Home composting

What is home composting and why is it a good thing to do?

Composting is nature's process of recycling food and garden waste into a valuable and nutrient rich food for your garden. By home composting you can:

Reduce your household and garden waste. This means less waste has to be transported and processed elsewhere – a win for the environment!
Save money. Once you’ve purchased your compost bin, there is nothing else you need to buy. You’ll then be continuously creating your own soil improver which could be ready in just 6-12 months, for free!
Improve your garden. Adding compost to your garden will enrich your soil with nutrients, improve the soil structure, reduce pests, and build resilience in your garden. Adding it as a mulch around plants can also help to suppress weeds, moderate soil temperature, and retain moisture.
Support wildlife. Composting at home creates a great environment for insects such as worms and beetles. They will work hard digesting your food and garden waste into valuable soil improver.
Get outside. Even a short trip outside to your compost bin is a great opportunity to get some fresh air!

How do I home compost?

Composting at home is quick to set up and the process is simple, but it's important to get the basics right.

Get your compost bin. To help you get started, we offer subsidised compost bins to all Redbridge residents. Order yours today from the Get Composting website.
Place your bin in a sunny spot in your garden, preferably on soil but it will work on paving or gravel. Position your bin in a convenient place for you – think about how far you’ll want to walk in the middle of winter!

Start adding your kitchen and garden waste into the bin. Like any good recipe, you’ll need the right mixture of ingredients to make it work. A 50/50 mix of 'greens' and 'browns' is perfect. Take care not to compost cooked food, meat or fish.

'Browns' you can compost	'Greens' you can compost	Things you cannot compost
Twigs	Grass trimmings	Any cooked food including fruit and vegetables
Leaves	Plant cuttings	Meat and fat
Shredded paper	Weeds	Bones
Cardboard	Fruit and vegetable peelings	Fish
Egg shells	Tea bags and tea leaves	Dairy such as cheese and milk
Straw and hay	Old flowers	Dog poo

Wait and let the nature do the work. It takes between six and twelve months for your compost to become ready for use. Keep adding greens and browns to top up your compost in the meantime.
Once your compost has turned into a crumbly, dark material, resembling thick, moist soil and gives off an earthy, fresh aroma, you know it’s ready to be spread around your garden.

Free online composting training

As a Redbridge resident, you can complete free online composting training, provided by Garden Organic.

The course has five modules that you can select, from basics to in depth knowledge, including videos and quizzes. Each section lasts 10 to 20 minutes. You can just stick with the basics or go through everything if you wish – all at your own pace. You can come back to the course at any time, so it doesn’t have to be completed at once.

Free in-person workshops

If an in-person workshop is more your thing you can invite the Our Streets team to deliver a free composting workshop to your group. This could be a community group, school, or group of friends or neighbours. We simply ask that you have between 10 and 15 participants ready and willing to learn. Get in touch with us to find out more.

Community Composting

If you live in a flat:

Some of our residents have already started a shared community composting project. It works the same way as if you live in a house with a garden, only, the residents have a shared bin in a communal green area. If you’d like to know more about this opportunity get in touch with us. If you'd like to set up your own community composting bin up, you can complete this expression of interest form.

Community composting in Redbridge parks:

In Autumn 2024 we launched two brand new community composting sites in Redbridge parks - to help residents reduce waste and carbon, and to create soil improver to be used within the parks.

Goodmayes Park, next to the Park Keeper’s compound, Aberdour Road, Goodmayes. What3words location.
Seven Kings Park, next to the Park Keeper’s compound, located near the Epsom Road entrance, Ilford. What3words location.

The sites are accessible during park opening times and are particularly useful for those local to the parks, who are unable to compost at home due to lack of outside space.

