🍂🪱🌱 Composting

How a compost heap works

A compost heap is like a slow, gentle kitchen for tiny living things. We feed it old food scraps and dead leaves, and over a few weeks it turns them into rich, crumbly soil-food called compost.

Instead of throwing fruit peels and leaves into the rubbish bin, we let nature recycle them. Gardeners in Singapore use the finished compost to help their plants grow strong. 🌿

Tap Next to start cooking up some compost!

Two kinds of food for the heap

A healthy heap needs a mix of two things. Tap each box to peek inside!

🥬
GREENS
Wet & juicy: fruit peels, veggie scraps, grass cuttings. They give nitrogen — the energy food. 🍌🍎
🍂
BROWNS
Dry & papery: dead leaves, twigs, cardboard. They give carbon and let air sneak in. 🍃📦

The secret recipe: use a bit more browns than greens. Too many wet greens makes a smelly, soggy heap — yuck! 🤢

Tap both boxes to reveal them.

Sort the scraps! 🗑️

Tap a scrap to pick it up, then tap the bin it belongs in. Compost loves food and plant bits — but NOT plastic, metal or meat!

🍌Banana peel
🍂Dead leaves
🥤Plastic cup
🥚Eggshell
🔋Battery
🍎Apple core
🟢
Compost heap
🗑️
Rubbish bin
Pick a scrap first. 👆

Layer it up! 🥪

A great heap is like a layered sandwich. Add layers and aim for more browns than greens, plus a splash of water to keep it damp.

Browns: 0 · Greens: 0 · Water: 0
Try about 4 browns, 2 greens and 1 water. 🌡️

Who does the work? 🔬

You don't stir magic in — tiny living helpers eat the scraps and break them down. Tap each helper to meet them!

Microbes
Too tiny to see! Billions of bacteria & fungi munch the scraps and make the heap warm. 🔥
Worms
Wrigglers eat rotting bits and tunnel about, mixing in air and pooping out lovely soil. 🪱
Bugs
Beetles, sowbugs & mites chew big bits into smaller bits so the microbes can finish the job. 🐛
Meet all three helpers above.

Slide through time ⏳

The helpers need warmth, air and a little patience. Drag the slider to watch chunky scraps turn into dark compost.

Week 1
Fresh scraps! Everything is colourful and chunky.

Black gold for plants 🌻

After about 6–12 weeks the heap becomes compost: dark, crumbly and sweet-smelling like a forest floor.

🌱➡️🪴

Mix it into garden soil. The compost feeds plants, holds water, and helps roots grow — all from yesterday's banana peels!

🏆🪱🌿

What you learned

Well done! 🎉 Next time you finish a banana, you'll know it could become a brand-new plant. Will you start a compost heap at home or in school?