Tips When Recycling Waste Via Compost Pile

One of the great things about organic waste is that with enough time and the right conditions it will decompose. But that should not be construed to mean that you can toss any kind of organic material onto your compost pile.

But recycling your yard waste via composting is a great way to go. You can take your lawn clippings, leaves, hedge trimmings and any plant trimmings that are "non-woody" and add them to your compost heap. You can even add the wood items if you first make sure they are chopped into very small pieces.

In most backyard composting, the largest single contributor is the huge amount of leaves that rain down each autumn season. In addition, grass clippings can be added to it if they are not mulched and left to nurture the lawn itself. When lawn clippings are used in the compost mix they should be used together with other yard waste elements.

If you have a supply of wood items such as small logs, branches or twigs, then you will need to have them chopped or ground up if they are more than a quarter inch in diameter. If you just have a few of these larger wood items you want to put in your compost pile, then you can also use a corn knife to cut them down to a size that will decompose easily.

Many types of kitchen waste items are also appropriate to be included in a compost pile. Fruit rinds, vegetable peelings and scraps, coffee grounds and eggshells that have been crushed are all perfectly acceptable to use in composting and this is a very effective way to recycle these kinds of materials.

There are some organic materials that need to be avoided and which should not be added because of potential health hazards or nuisances that can be created. No type of pet feces should be included in a compost heap because of potential diseases that can be transmitted. Any kind of meat, whole eggs, dairy products and grease should also be excluded because they will attract rodents and other vermin.

In most instances, diseased organisms that are common to plants and weed seeds are destroyed through the process of composting, as long as these components are in the center of the heap and the temperature in the center reaches at least 140 degree F. But, experts caution that it is difficult to assure that such waste will be brought to the center during the composting process. As a result, putting large amounts of diseased plants or weeds with seeds into your compost heap could end up causing problems and should be avoided.

A good compost pile needs a balance of materials that will enhance the decomposition process. In general, keeping the mix to a ration of about one-to-one of brown material with green material works well.

Brown material includes items such as manure, decaying leaves, and newspaper and cardboard. Green material would include the hedge and grass clippings, coffee grounds, and fruit and vegetable peelings.

It is a good idea to keep the compost pile contained in a structure of some kind. This not only helps speed up the decomposition process, but it also minimizes the space needed. You can pick up composter bins at most local garden stores and these are a very good way to help you manage your composting while also helping to keep your backyard looking clean and tidy.

Mike Selvon

A free audio gift awaits you at our portal site, where you can enrich your knowledge further about the compost pile recycling of waste. Your comment is much appreciated at our recycling blog.

Organic Gardening - How to Build an Aerobic Compost Pile

Creating your own aerobic compost is easy to do if you are willing to put the time into it. It is more labor intensive than and anaerobic compost, but the benefits are greater. Turning the pile is a key part in producing a rich humus material that is full nutrients that will have your crops thriving.

To start out you will need the proper carbon to nitrogen ratio of the organic material that you are going to compost. This ratio needs to be as close as you can get it to 30:1, C/N. It is what is going to keep the pile cooking or hot. This is going to take a little time to learn if you have never composted before. All materials are different to some extent.

Once you have started building your pile in the layers of carbon and nitrogen material you will need to add moisture by lightly sprinkling water over the pile, you can cover it with a tarp. This will allow the heat to stay in the pile and start to cook faster. A god tool to have when hot composting is a compost thermometer, keeping the temperature at or near 160 degrees Fahrenheit is very important. After a couple of days have past you should check to see if the pile is heating up, you should be able to feel the heat if you dig into the pile and feel the material. If you start to feel the heat in the material at this point then the pile is starting to cook and in about a week the temperature should be up around 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once a few more days go by you will most likely see a drop in temperature. This is due from the organisms depleting the air source in the pile and at this time you will need to turn the pile and add more moisture, this will replenish the air for these organisms to keep reproducing. Recover the pile once you have finished this step to keep the heat in the pile. Your pile at this point should heat up faster than when you first started the pile, due to the fact there were already a lot or organisms in the material. Keep repeating this step once a week and when turning the pile you want to get the material that is along the outside edges of the pile worked into it so it will start decomposing.

Once the organic materials have composted you will notice a drop in the temperature. This means that it is near completion. After the cooking process has finished and the rich humus material has cooled a new life form will start to move in and continue working the pile, the most common one know to the home gardener is the earthworm.

Now your compost is ready to be used in the garden to benefit your gardens soil structure and plants.

A environment friendly and healthy way of gardening. Organic Gardening is away of gardening in harmony with nature. Growing a healthy and productive crop in a way that is healthier for both you and the environment.

John Yazo

How to Make a Compost Pile

One of the most obvious ways of garden recycling is to compost all your garden waste. Or at the very least, compost all the waste which is simple to compost! While you're at it you could also recycle all (or very nearly all) your kitchen waste too.

But for those new 'Garden Composters' who have not composted before can get bogged down in all the technicalities of how to make a compost pile. Do you need a commercial compost bin or is a homemade item as good?

Making compost at home really is a straightforward affair. You just need a little space and the time to set up your garden composting system. Once you've got it, its yours forever, so set aside one weekend and make yourself a compost pile to be proud of!

Whether you use a commercial plastic compost bin, wooden beehive compost bin, a box made yourself or indeed leave an area with no borders at all and simply create a compost heap on the ground, is not the important bit. All ways will work providing you know how to make the actual compost pile, not the surround for it.

The main thing to remember is that locating the compost pile on open ground will speed up the whole process of decomposition. All the microbes and organisms which carry out the work of the compost heap will be in your garden soil already. So siting the pile on that soil, allows the necessary organisms to access the compost quickly and easily. Later on, when the pile has decomposed to a degree, and cooled, the worms from your garden soil will be able to get into the heap easily and finish off the fine tuning of the heap, creating a fine, crumbly mass of hummus for free.

The second thing to remember is that your compost pile needs to be a layered affair. Put huge masses of one type of thing in it, and you're likely to find those huge masses still there when you want to use the compost. Layer your additions to the heap and organisms can work through it all easily. Different additions will provide different nutrients and texture to the heap. Mix them all up and the resulting hummus will have all those different nutrients, mixtures of textures and water retaining capabilities throughout.

So when you make your compost pile, make sure you add small amounts of everything in layers. So if you're adding some vegetable peelings today, follow them with some grass clippings, then some poultry bedding, then some shredded card. If you don't certain things will compact and ferment rather than breaking down. Grass clippings are often the main culprit, creating a huge swathe of slime within the heap!

So when thinking about how to make a compost pile, just make sure you site the pile on earth, and always add ingredients in layers.

Lec Watkins

The author writes in more detail about garden compost and garden recycling at Garden Composter.

Home Composting - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I hope you found my last article on composting informative but there were a few things I didn't go through last time that I would like to touch base on now. You found out last time that there are basic needs that you need to give for a compost to be productive. Those basic needs are air, food, and water. Now that we have the basics down, and we know how to properly deliver these basics I will now get a little more in depth into what you should and shouldn't put into your compost.

Let's start off with what you shouldn't put in your compost bin. This is an area I really could have used some more knowledge in my first time using a fresh batch of compost in my garden.

1. Any wood product that has been chemically treated (pressure treated lumber) should be left out of your compost. When the wood or sawdust from these types of wood get broken down the chemicals that were used to treat the wood leach into the compost and will ruin the garden or plants that you use the compost in.
2. Diseased plants may infect your garden if the compost was not hot enough to kill off all of the disease. So unless you want to play Russian roulette with next year's garden I would stay away from composting diseased plants.
3. Human and pet waste should never be used in a compost by a back yard gardener. Although possible to effectively compost these materials you take the risk of your pile not being hot enough to kill off all of the diseases that are carried in the waste. There are people who do this type of composting but they are well trained in hot composts and know the temperature and time it takes to safely decompose this type of matter. For the back yard enthusiast I would recommend staying away.
4. Fatty foods and meat waste (including bones) should be left out as well. They will take forever to break down and the local rats and mice may make your compost their new watering hole. If you want to still use these materials you can bury them in your 8" deep in your garden. This will make sure the little vermin can't smell and then get at your leftovers.
5. Pernicious weeds can be a particular pest to compost because even if you chop them up really well these types of weeds will still be able to sprout new roots while in the compost. But there is a way. After weeding leave the uprooted weeds in a pile in the direct sunlight for a couple weeks until they are nice and brown. Then they are safe.

Remember how I said I could have used some of this info in my first compost bin. I found out #5 the hard way. I chopped up a few morning glories into my first compost and the next season I was pulling dozens of them out of my garden where there was none before.

The next thing to learn is what you should put in your compost.

