Beginners composting: bokashi, worm farms and bins

Home composting can be a great way to reduce the volume of food waste your household sends to landfill. Find out how you can cut down on your waste.

There are three main types of composting systems:

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Composting

• This is a ‘hot’ system
• Good for large quantities, including garden waste
• It’s a slower system – taking up to 12 months before the contents are sufficiently decomposed and ready to add to your garden.

Suitable for:

most food and veg scraps including onions and citrus, lawn clippings and shredded paper

Not suitable for:

bread, meat, fish and dairy

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Worm Farming

• This is a ‘cool’ system
• The worms do all the work - they just need to be fed small amounts, regularly
• This system can only take smaller volumes; success is reliant on keeping the worms healthy

Suitable for:

most fruit and veg scraps (including citrus and onion in small quantities), teabags and coffee grounds, crushed eggshells, small amounts of bread or pasta, moist cardboard and newspaper, small amounts of old cotton clothing (like underwear)

Not suitable for:

garlic, large amounts of citrus or onion, chilli, dairy, citrus, meat, fish, oils

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Bokashi

• This is a ‘fast’ system
• Good for those with limited space as it pickles the food waste to create ‘pre-compost’ which is then buried; can be used in tandem with a traditional compost system to speed up the process
• Only suitable for food scraps
• Requires use of specialist mix and regular maintenance

Suitable for:

meat, fish, dairy and bread

Not suitable for:

garden waste