Items that can be composted here include uncooked fruit and vegetables, peelings, tea bags, coffee grounds, paper caddy liners, and unwrapped dead flowers. You can use a kitchen caddy or any similar receptacle (such as an empty ice cream tub) to store your food in at home, but please do not use compostable food bags to line your caddy or receptacle. If you would like to use a liner, please use brown paper bags, newspaper or thin carboard such as a cereal box, these items can all be deposited in the compost bin with your food waste. A list of accepted materials can be found at each site.

Frequently asked questions about home composting

To compost at home all you need to do is get a compost bin, place it in your garden and throw in your garden waste and kitchen scraps. It will naturally break down and turn into compost which is an soil improver excellent for flower beds, vegetable patches and pot plants.

How does it turn into compost?

Worms, slugs, ants, beetles, bacteria and other little creatures find their way into your compost bin and break down the waste as they eat it, slowly turning it into compost.

How long does it take to turn into compost?

Your compost will be ready in about 6-9 months but this may be faster or slower depending on where you put your bin and the time of year. It will be quicker if it is in a sunny spot in the garden and slower in winter time when temperatures are colder. Don't forget if you are continually adding new things into the top it will only be ready low down so you will need to have a look from the bottom.

Will it attract rats and mice into my garden?

No. There is no reason a compost bin will attract rats or mice if you follow the rules about what you can and cannot compost, as shown the table above. Rats and mice will only be interested in your compost bin if there is meat and cooked foods in there, so keep those out and pests will stay away!

Can I compost if I have a patio?

Yes, you can place a compost bin on any surface. If it is on a patio it will take longer to get going than if it is on the grass or soil because it will take more time for the creatures to find their way in to the bin. This means it will work just as well but just take longer.

There are lots of flies in my compost bin, is it ok?

If there are a lot of flies and it looks slimy in your compost bin then you have put too many 'greens' in the bin and need more 'browns'. Add more 'browns' and give it a stir if possible and it will be fine. If you are adding lots of grass cuttings try and mix them up with shredded paper or scrunched up cardboard to create important air pockets.

It looks very dry in my compost bin, is it ok?

If it looks dry and like not much is going on in there then you have put too many 'browns' in your bin and need to add more 'greens'. Giving it some water will also help.

My compost bin smells and is wet and slimy inside?

You have not added the right mixture of waste. You need to add more 'brown' material to add air pockets and carbon to the mix.

Be careful with adding clumps of nitrogen rich matter at once as this will disturb the balance. For example, grass cuttings are high in nitrogen and if added in a clump may break down quickly and go slimy. To prevent this, gather your cuttings and mix with shredded paper and/or other browns and add to the bin together.

My compost looks all dry and nothing is happening?

You need to add more 'greens' to the mix like fruit and vegetable peelings.

I can't get my compost out of the door on the bin?

The best way to get your compost out is to lift off the entire bin and place it to one side. You will uncover a 'compost lasagne' consisting of a 'well done' bottom section, 'half done' middle and fresh layer on top. Simply fork off the top two layers to reveal your compost underneath.

Why can't I compost cooked food?

Technically, anything biodegradable can be composted but be wary of cooked food as it may attract pests.

I want to speed up my compost, what do you recommend?

Composting can be done in a laid back 'as and when' fashion as long as the right mix is present. However, to speed up the process the bin needs to be made hotter. To achieve this - 'turn' (fork about) regularly to increase airflow and bacteria growth and/or add and stir in nitrogen rich matter such as grass and stinging nettles or horse manure. Compost accelerator products are essentially liquid nitrogen, the same make up as male urine which has been traditionally used for this purpose.

What can I do with my compost?

Use as a potting compost (mix half with normal soil), spread as a mulch around trees, on a dormant winter bed or on a lawn. Dig into a bed in spring. Don't be put off composting if you have a small garden - you won't be producing piles of compost you can't deal with if you only have food waste to put in. Compost bins can easily go four years without needing to be emptied and some people do compost just as a waste prevention method, not for gardening purposes.

Your feedback is important to us
Help us improve our service