Start a Compost Bin
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What you will learn
- 1Explain how compost turns scraps into rich soil
- 2Sort items into greens, browns, and never in the compost
- 3Keep a compost bin damp and turn it to let air in
- 4Wash your hands after working with compost
Mini Lesson
What happens to banana peels and dry leaves? In a compost bin, tiny living things break them down. Slowly, the scraps turn into dark, rich soil that helps plants grow. Making compost takes a few months, but it is easy to start. You need a mix of greens and browns, a little water, and some air.
🏠 The Life Skills Way (step by step)
- PICK a bin: a small bin with a lid outside, or a worm bin.
- ADD greens: fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, and fresh grass clippings.
- ADD browns: dry leaves, torn cardboard, paper, and small twigs.
- MIX it right: add more browns than greens. Browns stop the bin from getting slimy and smelly.
- KEEP it damp: it should feel like a wrung-out sponge - wet, but not dripping.
- TURN it: a grown-up helps you mix it with a garden fork to let air in.
🚫 Never in the Compost
- NO meat, fish, dairy like cheese or milk, or oily food - they smell and bring pests.
- NO pet waste and nothing plastic.
A grown-up helps when you turn the compost with a garden fork - the prongs are sharp. Compost is full of tiny living things, so wash your hands with soap after you work with it.
Words to know
compost
Old food scraps and plants that have broken down into rich soil.
e.g. We spread compost on the garden.
greens
Wet, fresh things for compost, like fruit scraps and grass.
e.g. A banana peel is a green.
browns
Dry things for compost, like leaves, cardboard, and twigs.
e.g. Dry leaves are browns.
scraps
Small leftover bits of food.
e.g. Put the apple scraps in the compost.
break down
To slowly fall apart into tiny pieces.
e.g. Leaves break down into soil.
damp
A little bit wet.
e.g. The compost should feel damp.
💡 Handy Tip: keep a small container with a lid in the kitchen for fruit and vegetable scraps. When it is full, carry it out to the bin and cover the scraps with a handful of browns.
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