bin relies on what you put in Vegetable peelings Fruit waste Tea bags Plant clippings Grass cuttings These items are considered “Greens”. These provide nitrogen and moisture to the compost heap.

6. Step Two - What can go in? What else can go in? Cardboard Egg boxes Scrunched up paper Fallen leaves These are called “Browns”. They rot a lot slower and provide fibre and carbon. This material also allows pockets of air to form.

7. What Cant go in? x No cooked food No diseased plants No animal faeces No nappies Limit the amount of leaves

8. Step Three - Making Good Compost Essential to get the right mix This means right mix of Greens and Browns If the compost mix is to wet then add more browns If its to dry then add more greens Air can be added by adding screwed up paper

9. Compost Essentials Air Water Food The items we add to the bin provide these. Air, water and food are essential in order for the materials to break down. The materials biodegrade, this means to rot down.

10. What else is in a compost bin? Worms Beetles Ants Slugs Centipede Earwigs The general rule is the more diversity of creatures in your compost bin the more quickly it will break down.

11. Worms and Beetles Q. What do they do? A. Worms eat away at the matter in the compost bin and break down the material. They also help to add air to the soil. Beetles and Flies also eat away at the matter and work together to turn this waste into compost.

12. Problems with the mix If there is not enough air in the compost bin then the waste will become anaerobic . Anaerobic means in the absence of oxygen. This is when biodegradable waste will start to produce methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas which is contributing toward climate change.

13. Composting Quiz

14. Question 1 Which of the following should not be added to a compost bin? (please select one). Plastic bottle Grass Card Paper Egg Shells

15. Question 2 Do worms need to be added to a compost bin? Yes No

16. Question 3 It requires a lot of time and expensive equipment to start composting. True False

17. Question 4 Moisture is necessary for the composting process to occur. True False

18. Question 5 Anaerobic means in the absence of oxygen. True False

19. Question 6 Can leaves be put into a compost bin? Yes No

20. Question 7 Please select which items are examples of what we call “ Green” materials. Grass Sticks Vegetable peelings

21. Question 8 Please select which items are examples of “Brown” materials. Twigs Fruit peelings Paper

22. Question 9 Please select which of the following is essential for successful composting. Air Moisture Food

23. Thank you for listening