1. Grass is a good material to put in your compost but I have always found it easier to leave it on the ground to help the lawn. But if you decide to use them in your compost make sure to add your grass in thin layers, and mix thoroughly to avoid a slimy layer that will not want to break down.
2. If you want a great material to put in your compost bin, kitchen waste is the way to go. Form fruits and vegetable leftovers, to tea and coffee grounds, this stuff is great to compost. One thing to consider is to make sure your compost bin is secure so this type of waste does not attract the local vermin population like meat products would. Although this type of kitchen waste will break down a lot faster than the meat products will it may still be tempting for a mouse or rat so you may want to think about a bin with a secure top. Avoid milk products as well since this also is a big lure for rats and mice.
3. Leaves can be a great source of material for your compost. Just to think people just rake up and throw away this stuff. If you are feeling energetic why not rake up the neighbor's lawn too. Think of all the point around the block you could earn with your neighbors. Like grass leaves should be mixed in well to avoid clumping up and turning into a big mat in the middle of your bin.
4. Hay and Straw will make an ideal "Brown" ingredient to your mix. Not only will they supply a good nitrogen source for all the little microbes to feast on but they also help your pile from packing down and not allowing enough air to the center of the pile. Remember when you have a "Brown" ingredient in your pile you will also need "green" ingredients (grass, fruits and vegetables) to make the decomposition go quickly.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article on the materials best suited for your compost bin. I will be writing one more article on composting to go along with this and my last one so I hope you will come back soon to check it out.

Hi my name is Doug and I live in the Okanagan Valley in British Colombia BC. I have spent most of my life working my way through various different career paths that has helped me develop a diverse knowledge base to which I write on. For more on gardening and more for your home and health needs go to http://homeandhealthmishmash.blogspot.com/

Douglas_Hill

Home Composting - Time to Get Creative

Hi again, I have now taken you through the in's and out's of building your first compost. Or have I. There is a lot you can know when it comes to compost. My goal is not to make you an authority on the subject, but to give you the knowledge to grow and use your compost in the most effective way possible.

Let us start with temperature. Some people feel the need to keep their compost in a hot (sunshine) location. They say the heat speeds up the digestion by the microbes in the compost pile. This is not necessarily true. Although good composts will be slightly warm to the touch it is not from the sunshine it will receive but from the collective body heat from the billions of microbes digesting your compost. Not to say you cannot put it in the sun but you will have to make sure you have a sufficient size of a pile to keep all those microbes busy.

If you go this route a pile in the size range of one cubic meter will be needed (roughly 3feet X 3feet X3feet). You don't want these guys to run out of material to eat and die off so this is why I suggest keeping the pile in a cool place. Most people don't generate that much yard and kitchen waste to keep a pile this big going strong so just use a nice small one that is well taken care of and you will be just fine.

How to tell if your compost is done is not an exact science. It really does not matter for a garden if you can still decipher what some of the small bits are. Any remaining material that is not decomposed will be finished off when you add your compost to the garden, but when it comes to starting seeds you want to make sure your compost is "well done".

There are huge benefits to adding compost to your garden. The best part is no matter what soil type you have it can be helped by adding compost. For sandier soils it aids in water retention by adding organic material to the mix. Or for Clay soils it makes the soil more porous so the water can drain a little quicker so you don't wind up with a layer of concrete on top of your garden.

One other point I want to bring up is that all of your composting does not have to be done in a bin. When you get a lot of material all at once (cutting a large lawn or autumn leaves), you can till them into your garden to allow it to break down there. Or you can bury your kitchen waste in a trench in the garden at least 8" deep so your kitchen waste can decompose right where the plants will be planted next season. If you were to go with either of these routes make sure to do this in the late fall or at least two months before you plant to make sure the material is broken down enough.

I would have to say the best part of composting is the various ways to which you can use it. There are the obvious ways of taking your compost and mixing it in with your soil in your garden to improve your plant growth in the next season, or when used as a topper that will be slowly incorporated into the soil. Then there are a couple of other ways to use it that are my favorites. You can actually use your compost as mulch. Unlike using it as a topper as I mentioned above mulch is meant to cover the entire area of soil around the plants instead of just a dressing around the plant. This will add nutrients to all the soil in the area instead of just at the plant. My favourite way to use my mulch is to make a tea out of it. All you have to do is make a 50/50 mix of compost and water and let it sit for a week. After that drain the water in to another container and use it for a boost of nutrients to sick plants. The leftover compost mush at the bottom can be thrown into the garden as mulch. Tea can also be used on young seedlings but I recommend you dilute it well first to avoid damaging the seeds.

The last thing for me to talk about is the types of compost systems out there. You can by one or build one it all depends on how much compost you want to make and how much you want to spend. Or you could go without any bins and just make your compost on the ground. I just caution you if you choose to build your own bin to make sure you do not use treated lumber. The chemicals can leach into your compost and later contaminate your garden.

In whatever system you use there will be advantages and disadvantages. Although these differences between many of these bins are usually just ease of use and aesthetic the compost you will get from most of them will be fairly comparable.

Hi my name is Doug and I live in the Okanagan Valley in British Colombia BC. I have spent most of my life working my way through various different career paths that has helped me develop a diverse knowledge base to which I write on. For more on gardening and more for your home and health needs go to http://homeandhealthmishmash.blogspot.com/

Douglas Hill

Garden Composting - A Guide For Beginners

Compost is a natural fertilizer that gives you a healthy soil which is full of nutrients. Expensive and often harmful fertilizers are unnecessary - compost is the most effective and eco-friendly way to achieve a beautiful garden.

Composting is ever more popular and has numerous environmental benefits. So don't be tempted when faced with the shiny pre-bagged variety at the garden centre. Take a look through our information and tips to learn why you should do it and all you need for fool-proof compost.

What is Compost?

Compost is the natural result of the biodegradation of organic matter by micro-organisms (bacteria, yeasts and fungi), worms and invertebrates. In soil science, this rich, dark and sweet-smelling product is called humus. And you can use it on your lawn, in your plant beds, in houseplants or as a potting and seed starting mix.

Why make Compost?

There are many benefits to making compost. It is not surprising that gardeners name it black gold.

• It's free - reuse waste and save money
• It saves waste disposal costs - with increasing restrictions and rising council taxes
• It helps the environment. Your waste need not be transported to landfill sites - in fact it's 100% environmentally friendly - it doesn't pollute in any way
• It makes great, healthy soil - recycling nutrients and improving structure
• It's a natural fertilizer - saving money on chemical fertilizers
• It helps to retain soil moisture
• It also improves drainage with even water retention
• It increases worm activity which is invaluable for gardens
• It breaks up clay soil

What should go into your Composter?

You can divide the two types of waste that should go into your compost into 'greens' and 'browns'. 'Greens' are quick to rot and provide essential nitrogen and moisture. 'Browns' are slower to rot, provide carbon and fibre, and allow the formation of air pockets. For the perfect balance, aim for approximately 2 parts 'Green' to 1 part 'Brown' in weight, with only small amounts of items listed under 'What not to add'.

What to add to your compost bin

Greens

• Food scraps such as vegetable peelings, fruit scraps and tea and coffee grounds
• Garden refuse such as grass clippings and weeds
• Herbivore droppings such as those of guinea pigs and rabbits
• Rotted manure
• Urine - preferably diluted with water

Browns

• Cardboard and paper such as egg boxes and newspapers
• Fallen leaves
• Sawdust
• Straw
• Twigs, branches and bark

Other ingredients

• Hair is slow to decompose but a good source of nitrogen
• Egg shells - these will not decompose in the bin but will add valuable minerals
• Natural fibres such as 100% wool or cotton

What not to add

• Weeds with seeds or pernicious weeds
• Diseased plants
• Thick branches
• Disposable nappies
• Meat and fish
• Cooked food
• Grease
• Dairy products
• Bones
• Coal and coke ash
• Dog droppings and cat litter

How to make compost

The key to perfect compost is a good balance of 'Greens' and 'Browns'. Plan your kitchen storage facilities to make sure your valuable leftovers are not wasted: for example using our ergonomic kitchen caddy.

After adding your products, it really is as simple as leaving it to itself: the breakdown is a natural process so just keep adding until the bin is full and settled. To make this as quick as possible make sure all paper and cardboard is shredded or broken up. With this method your compost will take 6 to 18 months. If you want to speed the process up, then turn the material each week and make sure your bin is placed in the sun. Once your compost is dark brown, crumbly, thick and moist, and also producing a sweet, earthy aroma, it is ready to use.

The Compost Bin

With their green color blending into garden aesthetics and their robust structure with a lid to protect the contents from the elements and help insulate - compost bins are designed to help the composting process along its way. And you will not need to use external agents such as bio-liquids and powders to operate a modern and good quality compost bin. They come in various sizes so don't just buy the largest; choose one that fits the size of your garden. A wide opening also makes adding and removing compost easy.

