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Composting is a way to turn garbage into gold. 

Many landfills now compost yard waste, but backyard composting has the advantage of requiring less energy and taking care of food scraps also.  

If everyone composted their yard wastes and food scraps, 30 percent more space would be available in our landfills, even more if some nonrecyclable paper, such as dirty paper plates, were also composted. 

So how does one go about taking that leap from talking about composting to doing it? Begin with a compost bin, which keeps the ingredients neat, holds in moisture and heat, and discourages animals from scavenging.  

The best bins have solid walls so that the ingredients do not dry out excessively. Besides plastic bins available in stores and mail order, homemade ones have been made from cinder blocks, hay bales, logs, wood, even stone. 

Set the bin somewhere convenient, near the source of materials you are going to be adding or the place where you will be using the finished compost – usually between or near the garden and your kitchen door. 

Almost anything that is or was once living can go into the compost bin. The only items not to include are dog or cat feces, meat scraps high in fat, or colored paper. 

Like humans, composting microorganisms need air, water, and food to function at their best. Provide air by not overly compacting the pile as you build it, and by mixing dense materials, such as grass clippings, with fluffier materials, such as straw or leaves.  

Most compost piles are too dry when they are built, then too wet by winter’s end.  

Avoid either extreme by watering the pile as you build it, sprinkling the ingredients just enough to make them glisten.  

Then cover the pile with plastic or wood to prevent moisture from escaping or additional rainwater from entering. 

Carbon and nitrogen are the two most important foods of composting microorganisms. Old plant materials – dry, brown things such as straw, autumn leaves, and wood chips – are high in carbon.  

Succulent, green plant materials, such as grass clippings and vegetable and flower plants, are high in nitrogen.  

Manure and fertilizers also are high in nitrogen.  

Strive for a balance of carbon and nitrogen materials. 

Don’t fret about getting just the right foods and moisture levels into your compost. No matter what you do, the pile of material will eventually turn into rich, brown compost.