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International composting week has us thinking about all things composting; compost bins, worm farms, bokashi… whatever method you choose, diverting your organic waste from landfill is fantastic, and comes with many benefits for both you and the planet.Unfortunately, an eye-watering 50% of the waste that goes to landfill here in Auckland is organic, meaning it could be composted and recycled back into the soil. All those valuable nutrients from your kitchen scraps are lost once trapped in landfill! And if that isn’t bad enough, this waste releases Methane as it anaerobically rots, a leading contributor to climate change. The scale of the problem can certainly seem overwhelming! But in fact there are many effective ways we can contribute to the solution on an individual level, and yep, you guessed it - composting is a big one.However, we know there can be barriers to composting. You may not have the space, or simply don’t have access to a garden to bury your compost or bokashi product. There are many factors that might make composting difficult for your particular lifestyle. Luckily, there are a couple of clever initiatives that can help you start composting regardless of where you live - read on for the run-down!Introducing ShareWaste, a free initiative brought to you by the Compost Collective. ShareWaste is a web app that facilitates urban composting, by connecting Kiwis who have organic waste with neighbours who have the means to compost them. Once you’ve signed up, you can connect with members who have room for organic waste in their compost bin, worm farm or bokashi bin, or are after scraps to feed their animals. Simply find a host in your area using the map, connect with them, and deliver your scraps (we also think it's a great way to meet like-minded people in your community!).Each host has their own requirements about the scraps they accept, so check around to find someone who suits you. If you have no garden but can manage a bokashi bin in your home, ShareWaste is perfect - you can continuously bokashi your scraps, and donate the nutrient-rich product without having to complete the composting process yourself in your own garden.ShareWaste is also great for avid composters on the go; now when you travel, you can find a host to take your scraps and turn them into soil for you. ShareWaste is not only NZ-wide, but is also available in many areas around the globe, so be sure to check next time you're away from home.If you’re already a compost enthusiast, and have the capacity to accept more organic waste, we encourage you to consider becoming a host. We love the idea behind this free initiative, and are so excited to see how accessible composting is becoming for everyone. Happy composting Gubba gardeners!                 SHOP COMPOST BINSSHOP WORM FARMSSHOP BOKASHI BINS

There are several good reasons to compost your food scraps and garden waste and return them to the soil. It doesn’t have to be hard, it certainly doesn’t have to be stinky or take a long time, and it can even be fun! The benefits for you, the environment and your garden are many...read on! For some, the goal of providing the right nutrients for a lush garden and bumper veggie crops is the key driver. While for others, it's the desire to do their bit and reduce household organic waste from going into landfill. And for a lot of people, it's both reasons - growing your own food and producing your own compost saves money, reconnects you with the land and your food sources, and gives you an element of control over how many chemicals are in your food and garden. Reducing household organic waste - why is it so important? It's been estimated that the average Kiwi household throws away the equivalent of 3 shopping trolleys of food waste each year. And it's sad to say that a lot of this is not scraps off the dinner plate, but excess-to-requirement or food that hasn't been stored properly and has gone "off". Add to that green and brown waste from the garden - lawn clippings is a huge one, garden trimmings, fallen leaves, plants pulled out from veggie gardens - it all accumulates. The problem with tossing this organic material in the bin instead of recycling it is the ever-growing issue of landfills. Nasty piles of vast combinations of rubbish that give off toxins and harmful gases and liquids that leach into the environment and do no good. When organic material is added to the landfill, it gets compacted down, removing the oxygen that's required for it to effectively decompose. This leads to the production of methane gas - a very potent and much more harmful gas than carbon dioxide from an environmental point of view. And comparatively, where composting can return organic scraps back into the garden in a matter of weeks or months, in the landfill the waste sits stagnant for years becoming a big problem for future generations. But with a little effort, this organic waste could be turned into nutrient-rich material that feeds the earth and gives back to where it came from. With the right composting set-up your household could reduce and recycle most of your organic waste. Even apartment dwellers can compost kitchen scraps! What are the main benefits of composting? Apart from the environmental landfill-reduction aspects, producing compost for the garden is beneficial in many ways. Whether you have a vegetable garden, flower garden, or trees, shrubs and lawn they all require some kind of fertilising to prosper and flourish. Compost is a mild, natural and nutrient-dense fertiliser that provides your garden with all the valuable minerals and goodies it needs to grow. Composting regularly - with solid matter or a liquid compost - and you'll notice a dramatic improvement in the quality of plant health and growth, size of vegetables and blooms, and also a reduction in disease and pest infestations. Happy, healthy plants are far more resilient to pest attack, reducing the need for chemical interference. Compost also enhances the condition of your soil. It can improve the structure of your soil, helping to maintain moisture levels and also a healthy ph level. Compost can be mixed into the soil before planting, placed on top or dug in around trees and plants, used as a topical mulch, sprinkled onto lawns, and compost liquids or juice can be diluted and used as a liquid fertiliser. Even though it's milder than chemical fertilisers or even fresh animal dung, when first completed, compost can still burn new or young plants, so it's best to make sure it's mixed in or diluted well before applying on or around seedlings and new lawns. These days there are so many options available for home composting - you don't need a lot of space, you don't need to wait for months and months for the end product, and it can be as easy or as complex, as you want it to be. Some types of compositing methods even accommodate a greater range of organic materials like meat, citrus and dairy! Keen to know more about home composting and which method may suit your place best? Read our article: Home Composting: How easy is it? View our range of compost bins and accessories.