See the compost bins in our range.

Edwin Lloyd

Edwin Lloyd is the Managing Director of My Greener Home, a UK based website offering a wide range of products to cut your household bills. If you are seeing your gas, electricity, water or food bills rising then come to My Greener Home and we can help you push them back down again. With products ranging from energy saving bulbs through to water butts, My Greener Home will have something to make your home cheaper to run.

The Composting Process And Vegetable Gardening

Biological gardening is gaining ground and for good reasons. It environmental friendly and if you are growing your own vegetables you are sure they are healthy.

The composting process is a very good way to enhance the structure of your gardens soil. To learn more about this useful process just read on

During the composting process, the raw materials that are used are compacted, dehydrated, and re-hydrated to create mulch that will enhance the fertilizer you are already using.

The materials for the compost are all natural, so you can use scraps of food that have not been eaten, fish heads, and debris from your yard or neighborhood in order to create a soil that is gentle on the environment--and your food.

Many people choose this method because it allows them to grow organic crops without having to pay the additional price for organic groceries in a supermarket.

The materials for compost are usually dried leaves and twigs, along with vegetable food wastes. These materials are placed in a container with sufficient ventilation and allowed to decompose in order to create lush, healthy soil that your vegetables and fruits will grow well in.

You may also want to consider worm composting, which can make the soil richer in some cases. You'll need to know which kinds of worms are best to use, and what to feed the worms during the process.

You'll also have to find out which composter you want to use for the process. The size of the device will determine how much material you can store in the container at one time. Deciding whether or not you want a system that gives you compost in batches or not is also a consideration.

Some composters are continuously decomposing the waste you put inside of them, which means you'll always have soil for your plants and garden.

Anyone can participate in the composting process; all you'll need is a container (you can use an old garbage can or wooden crate) and the materials mentioned above.

You can also take gardening classes and get special tips from sites like www.pike.com, or you can visit a Pike Nursery in your area to learn more about the composting process. You can also check out classes at the Home Depot and Lowe's to find out how to give your garden the extra boost it needs to produce all the fresh fruits and vegetables that your family needs in order to be healthy and happy.

To learn more about the benefits of composting, visit www.epa.gov.

Hans Dekker

The Five Point Plan For Successful Composting

Making your own compost is not only easy and exciting but should also be considered as valuable 'brown gold'. But why do so many gardeners have problems producing the 'brown gold'? Problems usually occur when too much wet or dry material has been added or more likely insufficient variety of raw material.

But making good quality compost is not difficult providing you follow the five simple rules. Follow these five simple rules and you too can produce your very own 'brown gold' home made compost.

Rule # 1: Well for starters, good compost requires a good mixture of raw material, air and water.
Rule # 2: Do not allow compost heap become too dry or too wet, so introduce some air into the composter by turning contents regularly with garden fork at least once per month.
Rule # 3: To keep vermin and flies away, avoid putting any cooked food or meats onto the compost heap.
Rule # 4: To prevent any nasty odours, do not add large amounts of grass cuttings, which with high water content can cause a slimy mess.
Rule # 5: Avoid the risk of spreading any weed seed by disposing of all weeds separately.

Remember good raw material will include all round mix of high nitrogen (grass, plants, and vegetable cuttings) and high carbon (dried leaves, hedge clippings) ingredients in your composter. Moisture stimulates bacterial activity which produces the 'brown gold'.

The process from start to finish can take 3-6 months to complete and it is a good idea to have two composting units running in parallel, one very advanced and one at early stage.

Owen_Chubb

A Look at Composting

Composting is generally recycling, that is to reuse and recycle what earth has bestowed to us. It is about the love for our environment and ensuring those future generations will continue to reap the rewards that we are bestowed with.

Compost is basically an organic product that helps to fertilize our soil, to allow it to have the nutrients and minerals to nurture. There are fundamentally two types of compost, the greens and the browns. The greens are loaded in nitrogen and protein while the browns include high amount of carbon or carbohydrates.

We can each do our duties by contributing to composting as composting involves materials from nature that are recycled. Among them are vegetables, animal manure, grass, dried leaves, sawdust, etc. Those can be utilized for the sole aim of gardening especially if you are into organic gardening unlike the wider term of recycling, which comprise synthetic materials. With compost, it gives rise to healthy plant and in turn healthy produce.

Organic food has becomes popular as more people found it to be beneficial to health and besides that, now you have organic soap, organic tissue, cloth and many more. The trend is towards causes that help Mother Earth or our selfish and careless ways, if left uncheck will lead to the gradual destruction of our only dwelling.

We need to have a deeper appreciation of the process of decomposing, which entails wastes or the remains of plant. Compost is full of minerals and can be use as a substitute for garden soils. Compost can be created without much difficulty as practically all organic materials can be turned into compost and it is relatively easy to use as well.

Composting can be messy and troublesome to some of us as it is smelly but there are many reasons why we should get ourselves into composting. Firstly, all the materials are readily available as well as give all the nutrients and minerals that the plant need. In addition, compost can help to check soil erosion by improving water retention. For a farmer, it is handy to prevent pests on top of the suppression of diseases.

Environmentalist and conservationists celebrate as compost reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. These are adequate reasons for those who care about mother earth to put in time and effort in composting. Composting is the organic part of recycling, as with the 3 R's of recycling, to reuse, recycle and reduce, the future generation that inhabits mother earth will appreciate your concern and effort.

Jason Jhyiong

Composting A Natural Life Cycle

Composting Cycle

In the soft, warm bosom of a decaying compost heap, a transformation from life to death and back again is taking place. Life is leaving the living plants of yesterday, but in their death these leaves and stalks pass on their vitality to the coming generations of future seasons. Here in a dank and moldy pile the wheel of life is turning.

Compost is more than a fertilizer or a healing agent for the soil's wounds. It is a symbol of continuing life. Nature herself made compost before man first walked the earth and before the first dinosaur reared its head above a primeval swamp. Leaves falling to the forest floor and slowly moldering are composting. The dead grass of the meadow seared by winter's frost is being composted by the dampness of the earth beneath. Birds, insects and animals contribute their bodies to this vast and continuing soil rebuilding program of nature.

Compost Heap

The compost heap in your garden is an intensified version of this process of death and rebuilding which is going on almost everywhere in nature. In the course of running a garden there is always an accumulation of organic wastes of different sorts-leaves, grass clippings, weeds, twigs-and since time immemorial gardeners have been accumulating this material in piles, eventually to spread it back on the soil as rich, dark humus.

In many parts of the world today, composting is practiced just as it was hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Farmers and householders in the less industrialized regions of Asia, Africa and Europe have no source of commercial fertilizer, and consequently make rough compost piles of cattle manure, garbage, human wastes, straw, and weeds. These piles decay into humus, which is then used as a soil conditioner for the kitchen garden and farm fields. Such compost is not very rich in plant nutrients, but it is a manageable form of humus that maintains the tilth and general condition of soil that has been used for generations.

Composting Methods

Garden waste material can be converted in many ways into a black, fragrant, crumbly, partially decomposed organic residue called compost.

In all composting your objective is to arrange organic waste material in such a way that soil bacteria and fungi can thrive and multiply as they break it down. The bacteria are the converters of the raw material and they must have a workable environment. They need moisture, air and food.

Basic method

Make the compost with a mixture of green and dry materials. Grass clippings, green weeds, lettuce leaves, pea vines and other succulent materials contain sugar and proteins that are excellent food for the bacteria. They are decomposed rapidly. Sawdust, dry leaves, small twigs and prunings contain very little nitrogen and decompose very slowly when composted alone. A mixture of the green and the dry is what you want.

Gardeners have found that the best way to build a compost pile is to put a layer of mixed fertilizer, manure and garden soil between each layer of waste material.

You start the pile by spreading a layer of the organic refuse about 6 to 8 inches deep. Spread over this layer the mixture of manure, garden soil and fertilizer. Both manure and a commercial fertilizer should be used to give the bacteria the mineral nutrients they need. The greater the amount of fertilizer, the richer the compost will be. A good average amount in each layer is 2 cupfuls of ammonium sulfate or blood meal per square foot. Use more with dry waste material, less with green material.

Wet down the fertilizer layer just enough to carry the chemicals through the layer; don't wash them out with heavy watering.

In areas where the soil is on the acid side, adding a cupful of ground limestone, crushed oyster shell or dolomite lime to each layer will give you a less acid product. Add another layer of vegetable matter, spread the soil-manure chemical layer over it and wet it down. Repeat the layering process until you run out of material or the pile is 4 to 5 feet high.

Keep the pile as wet as a squeezed-out sponge. In a dry, warm climate, it may need water every 4 to 5 days. The size of the woody material will affect the rate of decomposition. If dry leaves go into the pile as they are raked up, decomposition will be much slower than if the leaves are shredded.

