Recycling organic waste, both commercially and for personal use on home gardens is easy and there are a number different options available. Two of the easiest methods for home recycling are composting and worm farming. Alternatively you may like to keep chickens or at home as they are an excellent means of disposal for a lot of organic waste such as food scraps and weeds.

Composting

Composting is the rotting or breaking down of organic matter into small particles of fertile soil. Composting occurs naturally wherever there is dead organic matter. The process can by sped up by mixing specific ingredients together and putting them in the right conditions. The benefits of finished compost include adding organic matter and nutrients to the soil and increasing the water holding capacity of generally poor sandy soils.

Roughly half your household garbage can be composted. Garden waste and kitchen scraps make excellent compost. Not all organic waste can be easily composted.

All organic material is largely made up of different proportions of carbon and nitrogen. To speed up composting a ratio of carbon to nitrogen is required: Approximately 25 to 30 parts by weight of carbon to each part of nitrogen. A rule of thumb is to mix four parts of soft nitrogenous green material such as grass clippings, weeds, fruit and vegetable peelings and wastes with one part of brown material such as sawdust, shredded prunings, newspaper or dry leaves.

It is important for the environment that composting is aerobic, which means the matter is aerated. You can do this by tumbling, turning with a spade or using a compost unit with an aerating lung. For more compost tips go to https://www.aerobin400.com/forms/Aerobin_composting_tips.doc

In the right conditions a compost pile naturally develops heat while materials break down, with temperatures reaching between 40 and 60 degrees celsius. Disease-causing bacteria, parasites and weed seeds are normally destroyed at these temperatures. If the temperatures aren't high enough then the weeds and seeds may grow when the compost is put on to the garden.

For more ideas and the different ways of making compost please download the composting fact sheet.

Worm Farming

Worm farming is a composting process known as cold composting. It is an alternative to hot composting garden waste and fruit and vegetable scraps fromthe kitchen. Worm farms are ideal for people living in flats or houses with small backyards.

The worm castings produced are one of nature's best composts and fertilisers. They contain more ready-for-use organic plant nutrients than any composted material or factory made fertiliser. The liquid waste from worm farms is a highly concentrated fertiliser that can be collected, diluted and applied to gardens. The bedding in the worm farm is highly absorbent. Water rarely needs to be added.

With the right worm farm you can start with only half of a kilogram of worms and within a few months you will have enough worms to consume most of the household food waste for two people.

Commercial containers are available through some local councils, and through gardening shops and traders in the Yellow Pages under worm farms. Forlarger scale worm farms, old refrigerators and bath tubs are excellent.

Special earthworms, called compost worms, work best in a worm farm, as they thrive in the rich, moist conditions. The most common compost worms are Tiger Worms, Red Wrigglers and Indian Blues. These worms should not be added to compost piles as the conditions are too hot and they will either leave or die.

Worm Facts

• Earthworms are hermaphrodites. That is, each worm has both male and female sex organs.
• All worms can have babies. After mating, a worm will form a capsule (or cocoon) containing eggs. In about 21 days, 2-20 baby worms will hatch from the capsule. In about 2-3 months, the young worms are ready to breed.
• Earthworm eggs can survive in very dry conditions for a long time, the baby worms will hatch when the soil conditions are right.
• Compost worms breed every 7-10 days and so the population in a worm farm will double every 2-3 months if the conditions are right.
• Earthworms have no eyes, but can sense vibrations, light and temperature through special organs in the skin.
• Earthworms breathe through their skin and expel urine through special pores.
• There are 350 species of earthworms in Australia. Most compost worms and earthworms found on farms and in gardens are introduced species. Compost worms are rarely found in the bush as the conditions there are not suitable.
• Worms have 5 pairs of simple hearts.
• The worm has rings of muscle along its body that relax or stretch to allow movement.
• If worms don't like the conditions they will try to leave. If they don't find a new home in composted material they will die.
• The worm has a long gut running from one end to the other. It is like a big muscle that squeezes food particles and dirt until the nutrients are absorbed.

Compost Worms:

• have no known diseases
• have a dry body weight that is two thirds protein
• do not interbreed
• will generally die if you cut them in half
• do not like light. Exposure will eventually kill them
• may eat up to two thirds of the average household's waste
• will normally live 2 to 3 years
• can live up to 15 years
• can be used for fishing.

Related Links
The Chook Shed
The Worm Shed

For more information on Home Composting, please visit: http://www.zerowastewa.com.au/communication/education/organics/