Composting and worm farms

Food scraps for the compost bin or worm farm.

About composting

Composting is using a different bin called a compost bin for items such as vegetable scraps and garden prunings.

After about four months the scraps decompose and make a good garden fertiliser called ‘compost’.

News about Council's composting hubs

Three community composting hubs are being established by Council in collaboration with local residents, to assist householders who aren’t able to compost at home, as a trial for 6 months to 1 year. Each of the hubs will be managed by the residents using it and the composted material generated will also be available for use by those households.

So far two hubs have been set up - one at PepperTree Place Community Garden, Urquhart Street, Coburg and one at the end of Wolseley Street, Coburg. A third site is currently being developed on Colebrook Street, Brunswick.

Residents who want to participate in the trial can register online to use one of the three hubs. All participating households receive a free kitchen compost caddy and information on how to compost. Compost workshops will also be held at the hubs to assist hub users.

Four reasons to compost your food waste

Composting is good for the environment because less food and garden waste is disposed of in landfill.
Food and garden waste produce the harmful greenhouse gas methane when they break down in landfill, so composting means less greenhouse gases are created.
Composting produces free fertiliser for your garden and pot plants.
Composting means there will be less rubbish in your rubbish bin.

Community composting hub trials - background

A recent survey of 1000 residents revealed that only one third of Moreland residents are composting their food and garden waste. Over 80 per cent of respondents compost to improve soil and fertilise their gardens, over half also compost to reduce waste to landfill and one third of respondents compost for environmental reasons.

The main reasons people had for not composting were lack of space and lack of knowledge. Council has been working with local residents to develop three community composting hub trial sites to assist residents who aren't able to compost at home.

The trial sites will be located at:

Colebrook Street, Brunswick (currently under development)
Wolseley Street, Coburg, and
PepperTree Place community garden, Urquhart Street, Coburg.

If you are interested in being invloved in a community composting hub trial site as a participant, volunteer or recipient of composted material, please complete the online registration form. To find out more or to be kept informed about this program email Council.

Buy a cheap compost bin with free delivery in Moreland

Council sells the Rotoplastic 220 litre compost bin to households, businesses, organisations and schools based in Moreland.

Council subsidises the compost bin price and sells it for $49.50 including GST. The compost bin comes in black (made from 100 per cent recycled plastic) or green (made from 50 per cent recycled plastic).

To buy a compost bin from Council:

fill in the Green Waste Bin and Compost Bin Order Form (PDF 1Mb)
post it to Council with your payment of $49.50 or bring it to a Council Citizens Service Centre.
Council will deliver your compost bin for free during business hours to any property in Moreland.

Compost bins and other water saving products are eligible for state government rebates, visit Our Water, Our Future for details.

Worm farms or Bokashi Buckets for units and flats

A worm farm is a good alternative to a compost bin for people with less space or no garden. You can keep a worm farm in a small outside area that is undercover. This could be your carpark, garage or verandah.

Council does not sell worm farms or worms. Buy them from CERES Community Environment Park or nurseries.

A Bokashi Bucket is an anaerobic system that uses an innoculated grain product to ferment food waste. Bokashi is made from sawdust, bran and micro-organisms. It normally takes around 1 - 2 months to fill the bucket with food waste, depending on how many vegetables you eat. Once the bucket is full you will need to bury the food waste in soil so that it can continue to break down. You can also add the fermented food waste to a compsot heap.

Council does not sell Bokashi Buckets. You can buy one from The Environment Shop.

Setting up and looking after your compost bin

Location of your compost bin

Choose a well-drained and sunny spot in your garden for your compost bin.

How to start the compost bin

Before you put food scraps or newspaper into the compost bin, put in a layer of:

twigs or bush cuttings, and
lime, soil and manure.

How to add to and look after your compost bin

A compost bin must have a balance of 'green' (food scraps, garden cuttings and leaves) and 'brown' (dry materials like newspaper, straw, sawdust and dolomite).

When you add kitchen and garden waste, cover it with a layer of soil.

Other things to help your compost

Turn your compost every 3 to 5 days with a stick.
Make sure your compost is as moist as a wet sponge. If not, add water.
Add worms.

Problems with your compost bin

Smelly compost is caused by too much moisture and not enough air. To fix, add more dry material like straw, newspaper or dry leaves and turn the heap more often.
Rats and mice in your compost happens when you add the wrong food like bread and cakes or too much fresh material. To fix, cover fresh food with a layer of soil or compost and take bread and cakes out of the compost bin.
Slow compost is caused by not enough nutrients, air and moisture. To fix, add more food scraps, turn the compost more often, add water and add a shovel full of soil and manure.
Ants in your compost is caused by dry compost. To fix, add more water and food scraps and turn the compost more often.
White worms are about 1 cm long and can be mistaken for baby worms. They are caused when compost is too acidic. To fix, remove any acidic material like oranges, lemons or onions and add a handful of lime or wood ash and mix well.

More information on how to compost can be found on the WikiHow website.

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