Under normal conditions the pile should be turned 2 to 3 weeks after you start it, then about every 5 weeks. It should be ready to use in 3 months.

Fast, high-heat method

You can shorten the ripening time for a compost to a few weeks if all the refuse material is put through a shredder before building the pile. The smaller pieces decompose faster since more surface is exposed to decay bacteria. Shredding also makes a fluffier mixture, allowing more efficient air and water penetration. If renting or buying a shredder is not in your program, shred all large leaves with a rotary mower.

If the pile is built when the weather is warm, you'll see heat waves rising above it in 24 to 30 hours. Turn the pile to mix the material and follow up with a thorough watering. It will heat up again, and in a few days be hot enough to require turning again. Each time you turn it, move outer materials toward the center where heat and moisture encourage decomposition.

One distinct advantage to this fast, high-heat method of composting is the destruction of most of the weed seeds.

The compost is ready for use when it has cooled, has a dark and rich color, is crumbly and has that good earth fragrance.

It pays to divide your composting area into three piles or compartments. The first compartment is for the daily collection of the organic waste-vegetable harvest refuse, vegetable peelings from the kitchen, coffee grounds, egg shells, shredded paper, small prunings, wood ashes, and weeds green or dry. The next compartment is for the working compost to which no additions are being made but frequent turning is the rule. The third compartment is for the finished or nearly finished product.

Gene_DeFazzio

Municipal Composting Programs - A Way to Go Green

Composting has occurred since plants first existed on the earth. When leaves and fruit fall from trees, and when plants die, they drop to the ground, enriching the soil through the process of natural decomposition. This is nature's way of composting.

Humans have been composting for decades, maybe even centuries. In our recent history, agricultural communities have used composting as a way to enrich their gardens and farmland. In the last two decades, a much larger movement of composting in urban areas has begun, and in recent years, composting has taken on its own popularity as a new way to "go green." City dwellers are becoming more aware of the benefits of compost in their gardens and flowerbeds, and they are realizing that it is best to recycle natural products back to the earth.

Municipalities have had a major influence in this movement with programs to dispose of recyclable waste. These programs allow, and sometimes require, citizens to collect their organic waste such as leaves, branches, grass, and other yard trimmings for composting. These programs vary in season and structure but they all have the same goal of recycling natural material to the earth's benefit. In many cases, after the material has been composted, the city sells the compost back to citizens who wish to purchase it for their yards or gardens. In this way, city composting programs provide two services: they allow city dwellers to compost their organic waste, and they also make compost material available for sale at reasonable prices.

A municipal composting program may seem simple, but it can be a large project to manage. First, the citizens of the municipality must be educated about what types of products can be collected and how they are to be contained. Some city composting programs only collect yard waste, while others also allow food scraps. Second, the city must decide how they wish to collect the waste. Some municipalities use bulk collection, where leaves and waste are piled in the street or yard and trucks come collect the debris. Another way to collect the waste is through drop off sites where citizens can take their waste to a central collection area. Other communities use container collection, where the waste is put in specific types of containers such as biodegradable brown paper bags or in reusable containers and is collected by trucks.

After trucks have picked up the organic waste, the material must be transported to a central composting site to be processed and composted. Several months later, the waste you threw out will be available again for resale to citizens as premium compost. Compost can be used in many ways. Premium compost is a great way to enrich your soil, control erosion, or simply help your plants grow bigger and stronger!

The US Environmental Protection Agency indicates that 24% of the United States' solid waste is made up of yard trimmings and food scraps. Just think how much waste we could keep out of landfills if more cities began composting programs! With the ability to convert all this waste into premium compost and return it to the earth, these programs are hugely beneficial. If your city doesn't have an organized composting program, contact local officials in your area and prompt them to begin one. This is a way to get involved and give something back to this planet that we inhabit.

Ellen Bell

Composting is Nature's Way of Recycling

Composting is a very important part of organic gardening and boidynamic gardening. It adds organic matter to the soil for earthworms and other living organisms to survive along with adding fertility to the soil.Having a soil with good structure and thriving with earthworms and other living organisms will greatly benefit your garden. A good healthy soil with organic matter not only adds the nutrients needed for plants to survive, it also defends against plant disease and unwanted insects.

Composting is an excellent way to add nutrients back into the soil to feed plant life and benefit the environment. It improves the soil structure, helps control moisture and can help protect plants from certain diseases.It also makes the soil more fertile and helps plants develop a healthier root system.

Composting is the decaying process by millions of organisms that feed off organic material such as household and yard waste by turning it into excellent organic fertilizer and organic amendments for your garden soil. It is the duplication of natures natural system that breaks down organic materials on the ground in the forest and fields. Plants grow, die off and fall to the ground and decay. This process is natures way of adding nutrition back into the soil to feed new plants and is an environmentally friendly way to reduce household trash and to turn it into a nutritious additive for your garden soil. More than half of your household waste can be composted.

There are different systems and methods that can be used to make compost. Composting systems vary in size You can build home made bins or buy a commercially made composting system depending on how much room you have and how much composting you plan on doing or you can trench compost. There is also the basic way of just making a pile and letting it decompose naturally. Whichever way you choose you will end up with the same ending product A nutrient rich humus material called compost. Full of nutrients that will benefit your garden.

Composting is an excellent way to recycle the organic waste from your household and yard.

John_Yazo

3 Things Everyone Should Know About Composting

Composting is not very difficult but it does require a little bit of effort. A successful composting program takes a little bit of your time. But the end result is well worth it, especially if your next project is going to be organic gardening.

The two actually go together. You will be able to utilize the full potential of your compost on your organic garden. Compost is really an organic fertilizer that the garden plants will love. The main reason for gardening may be for beautification purposes. But when you go the organic route, the reason will be much more in tune with nature. By making a compost garden, you are also being one with nature. You are doing your part in preserving its beauty by gathering the waste elements that can be recycled to act as fertilizers to your garden.

You do not want to get into trouble with your neighbors for the sake of nature so keep the un-attractive odors down. To achieve this you should keep the pile oxygenated. You can turn the materials periodically to gain such an effect. This will help the materials in your compost heap to break down faster.

The hot method is much faster than the cold method, but the hot method does require a little more effort on your part. The hot method requires about a 50/50 mix of brown and green composting material. This ratio does vary depending on different sources, but the amount does not have to be exact. Think of a composting lasagna. You must remember to moisten the pile periodically for the bacteria to grow so they can aid in decomposing the materials faster.

Watch out for unwanted visitors, You must be vigilant in a sense that if you are seeing flies and other pests inhabiting your pile. One solution is to add strips of paper to the top of your bin, if they can't land they will not be able to lay their eggs.

S W Allen

All About Garden Composting

Why should I compost?

• Organic matter improves soil structure and gives life. It opens up heavy soils, aids drainage and provides good growing conditions. Light or sandy soils benefit from its moisture retentive properties.
• It provides nutrients for plants. The nutrients in your compost depend on what has been put in your bin, but will always contain a wide range of trace elements and plant foods.
• It is a completely natural product. In nature, all living things eventually decay; composting simply speeds up the process.
• It is free and environmentally friendly. Up to 30% of household waste is organic and can be converted into compost for use in the garden. Composting is good for plants, good for the environment and good for us.

Where should I locate my Composter?

• Preferably in a warm or sheltered position, but this is not essential.
• place on bare soil. This will aid drainage and allow worms and bacteria to enter and aid breakdown of the raw material.

What can I put in it?

• Garden Waste: All types of garden waste including annual weeds, grass cuttings, fallen fruit and old vegetable plants, bedding plants, chopped prunings, hedge clippings, horse and poultry manure and urine, straw, feathers, dried fallen leaves, sawdust and wood shavings, shredded wood and twigs, seaweed, spent compost.
• Household Waste: Teabags/leaves, egg shells, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable waste, human and animal hair, feathers, shredded and soaked cardboard, paper, wood ash.
• Avoid: Cooked food and meat (attracts rodents).

How to Make the Best Compost?

The composting process requires raw material, water and air. Good compost comprises a balance of as many ingredients as possible. Too much grass will create a slimy mess; too much woody material will create a dry heap, which decomposes very slowly. Chopping and cutting ingredients into small pieces before adding to the composter will facilitate faster decomposition.

The most important balance to achieve is the proportion of woody, high carbon material (e.g. dried leaves, straw, paper, twigs, hedge clippings) to sappy, high nitrogen material (e.g. plants, weeds, vegetables & fruit, grass, manure). The woody material keeps the compost open and aerated, preventing the soggy mass that results from composting too much nitrogen-rich material (such as grass cuttings). However, it provides little or no nutrients for the bacteria in the heap, which creates the heat required for good composition. Soft material contains the nitrogen needed by bacteria, plus water. During colder months a piece of polystyrene or old carpet placed in the bin on top of the compost will prevent heat loss.

