There are a number of ways you can reduce your everyday kitchen and garden waste at home. Whether you live in a large house or small city apartment, the City of Melbourne has information on the best options for you.
City of Melbourne provides discount compost bins and worm farms to residents. For more information or to purchase a compost bin or worm farm, contact the City of Melbourne on (03) 9658 9658.
Composting
Compost bins can be purchased for $40. These bins are 225 litres capacity (76cm high by 58cm wide) and made from 100 per cent recycled plastic. For more information or to purchase a compost bin, contact the City of Melbourne on (03) 9658 9658.
What can be composted?
As a general rule, anything that was once part of a living thing can be composted. The ideal compost mixture is 20 parts of carbon to one part of nitrogen (by volume).
Material high in nitrogen includes:
- vegetable scraps
- fruit peelings
- farm manure
- fresh lawn clippings
- tea leaves
- coffee grounds
- garden weeds
- cut flowers
Material high in carbon includes:
- dry leaves and bark
- pruning
- sawdust
- shredded paper
- wood ash
- egg cartons
- straw
- dry grass
For best results, chop and grind coarse material into smaller pieces to speed breakdown.
What can't be composted?
Large woody branches, bones, fats and oils, meat, fish or dairy products, weeds with bulbs, pet droppings, plastic, metals or glass.
Worm farms
If you have very little garden space you can still compost some of your kitchen waste by using a worm farm. Worm farms are odourless, require very little maintenance and produce rich fertiliser for your garden and pot plants. City of Melbourne provides discount worm farms to residents. For more information, see Worm farms.
Fermenting organic kitchen waste (Bokashi buckets)
Residents with very limited space may also like to try a Bokashi bucket. Bokashi is Japanese for “fermented organic matter” and uses beneficial microbes to ferment organic waste, rather than compost it. The end result is a fermented (or pickled) mass of waste that can go straight into the soil. There’s no need to compost the material, and it doesn’t smell. The bucket is small enough to be placed on the kitchen bench or under the sink.
More information is available from retailers such as:
What else can I do with my organic waste?
Please note: Both of these services are for garden organics only. They do not include food or kitchen scraps.
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