How to do composting: Your guide to entering Sustainability

• The pre-required setup of bin: Beginning with the composting process, it is necessary to fetch a bin of an ideal size based on your requirements. It can range from a 20L upcycled plastic bottle to a waste 200L can. The best possible can the an old yet usable plastic bucket in your house. For aeration and moisture management, drill certain equally spaced holes in your finalized bin. This is important to ensure that the decomposition process gets the desired air to breathe and decompose. Next, at the bottom of your bin up to 2-3 feet distance from the ground attach a tap that’ll filter out the residual water that gets generated during the composting process. This ensures that the compost does remain soggy increasing odour issues and decomposition delay.

• The composting process begins: Further, it is important to consider that once you’re done setting up the bin, the following steps must be ensured. At the bottom of the bin, the very first layer must be set of any kind of BROWNS, I would take saw dust as my primary BROWN component for the process. Add up an initial layer of sawdust at the very bottom of your set bin. Once done, collect all the wet waste for the day and add it to the bin. At the end of the day, add another layer of sawdust to the wet waste. This will ensure that the process remains odorless. Apart from this, on a particular day every single week, make sure to follow these necessary steps. It is important to drain out the residual water collected at the bottom of the container to ensure an odorless and appropriately moist composting process. For the same, open the tap and a regular weekly interval. Apart from this, also ensure to use a long stick to stir the material inside the composter to provide proper aeration to the compost.

Continue this process until your compost bin is 85% filled.

• Necessary additions to make your compost to make it nutritious: The NPK ratio that exacts to Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium ratio of the composite is a real tester for the nutritional level of the compost. Although this is the outcome of the composting process it can be ensured at our personal level that we put in certain elements that add nutritional value to the compost. To add the nitrogen element to the compost the possible additions could be: food waste, and green leaves can be some of them. For the addition of phosphorus to the compost fish meal, bone meal, and green manure can be some possible additions. To add nourishment the compost with potassium, spinach, tomatoes, banana peels, and, fruit and vegetable peels can act as major contributors.
• Once the bin is filled 85%: Once the bin is filled up to the capacity of 85%, it is recommended to leave the bin idle for the actual composting process to begin. The composting process ideally takes around 45 to 60 days in total. Thus, on a 15-day interval keep stirring the compost for aeration and opening the tap for residual water removal. After around 45 to 60 days ideally, the compost will be ready to use.

This compost can now be used for multiple activities. One of the most common of which is the added nourishment to the plants that you have in your house. However, if you’re a kitchen garden enthusiast or a plantation enthusiast interested in growing and nurturing plants then that can be an added option. However, if you wish to you can get your compost nutritionally tested at the nearest testing lab and then can further sell it for commercial purposes to family and friends.