An essential ingredient for composting is air. The best way to introduce air into the composter is to fork up the contents and turn it over. It is a good idea to do this on a regular (monthly) basis.

When will the compost be ready to use?

Shredded material that has been kept moist and turned several times can be ready for use in the garden in just a few months but six months is more typical. The length of time really depends on the mixture of ingredients, air temperature, size of coarser material and how quickly the composter unit was filled. Compost at the bottom will always be ready first, so always remove from the bottom first.

If a finer texture is preferred, sieve out the coarse material; this can be used as mulch around the garden or in the base of planters/garden pots to provide drainage and nutrients, or simply replace in the bin for further breakdown. Do not use garden compost for delicate seedlings because it is not sterile.

Happy Gardening.

Owen_Chubb

The author is principal of OWEN CHUBB GARDEN LANDSCAPES LIMITED, an established and award winning garden landscaping company based in Dublin, Ireland. The company offers clients a complete landscaping service including Garden Design, Construction & Planting.

Worm Composting - Making the Bedding

Using composting worms is a great way to increase the turn-around time of your compost. The worms eat the compost that you add to the pile and then produce nutrient-rich castings for your garden. The worms live in an area of the composting pile called "bedding", which should make up the majority of the compost pile by volume. You will have to create the bedding for your worms, but do not worry, it is easy to do. Here is a list of things that make great bedding:

• Shredded newspaper or cardboard
• Saw dust
• Shredded, fallen autumn leaves
• Dead plants
• Mature compost
• Aged manure

Using just one of those ingredients to make your bedding is not the best idea. Ideally, you would have a bit of everything. The finished bedding should take up about three quarters of your compost bin; that is right, 75%. It may seem like a lot, but the worms need a place to live.

The bedding must be moist (like a wrung-out sponge) and you will want to cover your compost bin to reduce evaporation. Make sure the bedding is loose with lots of pockets of air because the worms need air to survive.

Now that your bedding is finished you can add the worms. For every pound of compost you plan on adding per day you will need two pounds of worms (roughly 2000 worms). You should be able to buy them at your local garden store or from a farmer. You may even have a friend who can give you some worms to get you started. Once they are settled into your compost bin they multiply rapidly, but you will want to stick to the 1 pound of compost to 2 pounds of worms rule. That means, if you do not have two pounds worms you have to reduce the amount of compost you add every day. It is tricky measure how many worms you have, you will have to go buy how much compost they can consume. If you find that your worms cannot keep up to the amount of compost you are adding you will have to reduce your daily compost addition until you have enough worms. You will get a feel for it after a while.

Henry Allpas

Improve Organic Gardening Using Composting

Building up sustainable soil for organic gardening starts right after the garden soil testing has been completed. The testing of the soil helps to identify the additional fertilizers and conditioners that can be added. When attempting to garden organically, testing, maintaining and improving the soil is a constant process and one that is well worth the effort, according to those who advocate organic farming and gardening.

Creating sustainable soil for gardening organically means that you have to be able to replenish the topsoil of the garden. One of the best substances to have for keeping the soil rich and healthy enough for an organic garden is a good supply of compost. In addition to compost, it is good to have enzymes, earthworms, and beneficial microbes available to add into the soil mixture as well.

In most cases, when the garden bed has been established with great quality soil that is able to support and sustain organic gardening, it can then be maintained by simply adding home composting on a routine basis. This can easily be done by replacing a layer of the garden soil with a layer from your compost.

Backyard composting is a terrific way to improve your soil structure and also enhance moisture retention. In the average compost heap there are billions of bacterial organisms that will grow, feed, reproduce and die. Through this life-cycle of the microorganisms, the organic waste material that has been added to the compost pile will be recycled into a robust organic fertilizer and effective soil conditioner.

Many people say that composting is truly the ultimate in recycling because it benefits the soil in so many ways and supports organic farming and gardening in its highest and best sense. In addition to improving the structure of the soil and the moisture retention ability of the soil, composting also provides excellent aeration, full fertilization and nitrogen storage. Composting also creates a beneficial pH balance in the soil, releases a stream of nutrients and supplies food for the beneficial microbial inhabitants in the earth.

Shredded alfalfa hay is one of the best types of material that you can add to your compost heap, and some say it is "the" secret to a great compost recipe. Worms really thrive on alfalfa, making worm composting even more effective and faster, and it provides excellent mulch and soil additive components for your soil.

When you want to get your compost ready for your organic gardening undertaking, you should make the compost pile about four feet high and also about four feet wide as well. It needs to be located in an area that allows for good drainage and it should be surrounded with chicken wire so it will have proper air circulation. After about three to four months, your compost will be ready to mix in with the soil and begin working wonders for your garden.

Mike_Selvon

Adventures in Home Composting

Kitchen leavings such as banana peels, cantaloupe rinds and eggshells do not need to go into the trashcan. They can be recycled in compost bins to provide wonderful nutrients for succeeding generations of vegetation. With more people becoming devoted to the environment, composting is a simple procedure that can be implemented at home to reduce the negative impact on the eco-system. Composting is easy to start at home; simply keeping a small garbage pail dedicated to eco-friendly refuse in the kitchen can help you begin. At the end of each day, simply take the materials out to the area where you keep your compost bin. With very little effort and some assistance from the natural activities of bugs and warmth from the sun, you can cultivate nutrient rich soil for your garden, house plants or landscaping and feel good about being pro-active and reducing waste in landfills.

For those who do not wish to purchase a ready-made compost bin, it's uncomplicated to make one from lumber. Anyone with little knowledge can build a compost bin in a brief period of time. There are many instructions available online, so you have the chance of picking a plan that appeals to your aesthetic taste. You will need materials and, if raccoons or other wild animals are troublesome in your area, you may want a hinged cover to keep animals out.

Compost bins are generally affordable and simple to construct. One of the easiest ways involves taking sections of snow fence and making them into a square by attaching all corners to a strong post, and then staking it into the ground. Others have fashioned compost bins from used skids or simply by creating a circle from chicken wire. If you want a stronger compost bin, consider using two by fours to craft a square compost bin with gaps for airflow.

Put the compost bin at a sufficient distance from your home so that you can't smell any waste, yet close enough for convenience. You should also keep in mind that the compost bin will naturally be warm because of the biological process occurring inside of it. In order to keep this heat, if you live in a colder climate you will need to place it in a sunny area. If you dwell in a very hot, dry climate, you will need to add water to it occasionally and perhaps put it in a sheltered area. It needs to sustain some warmth and moisture, but any severity in temperature will likely slow down the progression.

When your compost pile is in full swing, it will be easy to maintain and reap the many benefits from your good intentions. Continuously add scraps from the kitchen like onion peels, lettuce, even whole fruits or vegetables that went bad before you had the opportunity to eat them. It is essential to turn the soil at least once per season to keep the soil oxygenated. The material at the bottom should be exposed to the top and vice versa for the bottom. Such simplicity with great rewards should provide encouragement to keep up with other environmentally friendly habits. Don't forget that children love the idea too.

Anita_Koppens

Composting Kitchen Waste - Saving Landfills and Your Garden

Did you know that the average household produces nearly 200 pounds of kitchen waste every year? According to the King County Solid Waste Division in Washington, more than 35 percent of waste collected from the county's single family residences is composed of food scraps and soiled paper. That amounts to over 250,000 tons of food waste and soiled paper per year in only one county. All of that could be recycled into compost.

If you currently have a compost bin or pile on your property consider saving food scraps from your kitchen, if you don't already. You can take the material to your main bin daily or even weekly. If you plan to wait more than a day, though, I would suggest you consider purchasing a compost keeper for your kitchen. Compost keepers typically are sealed containers for storing food waste. Some models are even equipped with replaceable carbon filters that are useful for eliminating odors between trips to your compost pile.

For those more adventurous souls, vermiculture, or worm composting is another option. Worm composting can be done inside your own home. Gardeners who choose this method often have a bin directly under their sinks. This bin, filled with living earthworms, is the new waste bin for food scraps instead of the trash can. The worms quietly go about turning your waste into "castings" that make up an extremely fertile material that also conditions your soil.

Composting in the kitchen can add beneficial nutrients and amendments to your garden soil while saving landfill space at the same time. Have you begun to take part in this recycling effort? I have.

Thomas Smith.

