composting

Recently I set up a compost bin for my block of units. I was unsure of how to go about it but I did a workshop with the Watershed, which was really helpful and I came away with a free compost bin as well! It's great to see the Sydney City Council encouraging people to live sustainably with intiatives like this.
Here's how I set up my bin:

1. I put the bin on a patch of dirt so that it will attract worms, slaters and other little creatures that will help to break down the food waste. Ideally, it should be in the sun as heat helps the composting process. But if you don't have a spot in the sun (as I didn't) it's OK, the process will just take a bit longer.
2. Put down a layer of green, or carbon matter. This includes hay, paper, dried leaves, hair etc.
3. Put down a layer of brown, or nitrogen matter such as food scraps.
4. Put down another layer of carbon matter and sprinkle with water, then cover with a hessian sack, also sprinkled with water.

I've been maintaining the bin by aerating it twice a week, much easier now I have obtained a compost corkscrew! I can already see some good compost soil forming in the bin, so it must be working! Hopefully more and more people in my building will start using it. Since I've been putting my food scraps and peelings in there I've dramatically reduced my waste. I barely fill one plastic bag of garbage now. Well on my way to zero waste!
The Watershed have some other interesting workshops on that I'm keen to check out, such as Natural Cleaning, and Eating Sustainably.