Composting at home

Advice and help to get started composting food and garden waste at home. Save money and landfill space.

I want to know about

Reducing food waste

Sustainability Victoria's Love Food Hate Waste reports that the average Victorian household spends $2,136 a year on food that they throw out.

We’ve created a weekly meal planner and shopping list (PDF 121 KB) to help you plan your meals before you shop for groceries. It's a proven way to reduce what you buy and what you throw out.

For more tips on smart shopping and food storage to reduce food waste, see the Love Food Hate Waste How to Save Food resources.

Composting at home

Why recycle food waste

Composting breaks down food and garden organic waste into reusable organic matter. Decomposition takes place through naturally occurring bacteria, fungi, worms, millipedes and other micro-organisms. There are many benefits of composting. It saves valuable landfill space, creates fertiliser for your garden and improves soil condition.

For those with outdoor space, you can set up your own composting system at home by following the easy steps below. Home composting diverts organic waste from landfill, helping to reduce our impact on climate change.

Compost Revolution offer composting systems at a discounted rate. They also give helpful advice on the right system for you.

Set up your own compost

Your compost needs a mix of:
- Green Ingredients: Compost needs a mixture of nitrogen rich organic materials such as fruit and vegetable peelings, and green garden vegetation such as fresh grass clippings and green leaves.
- Brown Ingredients: Nitrogen-poor, carbon rich materials such as dry leaves, woody twigs, paper and straw.
- Water
- Some soil or completed compost to introduce composting micro-organisms.
What to add to a compost heap
- Vegetable and food scraps
- Fallen leaves (in layers)
- Tea leaves and tea bags
- Coffee grounds
- Vacuum cleaner dust
- Soft stems
- Dead flowers
- Old potting mix
- Used vegetable cooking oil
- Egg shells
- Old newspapers (wet)
- Grass cuttings in layers
- Weeds, without seeds or underground stems
- Sawdust (not from treated timber)
- Wood ash
- Human and animal hair
What not to add to a compost heap
- Meat and dairy products
- Diseased plants
- Metals, plastic, glass
- Animal manures, especially the droppings of cats and dogs
- Fat
- Magazines
- Large branches
- Weeds that have seeds or underground stems
- Bread or cake (may attract mice)
- Bones
- Sawdust from treated timber
Start with a thick layer of coarse material (15cm), like twigs or mulch. This is used for drainage. Then follow with a layered A, B, C system using the materials above:
- A. Garden clippings and kitchen scraps
- B. Dry leaves and paper (wet)
- C. Add water after each layer to keep the heap moist but not wet.
- Repeat steps A and B.
- D. Finish by sprinkling soil or finished compost on top of food scraps. This will make a richer compost and help reduce odour.

Community gardens

We understand that composting at home isn’t an option for everyone. Luckily, there are several community gardens in Port Phillip that will accept your organic food waste.

All sites are volunteer-run so make sure you understand the dos and don'ts of good composting before you stop by.

ShareWaste

ShareWaste is a third party (non-Council) service that connects people able to share a compost site with anyone who wants somewhere to compost. You can use ShareWaste to recycle your kitchen scraps with neighbours who are already composting, worm-farming or keeping chickens. Find your nearest compost sites at ShareWaste.

Communal FOGO hubs

For more information on communal food organic hubs, view Communal glass recycling and FOGO recycling hubs.

Composting at home

Reducing food waste

Composting at home

Why recycle food waste

Set up your own compost

Step 1. Choose a site

Step 2. What to compost

What to add to a compost heap

What not to add to a compost heap

Step 3. Layering

Step 4. Maintain your compost

Community gardens

ShareWaste

Communal FOGO hubs

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