Reduce, reuse, recycle for Highland
Home composting
We would encourage customers to home compost where possible. You don’t need a compost bin, just create a simple compost heap and let everything rot, avoiding adding food waste other than raw vegetable or fruit waste. Making compost at home gives you a free supply of nutrient-rich soil. We have links below to some very helpful information and videos on the composting. This may help you find a simple solution to your garden waste to compliment the Garden Waste Collection Service.
You could also try these waste minimisation tips for lawns and grass cuttings:
- leave your lawn for longer before you mow it
- let the grass grow to create a mini meadow – it’s great for wildlife
- make a mulch with your grass clippings
Home composting can significantly reduce the amount of rubbish that needs to be transported to, and then disposed of in landfill sites. We all have unavoidable food waste (such as tea bags, fruit and vegetable peel and egg shells) and research shows that about half the contents of the average household bin can be composted at home.
Why Compost?
When biodegradable material such as garden waste and vegetable peelings rot down in a landfill site, it does so without air and creates methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By composting at home you can produce your own nutrient rich compost which will improve the quality of your soil and help your garden flourish naturally without the use of chemical fertilisers.
Composting can also save you money too as it can be used instead of buying peat based compost.
Please use the links below to help you home compost.
- informative video showing you how to home compost
- information and advice from the Royal Horticultural Society on composting
- information and advice from the Royal Horticultural Society on composting twigs, branches and woody waste
- more information on home composting
Community Composting
Our partner Zero Waste Scotland has developed an online resource which provides communities and organisations with a step-by-step guide, taking them through everything they would need to consider if looking to set up a community composting project. Community composting provides a mechanism to deal with materials locally. Locally produced compost is a valuable growing medium for community growing projects.It provides a substitute to buying expensive and sometimes environmentally damaging composts (in particular if containing peat).
There is a huge amount of community climate action underway across the Highlands. This resource will provide a valuable tool, breaking down a complex topic into easy to digest sections - the partners are excited to see how the communities use this resource.
Partners: Zero Waste Scotland, Highland Council, Highland Good Food Partnership and the Highland Community Waste Partnership