Compost & Worm Farms
Food waste makes up almost 50% of the material in the red lidded garbage bin. In Australia, an estimated $5.3 billion or 20% of purchased food each year is discarded to landfill making it the most wasted commodity in Australian households.
The Love Food Hate Waste programme is aimed at helping residents reduce as much avoidable food waste as possible. For unavoidable food waste (vegetable and fruit peelings, apple cores, tea bags etc) setting up a compost bin or worm farm will help you turn that waste into nutrient-rich fertiliser for your garden.
The Compost Revolution is a community initiative which began in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney and has spread to Willoughby. It promotes home composting, growing food locally and connecting with your neighbours.
Willoughby Council sells compost bins, worm farms and Bokashi Buckets (plus starter mix) to residents. Compost bins cost $40, worm farms cost $64 (not including worms) and Bokashi Buckets cost $64 (includes one bag of starter mix). We offer free home delivery for compost bins and worm farms. Bokashi Buckets can be picked up from the Help and Service Centre on level 4, 31 Victor Street, Chatswood.
You can either pay over the counter at the Help and Service Centre by cheque, cash or credit card, or post a cheque to Willoughby City Council, P.O. Box 57, Chatswood, NSW 2057, with a note saying what it’s for and with an address for delivery. To find out more, call 9777 1000. (Please note that all credit card transactions incur a 1% fee.)
If you are not sure which system will work best for you, you need help getting started or you need trouble-shooting advice, come along to one of the free council-run composting and worm farming workshops for residents. Check diary dates for the next workshop or call Council on 9777 1000 for more information.
You'll find some steps below to help you set up a compost bin, worm farm or Bokashi Bucket.
Further compost related paraphernalia such as worms and worm blankets can be found at the School Communities Recycling All Paper (SCRAP) website.
Composting
Composting is the natural decomposition of organic materials such as insects, bacteria and fungi into a dark, soil-like substance called compost. Almost half of the waste we produce is compost-friendly, so it’s a fantastic way to reduce landfill. You can use compost as a fertiliser or a substitute for potting mix.
How to begin composting:
- Choose a well-drained, sunny spot. You could compost in a heap, a three-sided enclosure, or in a special bin like those available at Council. Enclosures allow rapid decomposition and aeration, while the bins give easy temperature and vermin control.
- You can compost anything that was once living, however it’s better to avoid composting meat, dairy or oily products. A good start is to compost 20 parts carbon-rich material like paper and dry leaves to 1 part nitrogen-rich material like fruit peelings and lawn cuttings.
- The bottom of your compost should be a layer 8 to 12 cm thick made up of coarse material like twigs or mulch. This allows air to get in. A thin layer of food scraps can go on next, then perhaps some grass clippings, then manure. Make sure you add water after each layer. Just keep layering until the bin is full!
- Every now and then drive a stake or something else long and thin through the centre of the compost a couple of times to let the air circulate, or turn it with a garden fork. Make sure your compost is moist but not wet. Stuffy and wet compost really smells!
- When the heap is full, just pick up the bin and start a new one elsewhere using the top third of the original heap as your starting layers.
Composting Tips:
- If things are decomposing really slow, your heap is probably too dry. Add some water.
- Old newspaper makes a great dry layer.
- If your compost gets really smelly, add a handful of garden lime.
- Turn it regularly to keep it aerated and healthy.
- Make sure food scraps are covered at all time. You could use an old t-shirt or hessian bag.
Clean Up Australia has more information on composting.
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Worm Farming
Worm farms are a great way to turn leftover kitchen scraps into fertiliser without taking up much space. Even if you have a balcony instead of a backyard, all you need is a cool spot with lots of shade. Just buy or make a worm farm, get some worms, and start feeding them. They will produce soil-like ‘castings’ and a liquid which both make great natural fertiliser.
How to make a worm farm:
- Put a mixture of combined shredded paper, coconut fibre, leaves and compost as a bedding layer, about 10 – 15 cm deep, then add around 1000 to 2000 worms (you can buy worms at some hardware or gardening stores). Let them burrow around for a few days.
