Home or yard composting can be as simple or as involved as you would like, and depends on how much yard waste you have, how fast you want results, and the effort you are willing to invest.

Composting can reduce yard waste that needs to be hauled to the dump by anywhere from 50 to 75% (see Commercial Coposting).

Composting can be used for human soil waste as well. One method is to build compsting toilets. These can actually be an alternative to central wastewater treatment plants (sewers ) or septic tank systems for houses. Typically they are chosen to alleviate the need for water to flush toilets, and to avoid discharging nutrients and/or potential pathogens into environmentally sensitive areas, but they also capture nutrients in human excreta, which can be important for subsistence farmers.

Composting is easy to do and really it is fool-proof. Sure you can make some mistakes that will create odor or make composting go really slow leaving some seeds to grow again, but you will still be composting.

Composting is not a mysterious or complicated process. It is just natural recycling and it occurs on a continuous basis in the natural environment. It is the controlled decomposition of organic materials, and it's a rewarding way to recycle your yard and kitchen wastes into a valuable, nutrient rich, sweet-smelling soil amendment.

Yard and food wastes make up approximately 30% of the waste stream in the US. Not only does composting sucessfully divert a significant portion of your family's waste stream from the landfill and water treatment facilities, it is a natural method of recycling organic materals into valuable humus. Yard trimmings make up at least 13% of what households put out for disposal.

Food wastes comprise another 10% of the total waste volume but when composted it provides a high level of nutrition.

By composting at home you can recycle all of your yard debris and make compost, which adds nutrients to your garden. It's easy to do!

By composting, you return the earth's nutrients back to the soil, where your plants absorb them, thereby becoming healthier. Healthy plants are far more resistant to diseases and pests.

Over time, microbes, mold, worms, ants, slugs and snails eventually transform the pile into a moist, dark brown mix that, when added to gardens, enriches the soil and reduces the need to water and to apply pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Microbes generate their own heat as they work, so keeping the compost bin warm but good composting needd the warmth to stay, so it is all about proper insulation. Also, compost is self insulating, so if you pile compost on top of compost, the middle of your compost stack will be the warmest.

Teh composting process needs water to be prsent. Add water as necessary.

You also need to turn the pile for best results. When you turn your pile, be sure to mix fully composted material with newer material.

Clearly, once the compost has broken down inot fine brown particles. The next step is to add it to the soil. That way the soil builds good soil structure and texture, increasing the amount of air that can infiltrate and the amount of water it can hold.

Adding compost to heavy clay soil loosens the packed soil by opening up pore spaces that, like little tunnels, carry air and water down into the soil. Add both nitrogen-rich green materials, and carbon-rich brown materials. For example, when you add kitchen scraps or grass, also add some dry leaves.

Composters

A composter is a container used for composting. Composters come in a range of shapes, sizes, and styles, depending on the environment they are being used in, and many hardware and home supply stores sell composters.

Wastes break down in one month to one year in the composter depending on soil temperatures, number of organisms in soil, and the carbon content of the wastes.

Do not bury meat, bones or other fatty materials as it may attract pests. Waste deposited in a composter prevents odour you would normally find in your bin. All good composters have a lid and hatch.

Building a homemade composter is easy and can be done with wood and galvanised steel wire mesh. Especially, if you are composting for your small garden, you can build an ideal compost bin to serve your garden. Building the walls will take you about two hours, and the compsot bay you make can be re-used many times.

For the ideal composter location choose an area without much sunlight; the heat will dry out your compost so choose a shady area to keep your compost moist. Also keep from walls and fences, composters need oxygen, so lowering air flow through them will extend the decomposition length greatly.