bugshaw | Brown is the new green

My Green Bin (for compostable waste) and I have had a rather unsatisfactory relationship since we got together back in December. It was going to be wonderful, ecologically friendly, a seamless add-on to my existing recycling activities.

It just didn't fit into my life, though. It was too big, for a start, so I had to leave it on my porch, where passers by tossed occasional non-compostable refuse including entire bags of ordinary rubbish which rather contaminated the compostability notion. Sometimes I could hoick the bits out, though this was always difficult due to the bin being 1m deep and my arms only being 60cm long. Sometimes a tipping-out was required, which is gross what with my 2-week-old peelings and Other People's Rubbish.

Yesterday I brought the bins in after collection to find each contained a large black sack full of Other People's Rubbish. I was a Bad Neighbour (but not as bad as the neighbour who put the stuff there - it sounded like mostly bottles and cans anyhow - how difficult is it to put these in your big plastic crate, folks?) and dumped them back out on the verge. They had gone by morning.

I phoned the council today, and some time in the next 2-week recycling cycle they will deliver to me some bags of the purest brown for my compostable waste. They are a little larger than a supermarket carrier bag, nice and sturdy, and will fit inside the purpose-built bin cupboard, which will make a nice change.

I will wash out the green bin, rope it shut, and leave it out front. One day it will disappear.

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Hmm ... I don't do compost collection, I do composting, so I've not had these problems. These big bins seem only to work in detached and semi-detached houses, really.

Yes, where there is always a lawnful of grass clippings to dilute the smelly stuff.

At the moment, we don't have a) space to do composting, b) enough decent compostables, or c) anywhere to put compost when it's ready ('cos you can't just dump it on the lawn).

Actually, grass clippings would be the worst thing to add - they make it go slimy and ick. Compost shouldn't smell bad at all if it is working properly.

The best way to compost compactly is a working worm bin. Unfortunately, I've found our worm bin to be tricky to work, so I won't recommend that.

Anything which recently used to be a plant and doesn't have toxic additions, can be composted. So, no animal products (except baked egg shells), and no heavy metal inks.

The secret to good composting is to get the right balance of water, air, nitrogen and carbon. Grass and vegetables supply water and nigrogen. Paper, card and wood supply carbon. The Centre for Alternative Technology have done fair bit of research on making it work at home (http://www.cat.org.uk/information/catinfo.tmpl?command=search&db=catinfo.db&eqSKUdatarq=19990606120000&eqCURRENTdatarq=0).

I reckon you could thinly spread good home-made compost on the parts of the lawn you weren't using in winter. Your back garden's a bit like the far end of ours - mostly brick rubble, and desparately in need of as much compost as it can get :-)

Oi, Tigron, NO! You're showing excessive conversionary zeal again. My comment above was intended to communicate "We regularly look at it for our situation and have made an informed decision that it is not for us at present", not "please persuade me to do it". As soon as we want to, we know lots of people to ask for advice. And books; we have a lot of them, too.

That wasn't me being evangelical - that was only me explaining why I disagree with some of your conclusions :-)

It is nice, sometimes, to have one's decisions respected regardless of whether you agree with them. Especially when one has gone to the trouble of giving the matter serious and sensible thought before making the decision.

This feels like it is pressing the same buttons as confrontation with someone trying to get you to change utility supplier. "No, we have considered the options and believe that changing would be more trouble than it's worth." "But don't you want to save money?"

Hang on ... where did I say that I didn't respect your decisions? You made some points about composting, and I responded to those points. I know your situation, I was mostly talking generally - most of what I said applies to municipal composting.

Of course you didn't say that. You're a nice person who respects people!

The easiest reading of your initial responses is that you're seeing my points and suggesting ways in which they could be overcome - thus encouraging me to change my mind right now (which I don't want to do right now). I see now that it can also be read in a more generally helpful way.

Arg. I'm sorry, I want to explain more but I really don't have time to continue this conversation. Big deadline tomorrow.

Indexing job finished, Bridget suddenly feeling much less stressed, sorry for snapping. :-(((((

Re-reading what I said, I can see where you were coming from - sorry! Very glad to hear that you are feeling better! :-)

I chuck everything in, grass cuttings, weeds, kitchen waste, left-over food, shredded woody stuff, etc. It seems to make pretty okay compost. I tip it on the flower beds and things grow fine.

I've never bothered about proportions, just tip everything in and try not to have too much of one thing at once.

I know what you mean about brick rubble. We've slowly removed ours over the years, built a small wall out of the bricks...

Some 'orrible chav from next door put a bag of ordinary waste in our green bin the other morning after we'd put it out for collection, which we didn't discover till we got home and found ithadn't been emptied. Grr.

They're so crap. It's worse than thoughtless.

Brown is the new green

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Good luck!

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