Recycling-compost things; does anyone have one? Just thinking of getting one, are they worth it? Seen one on veolia website, or whatever they call themselves since they changed from Onyx. They are £6-didnt think that was bad at all.

Thanks in advance.

We got one this summer, so we've not been able to use the finished product yet.
I think its well worth it. Between doing the composting and recycling alot of other stuff, it means we only have to put our black bin out every 3 weeks or so.

i've had mine a few years now and it does cut down on the amount of time you have to take your black bin out...and gives you lovely compost....and a nice job for the kiddies :gag:

Thanks-did you get them local? Where they about £6 ish?

Thanks again. x

I got mine from Onyx too, it was delivered and it cost more than £6 as it was a few years ago now and they have since dropped the price.

Thanks-did you get them local? Where they about £6 ish?

Thanks again. x

I got mine from Onyx, I apllied oline I think, and they deliver it to your door. You get a free tub to collect your kitchen waste in too. Thoroughly recomend it.

i got one from blackwall, who i think are associated with onyx/veolia/whatever. still haven't used the contents, but as one of the other posters said, what witht he composter and other recycling (sainsburys on abbeydale road now take tetrapack) the bin only needs emptying every 2/3 weeks, which is quite pleasing.

Nice one-think will get ordering one!! Cheers!

I was thinking about getting one, until a friend told me they had to get rid of theirs because the rotting food encouraged rats!! UGH !!!!

I've got 5 now!

Brilliant - like a small army of Daleks at the top of my garden. :thumbsup:

TOP TIP:
Get hold of a copy of Octobers Garden News (a newspaper not a mag) there's a centre section all about successful composting!

I was thinking about getting one, until a friend told me they had to get rid of theirs because the rotting food encouraged rats!! UGH !!!!
Were they putting cooked food & meat/dairy products in?

These should go into the dustbin as they do not compost.

I was thinking about getting one, until a friend told me they had to get rid of theirs because the rotting food encouraged rats!! UGH !!!!

There are rules on what you should put in there. Fruit waste and peelings, teabags, egg shells, garden cuttings and juice cartons etc are allowed; cooked vegetables, meat and dairy products are not. The compost bins aren't designed for all organic waste.

:)

The best type of compost bins are the wooden gate type ones. We have a plastic one and a large wooden one and each time the wooden one produces beautiful compost. Its beacuse it has great ventilation.

Though the plastic one is better for attracting worms - if u hav a pond ther great for feeding the fish!!

I have one of those plastic ones which i fill with leftovers and i add worms to make the compost faster.
The soil that comes out is brilliant stuff but last year i forgot to stir it and the stink almost wiped the entire town out.

There are rules on what you should put in there. Fruit waste and peelings, teabags, egg shells, garden cuttings and juice cartons etc are allowed; cooked vegetables, meat and dairy products are not. The compost bins aren't designed for all organic waste.

:)
If you order one via Onyx/Veoila, as well as the kitchen caddy thing, you get a big fridge magnet telling you what you can and can't put in!

You can also put a layer of shredded paper in there every so often which aerates it all, and should make it break down quicker and be more crumbly. :thumbsup:

I was thinking about getting one, until a friend told me they had to get rid of theirs because the rotting food encouraged rats!! UGH !!!!

My dad had rats nesting in the bottom of (2 of) his. He never, ever put cooked food in it just peelings and stuff from the garden. We think they nested there for the warmth. I think about getting one every time a leaflet comes through the door but I remember the rats and dont bother!

i`ve just been down the garden to put some peelings in mine and it`s got lots of little flies in it, is this normal?
It`s newish and i`ve only had it about 2 months, it`s mainly got peelings in and a bit of grass.

i`ve just been down the garden to put some peelings in mine and it`s got lots of little flies in it, is this normal?
It`s newish and i`ve only had it about 2 months, it`s mainly got peelings in and a bit of grass.
All the insects are good because they do their bit to turn the waste into soil. The more insects the better in my opinion, I even throw the occasional shovel full of soil into my composter for the bacteria and Im always lobbing earthworms and slugs and snails in.

Ta for that, i was getting a bit worried.
I forgot to mention it also has teabags init but i keep forgetting to save them.
I`m getting better though :D

great to hear so many compost tips....a bagful of fresh horse manure seems to be really good at speeding up the composting process in our bins
....as well as lots of garden and kitchen waste it's important to keep up the carbon content of the compost bin...so lots of shredded newspaper...shredded utility bills (prevent identity fraud too!)....and also Starbucks bag up used coffee grinds and have them in their shops for free for gardeners!

If you turn your compost stuff around regularly eg every 1-2 weeks or so this gets lots of air in and speeds up process (and stops grass cuttings turning to green slime)

J

Does it smell badly ?
I'm tempted to compost my garden waste because I have a lot of privet. Are they good for composting, or they don't work ?

Btw, how come orange carton can be composted ? I thought it's made with a plastic coating. :confused:

A spadefull of wood ash & a bit of garden soil (like Jabbers suggests) gets rid of nasty niffs from compost bins.

Turning the top layer regularly aeriates it & gets rid of the anaerobic (smelly) bacteria too. :thumbsup:

i`ve got some wood ash and paper ashes in my garden incinerator from bonfire night, can i just empty it all into the composter?

Yes indeed.
So long as you didn't burn too many nasty things like polystyrene or any tyres that will leave a harsh residue :thumbsup:

Tip it in & give the top bit a good old stir :)

Great, thanks for that.
*puts on wellies and hobbles off down garden*

I opened mine to stick some stuff in and a rat was looking at me!

omg, i`d pass out! what did you do??
Does your composter have a botom bit on it?
mines stood on some paving stones.

Not the right time of year really but I heard that bracken and young nettles were good accelerators too..
I put some in my (basic black dalek wormless) compost and it's working a treat - only about a third full despite 4 months worth of food waste, a binbag of leaves (for structure and anti-slime) and all my old failures of tomato plants.
Love it! I have mine on a converter plate by the way as we have no grass or soil, just gravel patio. Thanks SCC and Veolia for a great cheap bin!
Have also just started using those compostable corn starch bags for the kitchen caddy - looking good.

Hey everyone....what do I do with my compost bin in the winter, do I need to do anything different with it to what I do in the summer?

Hello all,

I have a normal compost bin (black plastic) and a wormery. However, one tip i would have is that the wormery would be better iof it was one of the type with different layered tays in it, so once one layer is fully eaten by the worms and is compost you can take it out. But i put all my food scraps in there, and all my garden rubbish in the compost. Occasionally if i do a big chop back in the garden i get my electric shredder out and shredd everything down.

I also like the idea of shredding paper and compopsting that. brilliant, cos i never have enough room in my blue bin!