Composting

Food scraps make up a large portion of household waste. When sent to landfill, these scraps break down without oxygen, releasing greenhouse gases, mostly methane, which contributes to global warming. Composting prevents this.

5 reasons to compost at home

• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions — less waste sent to landfill, fewer trucks transporting it.
• Builds healthier soil — compost feeds the soil, encourages microbes, and helps capture carbon.
• Saves water — compost increases soil water retention, supporting your garden in dry times.
• Supports the circular economy — turning ‘waste’ into a resource that grows more food.
• Creates free fertiliser — your food scraps become rich nutrients for your garden.

Your top composting options

	Compost bin (in-ground)	Worm farm
Best for	Residences with an outdoor space with a garden or lawn.	Small households with sheltered courtyards or balconies. Residences that grow their own food produce.
Benefits	Handles large volumes of leaf matter, vegetable and fruit food waste. Produces nutrient-rich compost to improve soil quality. Helps capture carbon in soil. Can leave for long period of time without any care.	Compact, great for small spaces. Produces worm castings and liquid 'worm tea' which when diluted is the ultimate fertiliser for growing plants.
Effort	Needs right balance of 'greens' (vegetable and fruit waste) and 'browns' (dry leaf matter and unbleached cardboard/paper/sawdust) to avoid smells & pests. Bin should be made rodent proof to discourage pests.	Worms thrive in cool moist spaces (18 to 25 degrees) and are sensitive to extreme weather. Worms need care - fed and in comfortable conditions or they will die. Citrus, onions and garlic can't go into worm farms.

Other composting options include:

• Bokashi bin: uses a special inoculated bran to ferment food scraps in a sealed container. The contents then need to be buried in soil to break down quickly.
• Tumbler compost bin: an enclosed bin on a stand that you rotate.
• Pet waste composter: an in-ground system designed to safely break down dog and cat waste using microbes

Where to buy

• Garden centres and hardware stores stock a wide range of composting systems. 
• The Compost Revolution is an online retailer that has products Council subsidises if you are a local resident.

A family composting journey

Watch a local family's 6 month experience in transforming their food scraps into compost and how easy it was to build a sustainable practice for everyday living.