- Start adding small amounts of shredded kitchen scraps. They like vegetable and fruit peelings, tea bags, eggshells and paper. Try not to feed them meat, dairy products, oily food or acidic things like orange and onion. Just add little amounts to begin with; when they finish most of the previous food then add more.
- Your worms will produce a soil-like substance called castings. This stuff is a great fertiliser and potting mix. To harvest the castings, move them to one side of the farm and put new food on the other side. The worms will migrate into the food and you can then get your castings without taking all the worms too. Another method is to place the worm farm under direct sun. The worms will dig deeper into the farm, leaving the top layer free to be harvested.
- The worms will also make a liquid that will collect in the bottom of your box. This is a liquid fertiliser, but dilute it before use.
Worm Farming Tips:
- If it smells, you’re probably just giving them too much food or water. Build them up to larger portions of food gradually.
- If your farm is invaded by cockroaches and ants, make sure you keep a lid on it or cover it with an old hessian bag.
- If your worms aren’t breeding, make sure the farm is in a shady a cool place (around 18 – 25 degrees) and make sure it’s moist (but not wet!).
- Acidity can be caused by too much sugary food like fruits and grains. Sprinkle some dolomite, wood ash or lime on the farm.
Clean Up Australia has some more information on worm farming.
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Bokashi Bucket
The Bokashi Bucket is a practical and convenient way to prevent food waste from ending up in landfill, while providing your garden with a nourishing food source and enriching microbes. It is a simple and convenient composting system. The Bokashi Bucket is designed to be stored in your kitchen. The use of microorganisms in the Bokashi Mix permits rapid fermentation, eliminating the odours and unpleasantness associated with putrefaction and decay.
You can compost almost every kitchen food waste including fresh fruit and vegetables, prepared foods, cooked and uncooked meats and fish, dairy, eggs, bread, coffee grinds, tea bags, wilted flowers and tissues.
How to use a Bokashi Bucket:
- Layer your waste with a sprinkling of Bokashi Mix until your Bokashi Bucket is full.
- Frequently drain the Bokashi Juice that has accumulated in the bottom of the bucket. Diluted with water Bokashi Juice makes a terrific natural fertiliser or it can be poured down drains as a natural drain cleaner.
- Once the Bokashi Bucket is full, the waste is ready to bury. Dig a hole or trench, add your Bokashi waste and mix in some soil, cover with remaining soil. Due to the microbes in the Bokashi Mix the waste breaks down very quickly. When you bury your waste you are adding life to your soil as well as the nutrients from the food waste. Bokashi waste can be added to a conventional compost bin.
- Wash out your Bokashi Bucket and start the process again.
Bokashi Bucket Tips:
- Minimise the amount of rotten or mouldy food waste added to The Bokashi Bucket.
- Break or chop large waste into smaller pieces.
- Always close the lid tightly and drain the Bokashi Juice that accumulates at the bottom frequently.
- Do not add water, excessive amounts of fluids or place the bucket in the sun.
- This is a new approach to composting. Don’t be afraid to experiment with it until you get a feel for how this process can work best for you.
- If you live in a apartment or have limited garden space, empty your Bokashi Bucket somewhere else such as the gardens of friends and family or look into community composting & gardening projects in your area.
Full instructions are provided with each bucket purchase.
Food Waste Disposers
Food waste disposers (also known as insinkerators) are systems that grind food scraps into smaller chunks, which are then discharged into the sewerage system. The sewage treatment plants remove this waste, with the rate of removal varying depending on the level of treatment. A portion of what is discharged via the food waste disposer will end up in the receiving waters of Sydney Water’s treatment plants.
Sydney Water does not encourage the installation of food waste disposers because:
- the additional water used per household to discharge the food waste into the drainage system (approximately 4 litres per household per day)
- the increased load food solids places on sewerage transport and treatment systems
- the additional impact on receiving waters
Note: Food waste disposers are not permitted to be installed in commercial properties. In premises such as restaurants, the quantity of food preparation can be very high. Through its Trade Waste Policy, Sydney Water requires commercial properties to have grease traps to treat the wastewater discharged from their premises. A food waste disposer would increase the discharge of food waste to be treated by the grease trap and as a result are not permitted.
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