Composting your garden rubbish and kitchen scraps at home

So what's the problem?

Forty-five percent of the average rubbish bag could be composted. Each month, New Zealanders dispose of enough rubbish to fill a rugby field to 30 stories high. This means the portion of this that could be composted is around 14 stories high - that's a huge waste of space in our landfills.

In landfills, garden waste and kitchen scraps break down into methane, a potentially explosive greenhouse gas, and leachate, which can pollute our water.

Compost directly into the garden itself. The vegetables will love you for it, it will attract the worms to that area and the soil benefits directly.

more composting tips

What can I do about it?

Compost your garden rubbish and kitchen scraps at home

A great way of reusing your waste is to compost kitchen scraps and garden rubbish. It's easy and fantastic for your garden. Tiny organisms, insects and worms turn your waste into rich compost that's ideal for growing plants.

It's easy to compost your kitchen scraps and garden rubbish in a compost pile or bin, with the help of worms in a worm bin or by taking them to your local composting plant.

For more details on how to compost your garden rubbish and kitchen scraps at home see Composting 101.


		If you're filling one wheelie bin of rubbish a week, you could be throwing away enough garden rubbish and kitchen scraps to make one and a half trailer loads of compost a year.

Mulch your plants with lawn and hedge clippings

Mulch is simply a blanket of material that you can spread around your plants and gardens to improve plant health.

Some of the best mulching materials include shredded wood or bark, straw, grass clippings, leaves and newspaper. Inorganic materials, such as stones or plastic, are permanent mulch that help with moisture retention and weed control but they do not feed the soil.

For more details on how to mulch your lawn and hedge clippings see Mulching 101.

If you can't compost or mulch at home, keep your garden rubbish separate

In many parts of New Zealand, garden waste that hasn't been contaminated by other rubbish can be dropped off at the local landfill or transfer station for composting and in some areas you can have your garden rubbish collected.

If you can't compost or mulch at home, keep your garden rubbish separate from your other household rubbish and arrange a garden rubbish collection or take it to a landfill or transfer station for composting. Make sure you don't include lawn clippings from lawns that have been sprayed with broadleaf weed killer.

Contact your local council for garden rubbish options in your area.

NEXT: Composting 101