Slash greenhouse gases and create your own, free, organic compost

Pet and human hair are among the everyday items you can compost that can save you cash in the garden. See what else makes the list.

Sustainability experts encourage us to re-use, repurpose and recycle to help save the planet and get the most value from something we have paid for.

Composting is one way we can give household items and produce a second life that is not only good for the environment, but good for our wallets.

Sustainability expert and founder of Banish, Lottie Dalziel, says approximately 40 per cent of household waste is made up of organic matter and when it ends up in landfill “it creates a toxic greenhouse gas called methane which is 22 times more potent than carbon dioxide”.

Composting is not only good for the environment, but good for our wallets.

“By composting, you’re slashing these greenhouse gases and also creating your very own, free, organic compost,” Dalziel says.

She says the quality of homegrown compost as a fertiliser is “gold”, and you will never need to buy fertiliser again for your plants and garden.

HOW TO START

Dalziel says composting isn’t as time consuming or boring as you may think.

“It’s all about getting the right balance. You need to add three parts dry or brown matter (think dry leaves and newspaper) to one part green or wet (this is your food scraps).

“Once you’ve got the balance you just need to turn your compost once a week,” she says.

WHAT SORT OF BIN?

“If you have a backyard, then my pick is a standard on the ground compost bin. It will sit on top of the soil and regenerate the soil while creating that rich fertiliser,” Dalziel says.

Sustainability expert Lottie Dalziel.

“If you’re in an apartment, or don’t have a yard, a worm farm is a great solution. All you need is a shady corner, and the worms will chomp away your scraps.

“If you don’t want to get your hands dirty, download Share Waste, an app which connects you with people in your local community with a compost bin who are looking for food scraps.”

10 THINGS YOU CAN COMPOST
(that you might not have known about)

1. Coffee grounds: Not only will this help a smelly bin, but pests don’t like coffee like we do.

2. Citrus: It is an old myth that citrus can’t be composted. Add in a little bit at a time and your bin will chew it up. It will just take a little longer than your other food scraps.

3. Onions: You can add these in moderation.

4. Compostable packaging: Chop it up to give your compost bin a helping hand. Keep an eye out for eco-packaging with a home compostable symbol from companies like Packleo, as they have created packaging specifically for the compost bin once used.

5. Hair: Pet hair and human hair is a great addition to your compost bin.

6. Egg cartons: If you’re running short on dried leaves, break up your egg cartons and odd pieces of cardboard, and throw them in.

7. Toilet rolls and paper wrappers: Break them up and throw them in.

8. Matches: once they’ve been struck, you can throw these into your bin

9. Egg shells: I like to crush mine up as they take quite a while to break down. These are packed with phosphorus and calcium which your plants will enjoy.

10. Wooden utensils: More takeaway vendors are using wooden chopsticks and bamboo utensils, and you can get ride of them in your compost.

Note: There are two certification symbols to look out for the home compostable and commercial compostable symbol.

If the symbol uses the code AS 5810-2010, this means it can break down in home compost bins. Otherwise, AS 4736–2006 means that it can break down in commercial facilities. Industrial compostable means that the materials cannot break down and be composted in most home composting conditions, and it needs to go to one of the industrial compostable facilities.