I live in an urban setting with a small balcony, and I am terrified that I was going to screw the compost up and it is going to stink up the whole neighborhood. Sounds like you? Well, first good news – with Ekobin it won't happen! We have designed a system that is minimal maintenance – we want you to just want to compost – our EkoBin and EkoBrick compost starter will do all the work for you!
Great – you are convinced, you are excited to start composting, you have taken the first step of placing your trust in EkoBin and purchased it. Where and how do you start? Look no further! Welcome to your one-stop solution for all things composting. Over the next few weeks, follow us as we handhold you in your composting journey.
Place your bin in a well-aerated space. Ensure it receives partial sunlight but is protected from rain.
Break down your EkoBrick compost culture as instructed. You are all set now!
When starting your composting with EkoBin, try to feed it a good mix of browns and greens.
Add in a base layer at least 1.5 inches of EkoBrick compost starter above the bottom. Then layer in your waste. Try to keep it below 800 gms per layer.
Cover the waste layer with another layer of EkoBrick compost starter.
If you have old compost avoid adding a large quantity all at once. Instead, add in handfuls and remember as it is already partially composted waste a lot of the food energy will already be gone. You will need to mix with fresh waste to feed the new bacteria that create the heat.
Your EkoBin won't 'take-off' and get into the hot 40-60°C range until there is a minimum amount of waste. This is the base layer, a sufficient amount of waste for bacteria to start breaking down and producing heat in the process.
Top Tips
Add easy to digest waste when starting your EkoBin. Things like grass, Straw, sawdust, vegetables and peelings, sprinkling of coffee grounds, dried leaves.
Roughly cut your waste to less than 4cm. This increases the surface area available to the bacteria and speeds up composting. Don’t make it too small or else there won't be enough aeration!
Always add Ekobrick compost starter and shredded paper with your waste. Compost starter supplies the bacteria to the waste and the shredded paper absorbs the excess moisture so both are essential.
Add shredded paper, dry leaves, etc. in the ratio 1:2 (browns vs greens). This will ensure no moisture at the bottom and aerate your pile
If your compost pile begins to become too wet, that means there isn’t enough energy in the pile for it to heat up. You are essentially drowning your bacteria. If you see any leachate from the bottom, mix in more shredded paper
Finally, composting takes a little bit of practice. As you keep composting you will better understand what works and doesn’t work. Our job is to make this easy for you. Subscribe to get our weekly updates on composting. Else watch out for our weekly blog tackling composting one issue at a time!