Sawdust

[djenkins]

Hi there,

We've got Guinea Pigs and they produce a lot of sawdust waste and newspaper waste. It currently gets added to our green waste bin and usually fills about hald it (its one of those large standard council wheelie bins), I'm know its compostable but I'm wondering if such a large volume of sawdust would be too much to do at one time....

Can anyone advise?

Regards,

Dave.

[Salexander]

I would mix the sawdust with grass clippings if you have them. Only problem is that mix will compact down very quickly, reducing airflow, so mix through some wood chip, straw, garden clipping or similar to encourage airflow through your heap. If you feel it might be too much sawdust in one go, then bag it and mix some in every time you mow the lawn.

[Maple-P.I.]

In addition to Salexander's comments, would advise on not adding too much straw - tends to have a waxy coating so can take longer to breakdown. Woodchip is a definite must though as sawdust is quite fine and will restrict airflow - agreed!

[GeoffC]

How about wood pellets that are in cat litter but don't break down whilst in the litter tray. They'll help as a bulking agent for a short while, no?

[HogZone]

Hi, sorry to jump on the thread but I've just ordered my Hotbin and am also wondering about the wood based cat litter. Will it break down in the Hotbin? I understand it has to be mixed with other materials and not too much added at once but just wondering whether ultimately it's OK to add it to the bin. Thank you

[GeoffC]

Pellets from cat litter break down rather quickly to sawdust - hence probably not too much, otherwise you'll compromise the air-flow.

I've noticed if you open and close the lid a few times it shows air flow is working if grass growing around the base reacts to the air exiting the grill at the base.