Approximately 40 per cent of household garbage is organic (such as food waste).
Composting that waste is an excellent way to dispose of unwanted materials and cut down on the amount of waste for curbside collection.
Composting food and yard waste also creates an excellent, economical soil conditioner.
Composting requires organic material, moisture, air and soil organisms.
Organic material includes both green wastes (such as vegetable clippings) which are high in nitrogen and brown wastes (such as twigs and leaves) which are high in carbon. There also a number of items which you should avoid putting in your composter.
Nitrogen and carbon are the fuels which drive the tiny organisms that break the organic material down into usable compost.
Simply follow these steps to launch your own backyard composting program:
Depending on the size of the compost pile and the nature of the materials you have mixed in, the composting process will take from four to six months. When the compost is ready it will be dark and crumbly. You can screen the finished compost to remove any coarse or poorly decomposed materials.