Home composting is a great way to turn your grass cuttings, peelings and toilet roll tubes into wonderful nutritious compost to use on flower beds and vegetable patches. Islington Council collects green waste from street properties but composting at home is more environmentally friendly and cost effective.
Did you know that compost is known as “black gold”? Here are just a few reasons why:
Composting is a natural process of recycling organic matter, grass cuttings, leaves and food scraps into a fertiliser that can enrich soil and plants. During composting, microorganisms from the soil eat the waste and break it down into small parts. For step-by-step tips about how to set up, produce and use your compost, visit Recycling Now.
The key is to keep the balance of organic matter between green and brown (dry leaves, small twigs, egg/cereal boxes). If your compost is too wet, add more brown matter. If it is too dry add more green. Learn how to get the right balance when making your own compost.
Wormeries are a great way of composting cooked and uncooked food waste. A wormery is your own worm farm in a bin. The worms live and breed happily amongst the food waste converting it into rich dark compost and a liquid plant feed. Islington Council offers a subsidy for the purchase of wormeries from Get Composting. Wormeries are successful when they are set up and maintained correctly.
Visit the Get Composting website to find out about the subsidised prices of compost bins for Islington residents. However, you don’t need to buy a bin to start composting – you can make a compost heap or your own compost bin.
When it is dark brown and smells earthy and has a crumbly texture it is ready to use. If there are any large twigs and eggshells mixed in simply sift them out and return them to the compost bin.
How to use homemade compost:
If you don’t have your own garden, there may be a food growing area on your estate. If you want to set up community composting on your estate, contact recycling@islington.gov.uk.
If you have garden waste you could consider subscribing to the garden waste recycling in the borough.