Home Composting: 10 Ways to Make It Successful for You

Gardening is a fun and invigorating activity. It keeps one busy and productive and brings the creativity and ingenuity in everyone. Gardening beautifies our homes but it also produces a good deal of yard waste. What better way to make this waste wok out for you than to use it to enrich your garden through composting? You’d be making your soil more fertile for the health of your plants and at the same time, you’d be helping you community dispose of waste in the cleanest, cheapest and easiest manner. Here are some simple ways to make home composting successful for you:

1. Select the best compost material. Composting is simply simulating, if not imitatinag nature’s natural process of breaking down dead matter and using it to replenish the soil’s nutrients. The best source would obviously be your own yard waste such as the dried leaves, straw and wood chips from your own vegetation. Experts recommend using “browns” and “greens”. Browns are rich in carbon while greens are rich in nitrogen.
2. Correct combination of compost materials. To make home composting successful, it is better to combine different compost materials that to use just one type. Combine some of the materials mentioned in the above tip and shred them into small pieces to make them easier to store in case you might want to pile them later.
3. Use of manure can also mean successful home composting. Manure is also a rich source of organic materials and may come from a variety of animals such as chicken, ducks, pigs, sheep, cow and goats. They are rich sources of nitrogen which plants need in building up their tissues. It is best to layer this manure with dried leaves and to not simply add it into the pile s that it is effectively decomposed and incorporated into the compost.
4. Cold composting. Cold composting is easy enough to do which involves piling all the materials you have chosen as compost materials. Put them up in a pile and give them time to decompose, after months or a year, you’d have a rich compost from the decomposition of these materials.
5. Hot composting is more systematic and laborious than cold composting but it works. The pile should be at least 3- feet deep and is made up of alternating materials. Water is sprinkled regularly on the pile keep it most for microbial growth and action. Once in a while, you may mix the pile to expose the lower layers to oxygen and promote further decomposition of organic matter. This should generate some heat in the compost as gases are produced with the breakdown of organic matter.
6. Stink management is also a key to successful home composting. If the pile is not aerated enough, it begins to give off a bad odor. To resolve this problem, turn and mix the pile once in a while. Do not allow your compost pile to simply stink up.
7. Keep moisture level up but not too much. Adding too much water will waterlog your microorganisms which will not be good for them too and will inhibit their decomposing activities.
8. If the pile is dry and is not heating up, one has to do the entire pile all over again and this time cut the materials into smaller pieces. Add enough water also to make the entire pile moist to stimulate microbial activity.
9. No matter how you are promoting the decomposition of organic waste, you compost should not be a breeding ground for flies and ants that can be sources of diseases and may hard your plants in the long run. Another key to successful home composting is management of these insects by covering the pile with dirt. It does not do if these insects would proliferate in your compost because they may do more harm than your compost may do you good.
10. For a successful home composting, keep your compost pile within your yard. It should be contained within a particular space so it does not look like a dumpsite of some sort. Building a simple fence may do the trick. Your enclosure should also allow some air to get in through the sides.

Lee Dobbins

Why Composting is Useful For the Environment

Composting is akin to recycling but in the broader sense, recycling includes everything. Whether it is composting or recycling the objective is to provide a conducive environment for our future generations. Earth is getting depleted and if we don't do our part to preserve virtually the only habitable place that we know of, then will it rankle us if all we left behind is one lump of uninhabitable planet.

Recycling is more visible nowadays as we can see separate garbage bins for cans as well as clothes and pots or vases. It is noticeable in our everyday life but composting is slightly different as it comprises the recycling of materials that are found in nature. Think of dried leaves, grass clippings, fruit peelings, vegetable, animal manure, sawdust, etc.

Composting is basically for the purpose of gardening and in essence organic gardening. Throw out all synthetic products such as pesticides as we only require organic materials. Compost is not only environmentally friendly; it makes the soil healthier and in turn gives rise to better crop that if free from chemicals.

Organic gardening requires lots of hard work but if you put your soul and heart into it, the effort is worth all the sweats. Even if you can't afford the needed time, you still give compost a shot irrespective of whether you are living in urban or rural areas. It is not necessary to create the compost yourself if you have a garden in an urban home as long as you keep to the rules in organic farming. That is no chemicals or pesticides so away with materials that are not naturally produced.

It is the trend to purchase everything organic although it is not completely proven that organic produces are healthier than other farming methods when it comes to the matter of health. It is so fashionable that there is not just organic food but organic soap, tissue, cloth and just about everything as everyone chips in to care for our delicate environment.

In the course of composting we have nature in our heart besides contributing to the causes of our mother earth. Composting takes some time to get a hang of and some may be hesitant whether it is making or using compost. It is an arduous task to make compost as it can be smelly as well as our view that compost piles and garbage in our backyard is filthy.

If making it is complicated, then you can consider purchasing the fertilizers and the compost essentials from your neighborhood garden stores. That should be easier if that will lead you to make use of composting to help our environment.

Jason Jhyiong

Composting Toilets - Home Water Conservation

Composting toilets are one way you can conserve more water at home (composting toilet systems have also been developed and successfully implemented in high traffic areas like schools and offices). There is lots of opportunity for you to conserve water in your home. Some of the options are more involved than others, but they are a small price to pay for the environment.

First, let me clarify the problem. We have clean, treated water pumped into our homes for our use. In some places, residents have to pay for the water (either by volume or a flat monthly fee) and in some places the water is still free. We use the clean, treated water in our showers and baths to clean ourselves, in our toilets to remove our waste, in our washing machines to clean our clothes, in our kitchen to clean our hands, our dishes and our food, and in the garden to water our plants and lawns. There are countless other ways we use clean water at home, but I want to keep this article manageable. The formerly clean water is then pumped to sewage treatment plants where we try to clean the water again.

The major waste is most often the shower. Hands up everyone who has stood in the cozy hot shower and just let the water run all over you just because it felt good. Pretty much everyone has at one point or another and it is a BIG waste. When you design your home and you can actually have the shower run-off (which is often called grey water because it is no longer clean) be used in your irrigation system. The water used in your sinks can be reused the same way. The water is run through a filter to remove chemicals like soap and hair conditioner before it is used for the irrigation. You may also want to install low flow fixtures in your showers and aerators in your faucets to further decrease water use.

Flush toilets are another major waster. A regular toilet uses about 4 to 6 gallons of clean water for one flush (which adds up to about 100,000 gallons of water being flushed by the average North American family every year). You can install low flow toilets to reduce the amount of water used and if you use composting toilets in your home you will be using zero gallons of water per year to flush. You can find composting toilets on the main stream market in North America, although most people do not know about them. They are very clean and hygienic when used properly and provide you with nutrient rich humus that you can add to your garden to make it healthier.

You can also do some work on the irrigation system itself. Drip irrigation systems are much more efficient that the traditional spray systems. With the drip system there is an outlet at the roots of every plant. The water slowly drips out and goes directly to the plant rather than being in accurately sprayed by spray irrigation.

Henry_Allpas

How to Make a Compost Pile & What to Compost

It's pretty basic really, make a pile of mixed up organic (in the it was once alive sense of the word) items. You can use a commercial compost bin or compost tumbler, a homemade compost box of old wood scraps or chicken-wire, or even just make a big pile of compost in a corner of the yard. The important bit is what goes into your compost pile not how expensive it was to construct.

What Can I Compost?

Nature is already showing us what we can compost. In its most basic sense anything that was once alive will break down into organic components. So if an item is comprised of 100% natural materials it can be composted. So your goal when composting should be if something was once alive it can be added to my compost pile to prevent its goodness being wasted. Anything once alive will add goodness to your garden when it has been composted.

Now we all have preconceived notions of what can be added to the compost pile and need to work with these. If there is something on the list you do not already compost try adding it. You'll reduce your household waste and increase your compost heap.

