Home composting is an effortless, free activity that is great for the environment as it diverts waste from landfill sites and you don't have to be green-fingered to make your own. The Recycle Now Home Composting Campaign tells you how to get started

Why compost?

If you are worried about the environment and keen to recycle, home composting is rapidly becoming a key way that you can get involved on a daily basis. Home composting can be very beneficial for the environment.

When organic waste items such as fruit scraps and vegetable peelings, grass cuttings and even newspaper are sent to landfill, they are unable to decompose properly because they get squashed under everything else and have no access to air. Instead of breaking down into compost, they produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas, which contributes to global warming.

By composting at home, you can reduce the waste in your household bin by one third and put these nutrients back into your own garden.

How to get started

It is easy to start composting at home. You can buy compost bins from garden centres, and most local councils offer reduced-rate bins.

It is best to site your bin on a level, well-drained spot. This allows excess water to drain out and makes it easier for helpful creatures such as worms to get in and get working on breaking down the contents. Placing your bin in a partially sunny spot can help speed up the composting process.

What can I put in my compost bin?

Your compost will rely on the right things being put into it to make it work. Good things you can compost include vegetable peelings, fruit waste, tea bags, plant prunings and grass cuttings. These are considered 'greens'. Greens are quick to rot and they provide important nitrogen and moisture.

Other things you can compost include cardboard egg boxes, fallen leaves and even scrunched up newspaper. These are considered 'browns' and are slower to rot. They provide fibre and carbon and also allow important air pockets to form in the mixture. Crushed eggshells can be included to add useful minerals.

There are some things you shouldn't put in your compost bin. These include cooked vegetables, meat, dairy products, diseased plants, and definitely no dog poo, cat litter, or baby's nappies.

You need to keep your greens and browns properly balanced. If your compost is too wet, add more browns. If it's too dry, add some greens. Adding scrunched up bits of cardboard is a simple way to create air pockets that will help keep your compost healthy. Air can also be added by mixing the contents. After approximately six to nine months your finished compost will be ready and you will have your own free soil conditioner to use on your garden.

If you haven't got the space to accommodate a compost bin in your garden, take your garden waste to a local recycling centre so that your council can turn it into peat-free compost or check if a local doorstep collection is available in your area.

The finished product

Finished compost is a dark brown, almost black soil-like layer that you'll find at the bottom of your bin. It has a spongy texture and is rich in nutrients. Some bins have a small hatch at the bottom that you can remove to get at the finished product, but sometimes it's even easier to lift the bin or to tip it over to get at your compost.

Add your compost as a soil conditioner, to provide the nutrients, moisture and structure that plants need to grow or use the compost as mulch. Scatter it over flowerbeds and around shrubs to prevent soil erosion and enrich the soil with extra nutrients.

Compost can also be used for planting seeds as bulbs. Mix one third compost with one third garden soil and one third sharp sand to improve drainage.

For potting more established plants, a combination of half home compost and half garden soil creates a really nutritious planting medium.

The Recycle Now Home Composting Campaign works with local authorities across England to provide compost bins at reduced rates to encourage more people to take up home composting and increase the amount and variety of organic material that they compost.