In short? Very easy! There's a bit of a myth that to compost effectively at home you need a big space in your yard - or even a yard to start with! - and that it's messy, hard work, needs constant attention and will take forever and forever to work. Well, some of that can be true, but not all of it. In fact, composting methods and techniques have come so far that even homes with little courtyards or nothing more than an apartment balcony can be turning their food waste into valuable compost right now. Compost - why would we bother? The issue of food and other organic waste ending up in the landfill is a growing problem. The majority of household waste comes from the kitchen and Kiwis are throwing away truckloads of it each year. Not only does this lead to increasing greenhouse gases from the methane that is produced when food waste decomposes anaerobically (no it's not just burping cows that are to blame!), we're also wasting a magnificent opportunity to return what came from the earth back to the earth in the form of nutrient-rich, highly valuable organic matter.Compost Bins - all is not equal! When it comes to choosing the right composting method for your home there are a few things you need to consider as all is not created equal when it comes to what and how you compost your organic waste. Firstly, consider how serious you are about the whole thing. If you like the idea of it but have never given it a go, then something simple, small and easy like a bokashi bin might be the thing for you. Similarly, if you don't have a lot of space, or a big yard and a lot of garden waste to dispose of, bokashi is brilliant. If you have a yard, regularly collect lawn clippings, fallen leaves and have a large family producing loads of fruit and veggie scraps, then a large outdoor compost bin might just be the ticket. If budget is not such an issue and speed of composting is important, a tumbler could be the go. And if you're a dedicated reduce/reuse/recycle warrior then a combination of compost bin, worm farm and bokashi bin may suit you down to the ground. Add to that a few chickens and you’ll be generating enough compost to provide for your neighbor's garden too! Let’s take a look at the different methods of home composting…The Good Old-Fashioned Compost Bin Traditional compost bins are a great place to start if you have space for one in your yard and are looking for a fairly low-maintenance and budget-friendly setup. Compost bins require 3 things to work well - moisture, heat and a good flow of oxygen to break-down the waste effectively. They require aerating and turning of the pile regularly to encourage efficient decomposition. A DIY compost bin can be fashioned out of recycled timber pallets, you can buy a timber boxed-shaped open bin or you can try a simple, easy to assemble plastic model. Timber ones are great because they are usually cheap, easy to fill allow for good aeration and if big enough can generate quite a good bit of heat inside. The plastic versions are usually dark coloured to absorb heat from the sun, come with aeration holes to encourage oxygen flow, a lid to keep out critters, and sliding hatch doors for easy access to the decayed material at the bottom. They are generally quite large and can accommodate a lot of waste. You can also buy a handy compost aerator tool to help churn and aerate the contents. Typically, depending on the temperature (decomposition of waste is quicker in warmer months, and slower in cooler months) and other conditions being ideal, a regular compost bin will produce a lovely compost within 3-6 months. They are generally not mobile - where you set them up is where they will stay until you empty them.Try a tumbler You can up the ante a little with a tumbler composter and this speeds up the whole process, plus reduces the amount of effort required to aerate the pile. Tumblers literally do what they say, tumble the compost in an enclosed bin tossing it all around, adding in heaps of oxygen and mixing it thoroughly to break up the waste as it goes. These are also quite large and some even have two compartments so you can keep adding waste in one while the compost material in the other matures. Tumblers can churn-out compost a little quicker than their static cousins simply because of the amount of mixing and aeration they afford to the waste. All conditions being ideal it could be as quick as a couple of months. This is most likely in warmer summer months when the tumbler can generate a good deal of heat. In cooler months, unless they are insulated the tumbler won't retain as much heat and decomposition will be slower.BokashiBokashi is a convenient and quick method of composting. The word bokashi translates to ‘fermented organic matter’. Instead of allowing food to decay as with traditional composting methods, the bokashi fermentation process pickles food waste - this means you can compost almost any kitchen scraps! Raw or cooked meat, eggs, onions, small bones and cheese can all be swiftly dealt with by a bokashi bin. Plus, the whole process is up to 50% quicker than regular composting, and you won't get any smelly odours as the waste is not decaying. You can find out more about  bokashi by reading our blog posts: how bokashi works and how to do it. Tips for getting the most from your compost bin As previously mentioned, to decompose effectively a compost bin requires 3 things - air, heat and moisture. Air we’ve covered off - regular turning and mixing adds oxygen into the waste and helps it break down more efficiently. Heat is an interesting one. Heat in compost is mostly generated by the microorganisms that are working hard to breakdown the waste material. In addition to this your outdoor heap gets extra warmth from the sun, and ultimately a good amount of consistent heat is required to destroy any weed seeds, pathogens, the eggs of parasites and fruit flies that might be in your pile. You don’t want it baking hot though, the good-guy microorganisms operate at temperature ranges between 45-70 degrees, any hotter than this they can become less effective. Aeration of the pile will help cool things down a little. Lastly moisture is also required to boost the ideal conditions for decomposition. The beneficial microorganisms require moisture to survive, and a dry heap will result in the biological activity decreasing and eventually ceasing, and in these little creatures dying. Most kitchen scraps contain enough water to provide all the moisture you need, however if the heap is a little dry, you can add a little water to sort this out. Particularly important when you are adding quite a bit of brown waste - dry leaves, shredded paper, cardboard will impact the moisture levels .Ready to start composting? Check out our expansive range of compost bins & accessories.