• Compost your garden prunings, lawn clippings and weeds. Just make sure the prunings are shredded or broken up into small pieces and lawn clippings are mixed throughout the compost heap. Prolific weeds may be soaked in a bucket of water for a few weeks so they turn into mush which definitely won't survive the heat of your compost pile. Seriously diseased plants such as brassicas infected with clubroot may be burnt first and the ashes added to the plot to prevent the clubroot disease reinfecting your soil later on.
• Compost your vegetable peelings. All your vegetable waste from the kitchen can go straight onto your compost pile.
• Compost your paper and cardboard. All your uncoated paper and card should be shredded / ripped up and added to the compost heap. Don't forget to remove plastic windows from envelopes and plastic tape from cardboard packaging. Laminated papers and cards cannot be added as they'll leave a plastic film which won't break down so keep an eye on what kind of paper and card products you purchase.
• Compost your kitchen scraps even meat and fish. Meat and fish was once alive so will compost down into lovely goodness for your soil too. Just ensure your compost pile is pet proof and put these items deep into the pile, not just left on top for the local wildlife to feast on! Raw or cooked kitchen scraps will break down but if there is any issue with dogs trying to break into your heap cooked bones may be a problem as they are brittle and could be dangerous if swallowed.
• Compost dog waste. Again make sure the composting dog poop is always buried within the compost heap and it will break down fine. Poo (manure) is full of bacteria who love to break down organic items. Introducing manure to your compost pile will bring in these useful bacteria to help speed up the composting process.
• Compost manure. If you have other livestock or access to farmyard manure the addition of small quantities throughout the compost heap will heat things up and speed things along. Commercial organic compost activators are often primarily dried manure.
• Compost urine. This is probably best left to the boys. Urine is full of nutrients which will help activate your compost pile. Asking a gentleman to occasionally wee on the compost pile will do nothing but good.
• Compost human manure. It's no different to any other manure and can be composted very successfully. So if you have space for a dry composting toilet you can reduce your water usage and improve your compost creation in one step.
• Compost wood ash and sawdust. Wood ash from a wood burning fire is excellent added to the heap providing potash and other nutrients. Sawdust added in small quantities through the pile will improve bulk but may slow down the composting action if added too liberally.
• Compost pet or livestock bedding. Whether it be bedding from a gerbil cage or the contents of a hen coop, these natural materials (straw / hay / sawdust etc) will be covered in animal manure and urine and therefore fantastic additions to the compost heap. N.B. most commercial cat litters are not natural and thus not suitable for the compost heap - make sure you read the packet to see if the product is natural and was 'once alive'.
• Other natural fibers. So old woolen sweaters, cotton socks, hair (if you cut your own) or pet fur (if you trim theirs) will break down too. Don't forget to check for synthetic additions to clothing including buttons, zippers or just man-made fibers such as lycra.

Remember! Anything which was once alive, will break down into compost.

How to Compost

Unless you're using a commercial container for composting, a rough guide is to aim for a finished heap at around 1m (or 1 yard) cubed. Once you reach your finished size cover your pile with carpet or plastic sheeting to keep the worst of the weather off and leave your heap to do its stuff for six months to a year.

If you're using any kind of manure leave the heap for at least a year before putting it onto your soil. If the heap is working well all pathogens contained in the manure will have been long gone in around three months but its easier to wait longer and not have to worry!

Ensure your compost heap is pet-proof.

Make sure the heap is built with a mixture of items so it remains aerated throughout due to the different sizes and types of particles within it. If you're likely to have a surplus of one item such as grass clippings make a separate pile of this which you can then add at intervals onto the heap. Try to aim for a layered approach to the compost heap such as some kitchen scraps followed by lawn clippings, paper, dog waste, ash etc.

If you live in a dry climate add water / urine / washing up water to the heap. The compost heap is full of living organisms so it needs to be moist. Likewise if you live in a wet climate cover the heap to prevent all those living organisms drowning.

Be sensible. You're adding things that are starting to break down - food scraps, animal waste, so observe basic hygiene at all times - keep the kids occupied somewhere else and wash your hands!

It is good practice to cover anything animals might find interesting within the heap. So either dig a small hole whenever adding kitchen waste etc or keep a batch of weeds / law clippings / straw etc to cover the interesting stuff whenever you add it. This will deter animal and insect pests. If you leave a piece of leftover roast chicken breast on the top of your compost heap you would expect a few birds, flies, cats and dogs to take an interest so cover up the interesting stuff! This will also keep the smells in.

Your finished compost will smell like rich woodland soil, crumbly and dark. But obviously if you're adding poo to your pile you don't want the smell of poo around before the composting action gets going. So cover up or bury within the heap, all the smelly stuff!

Once you add your own made compost to your garden you'll never want to buy another bag of the shop bought stuff again and you'll love have less household waste to dispose of elsewhere. So go on get composting. It is the most basic method of reducing waste and recycling. Mother Nature's always done it and now, so should we.

Lec_Watkins

Human Waste As an Alternative Energy Source

With all of the news buzz these days around renewable energies such as solar and wind power, even harnessing the energy of ocean waves, one often neglected energy source is right under our noses, so to speak: human waste. It may not be as appealing or pleasant as the alternatives, but energy generation from human waste could be the most important of all. World population increases every day along with demand for energy and resources, and resources become scarcer and more coveted. The only potential resource that will increase proportionate to population is our own waste. Feces and urine are abundant and readily available wherever there are humans. Currently vast quantities of energy made from fossil fuel combustion and (often potable) water are used to process said waste products. New projects in composting toilets, biogas harvesting, biofuels creation and even microbial fuel cells could allow us to reverse the cycle and take advantage of this untapped resource.

Though skeptics believe that composting toilets will never be successful in the Western world, new technologies as well as old are being used to solve two problems: how to treat our waste, and how to produce enough food without poisoning ourselves and our environment with expensive chemical fertilizers. The next generation of composting toilets, such as that made by Clivus Multrum, are solving these problems and making the system more appealing to consumers. The low-flow composting toilets that they produce contain a basement level compost bin and service is included with the product. A much more low-tech version of the composting toilet is being used by the NGO Estamos in Africa. Although the organization's aims are to improve sanitation and reduce illness, their programs are also helping small-scale farmers make a living. The organization provides composting toilets at no charge, and has greatly improved the quality of life for many poor families. The organization's director, Feliciano dos Santos, just won the 2008 Goldman Environmental Prize in Ecological Sanitation for this work.

Many countries have well-established methane-capture programs that use animal waste, such as pig farms in Australia and cattle ranches in the United States. But what of the gas creation potential of human waste? Developing countries are pioneering this technology as a way to save money and create renewable energy. With the help of the Heifer International Foundation, rural farmers in Uganda's Mukono district are mixing human feces and urine with other biological waste such as water hyacinth and banana peels to create biogas, and using the byproduct to fertilize their fields. The biogas produced contains 60-90% methane, and is being used for lighting, cooking and some engines, and many residents are improving their quality of life and rising above the poverty level. Likewise, Cyangugu prison in Rwanda is creating biogas from the excrement of its prisoners. The Kigali Institute of Science and Technology built the digester for the prison, which is using the resulting product to cook 50% of the prisoner's meals, and saving $22,000 annually -- a great deal of money in Rwanda. But developing countries aren't the only ones taking advantage of human generated biogas. The Lions Gate Wastewater Treatment Plant in Vancouver, British Columbia, once the subject of a lawsuit regarding a violation of federal pollution laws, has piloted a $1.1 million project to harvest methane from the city's sewage and feed it directly into the natural gas distribution system. The project, which is expected to be operational in 2009, projects a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 500 tonnes annually, and enough energy production to power 100 homes. A similar project is underway in San Antonio, Texas.

Current debates surrounding plant-based biofuels focus on competition between food crops and biofuels crops, and many experts worry that high demand for biofuels will exacerbate current food shortage problems. Several projects have tackled this issue by creating biofuels from algae grown on human waste. One of these is Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation, which harvests the algae used in the sewage treatment ponds in Malborough, New Zealand. The "green crude" they create from the algae can be used for all crude-oil applications such as gasoline, diesel and plastics. In a more direct process, a Canadian company called Dynamotive Energy Systems Corporation is feeding human waste directly into a biofuels generation system using a "fast pyrolysis process". The system achieves 80% efficiency by recuperating waste gasses and heat from the process, and the end product, BioOil®, can be used as a substitute for a variety of petroleum products. One of the most high-tech, cutting-edge technologies for energy creation from human waste is the development of microbial fuel cells. Developed by Dr. Bruce Logan of Penn State's engineering department, the system has been suggested as a way to take waste treatment plants off the grid. The fuel cell, still being refined to produce an acceptable energy output, uses wastewater to generate hydrogen fuel, and clean water is produced as a by-product. While the technology is not practical for other fuel-cell applications such as hydrogen-powered cars, it can be used anywhere there is a large supply of biological waste.

Many people cringe at the thought of human waste based energy systems, and would rather not think about what happens down the pipeline, but as humanity becomes increasingly demanding of energy we must begin to embrace unconventional methods of producing it. With the increasing success of the projects mentioned exists the possibility of eliminating human waste pollution worldwide. One day our sewage may be referred to as "brown gold", and could be more valuable than even crude oil.

For more information on alternative energies, including renewable energy solutions for your home and business, please visit the Alternative Energy Weblog

Samuel_Lewis

A Look At Composting and Composting Toilets

Sometimes known as biological toilets and waterless toilets, composting toilet systems are useful when there is an urgent necessity to control the composting of toilet paper, food wastes and excrement. Composting toilet is different from the septic system because a composting toilet system is depended on conditions of unsaturated level such as the materials cannot be immersed completely in water. When operating to its full capacity, composting toilet is competent to easily break down the waste into somewhere about 10 to 30 percent of its actual volume.

Humus is the resulting end-product. Known for being a stable soil-like material, humus is required to be either buried or it has to be properly removed by a licensed seepage hauler who is familiar with the state as well as the prevailing local regulations in the U.S. but in several other countries, humus can be used as an effective soil conditioner on edible crops.

