Roughly a third of what a typical Kasarani household throws away is organic — vegetable peelings, leftover ugali, tea leaves, fruit skins. Almost all of it can be composted at home in six to eight weeks, turning what would be landfill-bound waste into usable fertiliser for a kitchen garden or potted plants. This guide covers exactly how to do it, using nothing more than a container and the organic waste stream most households are already separating.

Why compost instead of just collecting organic waste?

We collect organic waste on a fixed weekly schedule as part of our door-to-door route, and a share of it goes into composting we manage centrally. But home composting has advantages that centralised collection can't fully replace: it turns waste into a resource the household directly benefits from, it reduces what needs collecting in the first place, and it teaches the segregation habit in the most concrete way possible — watching peelings actually become soil, rather than simply disappearing into a truck.

What you need to start

  • A container with drainage or airflow — a punctured bucket, a wooden crate, or a simple pit dug in a corner of the compound all work.
  • A steady supply of organic waste: fruit and vegetable scraps, tea leaves, eggshells, and garden trimmings.
  • A source of "brown" material to balance the "green" waste — dry leaves, shredded paper, or small twigs.
  • A stick or garden fork for occasional turning.
  • Patience: six to eight weeks for usable compost, depending on conditions.

The balance that makes composting work

Composting is, at its core, a balance between two types of material. "Green" waste — food scraps, fresh trimmings — is high in nitrogen and breaks down quickly, but on its own turns wet and smelly. "Brown" material — dry leaves, shredded paper, small twigs — is high in carbon and breaks down slowly, but on its own barely decomposes at all. Mixed roughly two parts brown to one part green, the pile heats up, breaks down steadily, and avoids the smell that puts most first-time composters off.

If your compost starts smelling unpleasant, it almost always means too much green material and not enough brown — add dry leaves or shredded paper and turn the pile to introduce air. If it isn't breaking down at all, it's usually too dry; a light sprinkle of water, not a soaking, generally fixes it.

Step-by-step: starting your first compost pile

1. Choose and prepare your container

A punctured bucket or crate works fine for a small household. If you have outdoor space, a simple dug pit, roughly a metre square, works even better since it stays naturally aerated by the surrounding soil.

2. Layer brown and green material

Start with a layer of dry brown material at the base, then add your kitchen scraps as they're generated, covering each addition with a thin layer of brown material to keep smell and pests down.

3. Turn it every week or two

Turning introduces oxygen, which speeds decomposition and prevents the pile from turning anaerobic and smelly. A simple stir with a stick or fork is enough — it doesn't need to be thorough, just regular.

4. Watch for readiness

After six to eight weeks, finished compost looks dark, crumbly and soil-like, with no recognisable food scraps left and an earthy smell rather than a rotting one. At that point, it's ready to dig into soil around plants or a kitchen garden bed.

What not to compost at home

Meat, bones, dairy and cooked oily foods attract pests and decompose poorly in a small home setup — these should go into your general or organic collection stream instead, not a home pile. The same goes for diseased plant material, which can spread problems to whatever the finished compost is later used on.

What composting means for the wider waste system

Every household composting at home is one less household relying entirely on collection for its heaviest, wettest waste stream — organic waste is typically the largest single category by weight. At scale, that reduces pressure on collection routes and sorting capacity, and it keeps organic waste out of general disposal, where it would otherwise decompose in a dumpsite and contribute to methane emissions rather than usable soil. It's a small individual action with a real collective effect.

Troubleshooting beyond smell and dryness

Beyond the two most common issues, a few other problems come up regularly in our composting sessions. Pests, particularly if meat or dairy has accidentally ended up in the pile, are usually solved by removing the offending material and adding a fresh layer of brown material on top to reduce the smell attracting them. A pile that seems to have stalled entirely, neither smelling bad nor breaking down, often just needs a more thorough turn to redistribute material that's settled into an uneven, poorly-mixed layer rather than an actual chemical problem with the balance.

What finished compost is actually good for

Beyond general soil improvement, finished compost is particularly effective mixed into the top few centimetres of soil around vegetable seedlings and potted herbs, where its nutrient content and improved soil structure make a visible difference to plant growth within weeks. Households running a kitchen garden alongside composting often describe it as the point where the whole habit starts feeling less like a waste-reduction chore and more like a genuinely useful, ongoing household resource.

Frequently asked questions

How long before I get usable compost?

Typically six to eight weeks with regular turning and a reasonable brown-to-green balance. It can take longer in cooler, drier conditions.

My compost smells bad — what am I doing wrong?

Almost always too much wet green material relative to brown. Add dry leaves or shredded paper and turn the pile to introduce air.

Can I compost if I don't have outdoor space?

A sealed bucket system works in a small compound or even a balcony, though it needs more careful attention to smell and moisture than an open pit. Our recycling education sessions cover small-space composting specifically — see our programmes page for details.

If you'd like a hands-on demonstration for your household, estate or school, our team runs free composting sessions as part of our recycling education programme — request one here.