It’s around this time of year that we start to clear our drawers of old socks which have got too many holes in to remain decent. It seems a shame to throw them in the bin, so cut them all up for compost. Stirred into a hot pile compost heap, these socks will rot down in no time, and come summer, I’ll be spreading the soil over my beds.

Cutting up and composting socks might be a bit hippy, but it is just one of the ways gardeners can cut down on the amount of rubbish that ends up in landfill sites. Here are a few other household items that you can compost:

• The contents of your vacuum cleaner (although do not do this if you have been vacuuming broken glass).
• Cardboard – avoid anything with glossy printed coatings.
• Non-meaty food waste such as pasta and rice.
• Old wine (I would never suggest using good wine as a compost activator – what a total waste).
• Hair (although this always takes a while to rot down in my heap).
• Bedding from rabbits, guinea pigs etc. Do not use cat litter as this harbours the deadly toxoplasmosis.
• Spent coffee grounds and tea bags.
• Needles from your Christmas tree (and yes, I know it’s still hiding at the back of your garden, waiting for you to throw it out).

What other unusual things do you compost?