When we discuss the primary objective underlying the composting toilet system, the answer is simple: to destroy or immobilize any and every organism that is capable of causing pathogens or any kind of human disease. Composting is a savior of sorts because it ensures that the waste products don't contaminate the immediate or distant environment or harm the human inhabitants in any way.

The system should naturally be consistent with proper as well as good sanitation so that it minimizes effectively any possibility of human contact with the kind of unprocessed excrement that is being treated, Minimizing odor and producing a dry end product that doesn't pose any kind of exposure to disease vectors like flies is a matter of importance as well.

The secondary objective, as we all know, is to transform the nutrients that are present in human excrement into forms that are stable because these are then fully oxidized and can therefore, be used effectively as a kind of soil conditioner for plants as well as trees.

Here are some of the main components of a composting toilet:

-a composting reactor that gets connected to one or more of the dry or the micro-flush toilets;

-a screened exhaust system so that odors, water vapors, carbon dioxide, and so on can be minimized;

-some type of ventilation so that oxygen is provided to the aerobic organisms that are present in the composter;

• a proper way to drain and manage whatever turns out to be leachate or excess liquid;
• process controls, like mixers and
• an access door that ensures the removal of the final end-product.

With these tips, you have now understood what composting toilet is all about.

Tanner_Larsson

Eco-Toilet - Portable Composting Toilet

I have been out in the woods many times while getting the urge to empty my bowels. So, I had to find a place to do the deed and I had to find some leaves to help with the clean up. Then, out came the shovel to dig a nice little hole for my personal composting pile; small price to pay for enjoying the great outdoors. Now there is something even better.

It is an Eco-toilet, also called environmentally friendly toilets. Eco-toilets are a portable version of composting toilets. It comes in the shape of a toilet seat, a shape which we have all grown accustomed to. You put a biodegradable bag into the eco-toilet, do your deed (hopefully you remember toilet paper) and you save the bag until you get home where you put it into your compost pile. It takes about 40 days for the bag to decompose.

These eco-toilets can be taken along for long road trips through areas where rest stops are few and far between. I am willing to bet that it will cut down on speeding. I have often noticed that the speed I drive is proportional to how badly I have to visit the little boy's room. Now, I take the washroom along for the trip and my driving is much comfortable. Also, eco-toilets are often recommended as part of a disaster preparedness kit.

If used properly, eco-toilets help lower your impact on the environment by decreasing your need to use traditional flush toilets, which use four to six gallons of clean water for every flush.

Henry_Allpas

Composting Toilets - How They Work

Most people in Western Society would be surprised to find out that there are a variety of composting toilets on the mainstream market. I am pretty sure most people have never even heard of composting toilets; however that may soon change. Composting toilets have the potential to save North Americans up to 100,000 gallons of toilet flush water per year and if you live in an area where you have to pay for your water by the gallon or cubic foot, you'll be saving a lot of money by using composting toilets.

You may have guessed it already, composting toilets compost human waste. You may be a little disgusted by that, but keep in mind that before the very recent invention of sewer treatment plants every human on earth composted their waste one way or another; either by leaving it in the woods so that nature could compost it or by composting it on their property so that their gardens could benefit. A properly functioning composting toilet is very hygienic and it will destroy all pathogenic microbes in the human waste during the composting process.

Composting toilets have four main components:

1. To minimize the release of water vapour, odor and carbon dioxide there is a screened exhaust system
2. To let the excess liquid (leachate) drain out of the compost there is a drainage system
3. A composting reactor is where the composting takes place
4. To remove the finished product (or humus) there is an access door

There are usually two composting reactors. One is used until it is full and then the second is used while the first one is allowed to compost. After the first one is emptied it can be used again while the second one composts.

If there are regulations in your area which do not allow you to use the humus from composting toilets in your garden then you will have to call a licensed seepage hauler to empty your composting toilet. It is a small price to pay for enormous water savings. We all have to do our part.

Henry_Allpas

Composting Toilets to the Rescue

Too many people and not enough toilets.

With a large and very roomy house, 6 bedrooms, plus a finished attic and a finished basement, you would think they would have more than two bathrooms with toilets.

For most of the year it is just the two of them and they put off building more bathrooms.

This year they were to have 9 adults and 16 children as holiday guests.

It was in the middle of November when the couple was telling me their problem. They did not have the money to pay for permits and to have the bathrooms built to code.

I suggested they buy 6 of the fancy electric composting toilets. Put in vent pipes and plug them in to the electric for the heater to evaporate the liquids. And to forget the permits costs since as long as raw sewage never left the unit's the officials could not cause problems.

For less than $11,000 they had 8 working "stink free" toilets.

The couple asked me to "come see!"

They had built enclosures around each composting toilet.

1. 2 bedrooms had full bathrooms.
2. 4 more bedrooms had composting toilets.
3. There was one composting toilet in the attic and one in the basement.

They planned to leave the toilets hooked up to the electricity for 7 days after their company left. This would finish the composting. Then they would unplug the units until they were needed the next holiday.

You can buy the non-electric composting toilets but you need a drainpipe to drain of the liquids and you also need vent pipes for each unit.

It is handy to have several 5 gallon buckets with lids, a bag of pine shavings (animal bedding) and a potty chair...

Note: You have probably seen the potty chairs for adult invalids. They have 4 legs, a toilet seat with lid, a back bar to hold the lid upright and sturdy arm rests to raise and lower yourself off and on the toilet. You can get them really cheap.

...in the garage or storage shed for when your regular toilet backs up or 'breaks' and for when you need an extra toilet.

I know several people, with camper shells on their pick ups, who use the potty chair, buckets and pine shavings while traveling and even going to town.

1. They always have a toilet when they need one.
2. They do not have to walk long distances to use a toilet.
3. They do not have to use a filthy' restroom.
4. They can use their brand of toilet paper.
5. They have absolute privacy.
6. They can take all of the time they need to go potty.
7. They never have to hear "Yes we have toilets but they are for our employees ONLY'

Using composting toilets in new home construction means no septic tank or leech field. All you have is gray water from the sinks, showers or tubs. With a simple filter you can use that water for the landscaping.

Rhondalyn Teel

Let It Rot: Five Guidelines For Composting

Compost is what is left over when organic matter decomposes. Organic matter can be things like vegetable scraps, leaves, mown grass and any other garden waste. This material will decompose without any assistance at all, though you can help it along and enjoy the benefits of compost faster if you wish.

Because it doesn't contain a high level of essential nutrients, compost is not considered an actual fertilizer. Instead, it is treated as a soil conditioner or amendment. Compost does supply many good things to the soil. It attracts beneficial creatures like earthworms and it improves the soil composition.

Cold composting is basically just making a pile and letting it sit in the bin. This takes longer than hot composting. Hot composting is when you take a shovel and turn your pile every few days to supply more oxygen to the microorganisms in your compost pile.

Location

First, decide where you will put your compost pile. Check for city ordinances that may regulate where you can put a compost pile, or if you can even have one. A compost pile can get messy, so put it somewhere that you can reach with a hose so you can do clean up if necessary. Bugs will be attracted to your compost pile, so keep this in mind. If you have a free corner in your garden that is far enough away from the house and the neighbors could be the perfect spot for that new compost pile.

Containers

There are many composting products for sale today. They even have gadgets that will rotate your compost for you, but really, the only thing you need is a compost container. Some people simply fence off the compost pile, while others use a bin or container of some kind to put their organic matter in. This can be recycled, home made or purchased at a store. While there are many composting bins to choose from in all sorts of shapes and sizes, the easiest ones are simple. Don't spend more than you need.

Layer It

A good way to begin a compost pile is with layers. Start with fallen leaves or grass clippings, and then put some soil on it, then put in some kitchen waste. Eggshells, scraps of fruits and vegetables and coffee grounds all make good additions to a compost pile. Do not ever add meat or pet waste to your compost. Once you have more layers, add another layer of soil and manure.

Moisture

Keep your compost pile moist, but not wet. Add a little water if it seems to be getting dry. You may want to consider adding a little beer to your pile. The yeast in the beer will keep the bacteria in your compost pile and make sure they'll be happy. It doesn't really matter if you add beer or water, just keep it moist.

Maintenance

A compost pile doesn't need a lot of maintenance. Just continue adding your garden trimmings and kitchen waste to the pile. Occasionally mix in a little soil and manure to encourage decomposition. Keep the pile moist and if you remember, turn the pile about once a week to improve air circulation and aid the decomposition process.

The compost is ready to put in your garden when it looks like dark soil and smells like earth. Just add to your garden and mix it in. If you want to add compost to your indoor plants, you need to sterilize it first. Layer it on some foil on an old baking sheet and put it in a 200 degree F oven for about half an hour.

There isn't one best way to make compost. No matter what you do, organic matter will decompose. Find the style that works best for you and your garden and get composting!

K. Finch