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Benefits of Garden Composting

Posted by David Domoney, on April 1, 2022.

David Domoney with Thermo Wood Composter

Composting is a natural process, transforming your household waste into nutrient-rich food for your garden. There is so much goodness that can come from composting, for your garden, your wallet, the environment and supporting the ecosystem in your garden.

Be kind

Home composting allows organic waste to get straight back into the soil as soon as possible rather than having it stuck on a site taking much longer to decompose. In 2018, research by WRAP showed that in the UK, we throw away 6.6 million tonnes of household food waste a year. Of that, 70% could be eaten – enough food to fill 3,600 Olympic sized swimming pools. Composting will make you more conscious about the food that you are throwing away, which is in itself another benefit.

Another eco-win for composting is that in just one year, home composting can save global gardening gases equivalent to the CO2 that your kettle produces in a year. Home composting allows oxygen to decompose waste aerobically. Therefore, hardly any methane is produced in the process compared to sending waste to landfill. It’s a win-win.

Pick a premium composter like Thermo-King which is made from 100% recycled plastic, with technology to insulate the composter which speeds up the process. With two filling hatches, it’s easy to fill, making it great for family homes or community spaces.

Garden goodness

You can compost most household waste that breaks down naturally. Fruit and vegetables scraps, and ones that are past their best, stale bread, coffee grounds, ripped up cardboard, tea bags and vacuum cleaner dust to name a few. Compostable waste is split into two categories; brown waste is rich in carbon and slow to rot, and green waste that is rich in nitrogen and quick to rot. Simply add the waste to the top of the Rapid Composter, ready to be removed from the sliding door at the base of the bin.

When the materials have broken down to form compost, it brings so much goodness to your garden. It will help soil structure by improving drainage in clay soils and water retention in sandy soils. It’ll provide the necessary nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Not only that, but composting will improve the biodiversity in your garden by utilising worms, fungi, and insects to break down waste. These beneficial bugs will reduce the risk of your garden being wiped out by pests and weeds. Studies have shown that plants are more susceptible to insect damage if the soil is unhealthy.

Money saver

By using your homemade compost in the garden as mulch on your beds and borders, this will help to absorb water and retain moisture, slowly releasing it to your plants. This could mean there is less of a demand for water in the garden, which can have an impact on your water bill.

Also, as mentioned earlier, composting makes you more conscious of the food that’s being thrown away. By consciously focusing on the food that we throw out of our homes, we become aware of the produce that we’re chucking out. This can in turn influence our cooking and buying decisions. By making the most of the food that we buy, you can save a load of money along the way. The average family of four could save just over £60 per month by reducing food waste.

However, some families may be short on space, or not have the garden space for a compost heap or compost bin, but there’s no need to miss out on the excitement of composting. The Urban Composter is the perfect fit for a kitchen where it can be conveniently opened to add food waste such as vegetable peelings to create compost and nutrient rich plant enhancer. The tap at the base means you can drain liquid from the 15-litre composter.

The benefits of composting should arm you with enough motivation to get started on your journey. Not to mention you will have the wonder of watching your household waste turn into something useful and productive that can help your garden flourish.