Composting at home

A home composter is the traditional shape of composter (shaped like a Dalek from Doctor Who).

They're suitable for:

• garden cuttings
• garden trimmings
• twigs
• cardboard
• raw vegetable waste from your kitchen

Follow these steps if you want to use a home composter.

You should put your compost bin in a reasonably sunny spot in your garden, on bare soil.

Choose a place where you can easily add ingredients to the bin and get the compost out. 

Make sure you have a small container available in your kitchen (like a kitchen caddy or old ice cream tub) so you can add waste into it easily.

You can fill it with many types of kitchen waste, including:

• vegetable and fruit peelings
• teabags
• toilet roll tubes
• cereal boxes
• eggshells

There are some types of kitchen waste that you shouldn't put into it though. This includes meat, fish and cooked food. This is because they can contain harmful bacteria, attract pests and cause unpleasant odors.

You can place garden waste straight into the composter too.

It takes between 9 and 12 months for your compost to become ready for use. So now all you need to do is wait and let nature do the work.

Continue adding greens and browns to top up your compost.

Once your compost has turned into a crumbly, dark material, resembling thick, moist soil, and it gives off an earthy, fresh aroma, you know it's ready to use.

Don't worry if your compost looks a little lumpy with twigs and bits of eggshell – this is perfectly normal. Use it to enrich borders and vegetable patches, plant up patio containers or feed the lawn.

You can buy a new compost bin from many places, including garden centres and DIY stores.

Buckinghamshire Council have funded offers of up to 50% off if you buy a compost bin from www.getcomposting.com. Enter your postcode to view discounts available.

You could also try looking at:

• Freegle (second-hand items for free)
• online auction sites
• local social media groups for second-hand bins

You can even try making your own compost bin.

Hot composters can compost more types of waste than a home composter. They can reach internal temperatures between 40 to 60°c, which means they can break down more types of waste, more quickly.

An example of a hot composter is this 330 litre 'Green Johanna'.

You can fill a hot composter with:

• general garden waste
• grass clippings
• cardboard
• paper
• cooked food waste
• egg shells
• mouldy bread
• fish
• meat
• chicken bones

As well as most other types of kitchen waste.

Hot composters produce compost more quickly than home composters. They can create basic compost within 1 to 2 months and high quality organic compost in 3 to 4 months.

You need to place a hot composter on soil or grass because the liquid produced during composting needs to drain out from the base (although this is only a small amount).

You should place it in partial shade or full shade.

Start off by making a base later of 10cm to 20cm of twigs and woody prunings.

Then, add 2 parts of garden waste to 1 part kitchen waste.

You can buy a new hot composter from many places, including garden centres and DIY stores.

Buckinghamshire Council have funded offers of up to 50% off if you buy a compost bin from getcomposting.com. Enter your postcode to view discounts available.

You can read a review of the 'Green Johanna' bin on Gardeners World.

Food waste digesters don't produce compost, but they're designed to feed the garden area directly around them.

They turn cooked and uncooked leftover food (including meat, fish and bones) into nutrient-rich soil conditioner that doesn't require stirring or turning.

An example of a food waste digester that we recommend is the Green Cone.

They're designed to be put in a sunny area, in a well-drained garden.

The example digester (Green Cone) is suitable for a household that includes 4 people.

The Green Cone turns its contents into water and carbon dioxide. Over 90% of the waste material in your Green Cone will be absorbed as water by the soil. 

View more information about the Green Cone including common questions in the Green Cone Handbook.

You can buy a Green Cone from www.getcomposting.com.

Buckinghamshire Council have funded offers for residents buying a Green Cone.