Composting is a great way to help reduce your impact on the planet. It saves you money, and you can use it in your vegetable garden. Some people can even sell it. Apparently 23% of all household rubbish in the US is stuff that could be composted - it's an incredible figure and so composting our household waste material is excellent for ourselves and the planet.

Here are 5 easy steps to creating great compost:

1. Get a compost bin. This isn't too difficult. Compost bins aren't too expensive, and you can order them online or get them at your local garden centre. The most simple is just an open crate. It requires manual turning, but if you're after something really simple, you can't really go past it! Revolving bins are quite cool and easy to use, but they don't hold that much material. It depends how much waste you produce.
2. Add some starter compost. Grass clippings are a great way to get your bin working. Don't leave grass clippings on their own for long - they will start to smell and go rather nasty if there isn't some additional brown material in there.
3. Add to your compost heap. Brown material is important to get the best compost that you can. Good brown material is paper, cardboard, sticks, sawdust and ashes. Shred some paper and add it to your compost pile. Green material can be added as well - kitchen scraps are perhaps the easiest thing to add here. Avoid meat, dairy and bones here as they can attract vermin. The ratio for good compost is about 40% brown material and 60% green.
4. Turn your heap. Turning your heap is just a way to keep it running smoothly. It doesn't take long - just turn it over with a spade. If you've got a big heap it can take some time, but you will only need to turn your heap every two weeks or so.
5. Use your compost! This is the most rewarding part. If you have a vegetable garden, then compost is nutrient dense and is very effective for growing new vegetables. Spread it across the vegetable patch and plant your vegetables a couple of weeks later. Your compost will take anywhere from three months to a year to be done.

Composting is something that happens without much effort on your part. You don't need to do much, yet you do several things at the same time: you help reduce your impact on the planet, you save money and you get free compost! What's not to love about that!

Creating the perfect compost heap is pretty easy, when you know what you're doing!