Composting tips, advice and science.

Compost News

From growing cabbages in poo to the secrets of effective home composting, we cover both the most interesting (and sometimes pretty weird!) and useful news for composters.

Pouring cooking oil into a hole made in the straw and the compost.

Researchers May Have Just Discovered A New Composting Hack – Cooking Oil!

18th May 2023 Imagine you had a simple kitchen ingredient in your cupboard that could make your compost hotter, enhance its nutritional value, AND reduce harm to the environment. If a new Japanese study is right, the cooking oil you use every day could be that ingredient! The researchers had already identified that adding cooking

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A tractor turns over compost in an industrial composting facility.

How Composting Could Be A Game-Changer In The Fight Against Carbon Emissions

14th May 2022 Every time we finish a meal, and throw food scraps away in the trash, we’re contributing to a massive global problem.  Over one-third of our human food waste is trashed – and the emissions that waste produces are helping to kill our planet.  However, a new study just published in Nature has

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A scientist peers at healthy green and red tomatoes hanging down from a plant.

Are Your Plants Suffering from Climate Change? Scientists Have a Solution

2nd May 2023 Gardeners and farmers alike are suffering from the effects of climate change.  As heat waves sweep across the world, water levels are dropping – and tomato yields are particularly affected.  However, a new study may have the answer – at least for tomatoes.  Morrocan researchers compared the use of conventional chemical fertilizers

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Chickens on the manure heap.

Use Manure, But Make Sure You Compost It First, Say Scientists. Here’s Why…

20th April 2023 Boy, do we produce a lot of manure.  In the EU alone we produce 1400 million tonnes of manure (and that’s just the animals!) This causes problems – think methane being released into the atmosphere, for example. But it also has the potential for some serious benefits for our soil and ecosystems

Use Manure, But Make Sure You Compost It First, Say Scientists. Here’s Why… Read More »

Elephant taking a poo.

Zoo Animals’ Poop Turned into High-Quality Compost – Available for Sale Now!

17th April 2023 In an exciting new initiative, Tend, a sustainable product brand, has partnered with the Buffalo Zoo to produce compost made entirely from the manure and bedding of 14 different species of hooved herbivores, including rhinos, giraffes, and zebras. The combination of high-nitrogen exotic animal poop and carbon-rich aged stall bedding, straw, and

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Digital art images of viruses.

Uncovering the Secret Role of Viruses in Hot Composting: New Study Reveals Surprising Findings

A new study has uncovered the secret role of viruses in breaking down organic matter in compost. While bacteria are known to play a major role in nutrient cycling, researchers have often overlooked the role of viruses in composting. Using advanced techniques, scientists have delved into the impact of compost bacteria and their viruses during

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Woman pots a plant on using compost. images.unsplash.com

Scientists Warn Against Peat Use in Gardens: ‘Problematic’ for Environment

9th April 2023 Peat usage in gardening is “problematic” for the environment, according to environmental scientists. When used in pot-based gardening, peat can improve the soil’s water retention while also increasing the drainage capacity, creating an ideal condition for plants to thrive. Peat is also lightweight and does not lose much volume inside the pots.

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