Using your kitchen and garden waste to make compost will reduce your household’s rubbish, save you trips to the local dump and will also improve the soil in your garden at virtually no cost. Even in the smallest of Chiswick gardens there is enough room for a compost bin and it’s very easy to get started.

If you don't want to make a compost heap, there are many composters on the market varying in size, style and price. Or contact your local council to ask about their free or discounted compost bin promotions:
Hounslow Recycling Team: call 020 8583 5555 or email recycling@hounslow.gov.uk
Ealing Council: call Straight Recycling on 0845 130 60 90

THINGS YOU CAN PUT IN YOUR COMPOST HEAP
Kitchen waste:

Vegetable peelings, fruit scraps, tea bags and coffee grounds, dead flowers

 

Garden waste:

Grass cuttings, hedge clippings, vegetable stalks, annual weeds, leaves

 

Other (limited quantities only):

Straw, rabbit bedding, torn or shredded paper/card, natural fibres, wood ash, sawdust

THINGS YOU CAN’T PUT IN YOUR COMPOST HEAP
Meat, fish or bones, cooking oils and fats, cat and dog faeces, plastic/ glass/ metal, glossy paper, diseased plants, egg shells (may attract rats)

TIPS FOR COMPOSTING

Set the bin on bare soil to encourage worms
Add a mixture of tough and tender stuff
Cover it to keep the rain out

A soggy, smelly heap needs more tough dry stuff added

A dry heap needs watering

For a quicker return, turn the heap now and again

If you would like more detailed advice about composting contact your local council on the above numbers, or visit the website of The Henry Doubleday Research Association at www.hdra.org.uk for useful composting information.