Build your own composter

Building your own composter can be quick and easy. You can recycle old pallets to make a perfectly servicable composter quickly, easily and cheaply.

Or you can build a simple, slatted composter that's easy to put together and easy open up when you want to get at the compost.

Or a simple, neat composter with twin compartments so you can compost throughout the year without running out of space.

Click here download instructions on how to build your own composter (.pdf - thanks to East Sussex County Council for permission to reproduce this design).

COMPOSTING TIPS

Click here to download the Waste Resources Action Partnership (WRAP) guide to home composting.

• Dry compost
  Add some water and turn with a garden fork.
• Too wet
  Mix in woody materials and straw.
• Strange looking compost?
  Don't worry if your compost is fine and crumbly, lumpy or stringy - all types can be used.
• How often do I have to turn the compost?
  The more frequently the compost is turned, the quicker the composting process.
• Bad smell?
  When vegetation decomposes it is only natural for it to smell slightly; however, if this becomes too unpleasant, turn the material around to add air. Adding materials such as leaves, straw, dry grass or wood matter can also reduce the smell.
• When is the compost ready?
  When the compost is ready, it will smell sweet and look like a rich dark soil. This will take between two and six months.

It is important to get the mix right of tougher, drier materials (like straw, hay, plant stems) and soft, green, sappy growth (like weeds and grass cuttings).

Mix the different materials up as much as you can. The easiest way to do that is to make layers. Don't make thick layers of any one material, especially not fresh grass cuttings as they quickly reduce to a slimy mess. Small amounts of soil help - a thin dusting throughout is a good idea.

Very tough materials, like branches, will eventually break down, given time, in a compost pile. So they either need a special long term heap, or they need crushing, chipping or shredding.

For further advice on home composting please click here