Residents

Composting Tips

The Principles of "ADAM and EVE" will help to ensure you get a healthy compost:

A- Aliveness

Soil creatures like worms, ants, millipedes, slaters as well as billions of microscopic bacteria and fungi will help to break down the materials into compost.

D- Diversity

As the saying goes, 'variety is the spice of life' and so it is for a compost heap. The greater the diversity of materials put into the heap, the greater the range of nutrients you will get out of your heap. Greater diversity also means that the materials will turn into compost at a faster rate.

Compost works best if it is about 5 parts dry ingredients to 2 -3 parts wet ingredients, however if you are unable to do this, it will still work. Remember- there is no exact method!

A- Air

Air is important in attracting and keeping the soil creatures, bacteria and fungi which will break it down. Turning the compost every 1-2 weeks will help it to break down.

M- Moisture

The soil creatures, bacteria and fungi need water to survive. Sometimes, if we put a lot of wet kitchen scraps into the compost, we do not need to add water. However, you may need to put a bit of water on to keep the heap moist.

Compost should be damp, not soggy.

By practicing ADAM, you get EVE!

Composters devote as little as five minutes each week to maintain their compost heap.

E- Energy

Energy in the form of natural fertiliser for your garden. It also saves you money from purchasing it from the nursery! Secondly it contributes to saving energy as it takes a lot of energy to transport green waste to the Waste Processing Facility and turn it into compost.

V- Vitality

Compost brings vitality to your garden. Not only does compost recycle organic matter into fertiliser for your plants, it also increases the number of soil organisms in your garden which in turn, increases the health of plants and decreases the risks of disease.

E- Environment

Composting helps the environment by returning nutrients back to the soil. There is also discussion that composts could possibly serve as 'mini carbon sinks'.

After about eight weeks the finished compost should be dark, crumbly and sweet smelling and ready to put into the garden.