In celebration of National Compost Week, we’re answering one of your frequently asked questions every day to provide more information about composting. We very much hope this will encourage more people to get involved in composting, whether by simply recycling their garden and food waste or by starting their very own compost bin.
What Can I Compost?
This is a great question as there are two types of compostable waste: green waste and brown waste.
- Green waste is rich in nitrogen and quick to rot, things like fruits and vegetables come under this category along with leaves, flowers and grass.
- Brown waste refers to woody materials such as twigs, branches, stalks, wood and paper.
To work out which category your item falls into, think about how quickly it would go off. For examples, apples and oranges rot quite quickly, so apple cores and orange peel would fall under green waste.
If you’re starting a compost bin or compost heap for your own garden, you can put both green and brown waste into it.You can also include some everyday household waste items such as bread, teabags and coffee grounds, eggshells and even vacuum cleaner dust. Click here to find out more about Compost Week 2021 or click here to find out why we’re so passionate about soil health.