If you believe composting is only for people who have big gardens and green thumbs as it’s too complicated, think again.
Whether you rent or own, live in an apartment, a townhouse, or a home with a big garden, composting is actually straightforward, and it helps keep organic waste out of landfill and turn it into something useful.
Why composting matters — for you and the planet
Around half of what Aucklanders throw in the rubbish bin is food and garden waste. When this ends up in landfill, it creates methane - a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
Composting is an easy way to live more sustainably because it:
- reduces greenhouse gas emissions
- cuts down on rubbish going to landfill (and gives you more room in your rubbish bin!)
- creates nutrient-rich compost for gardens, pots or shared green spaces
- makes you part of the circular economy by giving organic resources back to the whenua instead of being wasted.
Many people also find composting connects them more closely with what they eat, how much they waste, and the cycles of nature. It’s good for your health and wellbeing, as well as the planet.
A composting solution for every home
No matter how or where you live, there’s a way to compost that works with your lifestyle.
Apartments or units: Small-space solutions like worm farms or bokashi bins are designed for indoor or balcony use. They’re compact, low-odour and ideal if you’re short on space. Diluted worm tea or bokashi juice makes nutritious fertilisers for your plants.
Townhouses: A small compost bin or worm farm can fit neatly in a courtyard or narrow outdoor space. These systems are easy to manage and can handle day-to-day fruit and vegetable scraps, turning them into compost you can use in planters and pots.
Houses with a garden or backyard: Traditional compost bins are great for households with outdoor space. They can take larger volumes of food scraps as well as garden waste, like grass clippings, turning it into compost for lawns, veggie patches or flower beds.
Temporary housing: There are plenty of portable composting options that don’t require digging holes or making permanent changes (although composting improves soil wherever you do it!). Worm farms and bokashi bins can move with you when you do.
Compost what you can at home — food scraps collection takes care of the rest
Not everything can go in a home compost, but that’s where Auckland Council’s food scraps collection service comes in – it’s designed to work alongside home composting, so that whatever you don’t put in the compost, you can put in the food scraps bin.
Home composting is perfect for the scraps you can easily manage, like fruit, vegetable peelings and coffee grinds. Different systems can take a range of things – but no matter the system that suits your lifestyle, the food scraps bin takes care of the rest. Just pop any food waste that doesn’t go in your chosen home compost system (such as meat, bones, dairy and citrus) into the food scraps bin and this excess waste gets turned into energy and fertiliser – making the most of every scrap!
Composting is easier than you think
One of the biggest barriers to composting is the idea that it’s complicated or messy. In fact, most systems take just a few minutes a week to manage, and if you get the right mix in your compost by adding carbon like dried leaves or paper, it’s low odour and low maintenance.
Learn how to compost with confidence
If you’re not sure where to start or if you’ve tried composting before and it didn’t quite work, then help is close at hand. The Compost Collective runs free workshops across Tāmaki Makaurau, helping Aucklanders find the composting method that works for their home and ensuring they have the tools and knowledge to get started.
You’ll learn:
- which composting system suits your home
- what you can and can’t compost
- how to avoid smells and pests
- how composting and the food scraps collection work together
Many people leave a workshop realising that composting isn’t an “all or nothing” commitment — it’s about doing what works for you.
As a bonus, all Compost Collective composting workshop attendees receive a discount coupon towards a composting system of your choice. So what are you waiting for? Find a workshop and sign up at the Compost Collective website and you’ll be a confident composter in no time!