Home Composting
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Home composters at discounted prices
Using a composter means that you can help stop thousands of tonnes of kitchen and garden waste going to landfill and turn it into useful soil conditioner for your own garden instead.
If you want to give composting a try it couldn’t be easier as residents can buy reduced price composters. Reduced price wormeries, bokashi systems and water butts are also available.
Site the composter either directly on the soil or on hard standing such as bricks, paving slabs or concrete and then start putting the compostable items listed below in it. The composter will work quickest if it is in full sun and you turn the contents periodically with a garden fork, however this is not essential.
Composting in Rushcliffe
Home composting has been practiced for many years, and provides a dark, soil-like substance that is used to enrich garden soil and nourish houseplants. Every bit of household waste that is composted reduces the need for landfills and means less of our waste has to be incinerated, making our environment greener and cleaner.
Rushcliffe residents have over 13,000 compost bins, which have helped in keeping waste tonnages in the Borough comparatively low. All residents should consider composting biodegradable waste at home. However we know our grey bin collection is required to remove many items from the waste disposal stream effectively.
Green organic garden waste is one of the main biodegradable elements of the waste stream and as it decomposes in landfill, it releases gases (carbon dioxide and methane) and leachate (liquid mix of heavy metals and chemicals), which can cause air and ground water pollution.
The green garden waste collected from the kerbside is taken to on-farm sites at Stragglethorpe and Oxton, where it is placed into open windrows for composting. The end product is used as a soil conditioner.
Information and helpful hints on home composting.
The Green Johanna
The Green Johanna Food Waste Digester and Composter produces rich compost for use in the garden from all cooked and uncooked food waste mixed with organic garden waste, so it’s a garden compost bin with a difference.
A hot composter, The Green Johanna allows you to compost all your waste food, this includes bones, bread, dairy, eggshell, fish, fruit, meat, soup and vegetables can all be used and composted, as well as coffee filters, teabags, shredded papers, egg cartons, wilted flowers and dead pot plants.
The Green Johanna makes compost all the year round. No matter how cold the outside temperature is, it makes compost 12 months a year thanks to its special shape and the winter jacket.
Green Johanna produces the finest quality compost. The final product is fully broken down and appears as a moist, nutrient-rich soil, the ultimate treat for your favourite garden plants.
Green Johanna features adjustable ventilation, with the lockable lid the variations in compost temperature and quality can easily be adjusted and controlled. It’s also easy to empty, unlike most compost systems which must be emptied by dismantling or digging from the top, the Green Johanna allows you to draw only the completed compost from the bottom without disturbing the process that is continuing above. For further information and to buy at a discounted price, see Great Green Systems for more information.
How it works
Install the Green Johanna in a shady, sheltered spot and fuel with a few centimetres of garden waste. Then add two layers of food waste for every layer of garden waste. To ensure food waste recycling all year round, it’s important to layer garden and household waste properly. The best combination is one part garden waste (or soil, planing shavings, sawdust) to two parts kitchen scraps. Layers of one substance should never be too thick. Don't forget to scatter and mix the material as finely as possible, as this helps to speed up the process.
You can dress your Green Johanna in a winter jacket (purchased separately) once the average outdoor temperature drops below 5°C.