THE inevitable indulgence of food during the festive period may be bad for your waistline but it's great for your garden.

Up to a third of the rubbish households in Worcestershire throw away could be recycled back into gardens to make flowers and plants look fabulous.

And with plenty of rubbish produced during December from Christmas dinners and entertaining family and friends, it's a great time to begin home composting.

Worcestershire County Council and WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) have joined together for the "Everyone Loves a Rotter" home composting campaign.

The campaign forms part of the county council's "Mission Impossible" scheme aimed at encouraging residents to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills.

December is the perfect time to start composting as all of the surplus waste can be put into a compost bin and left to rot over the winter ready for the spring/summer bloom.

To help people, the county council is offering three types of subsidised bins: n The Compostabin.

Costs £5 including home delivery. It holds 226 litres and is 35.4ins high with a diameter of 29ins.

n The Milko.

Costs £10 including home delivery. It holds 300 litres and is 35.8ins high with a diameter of 31.4ins. It also has a hatch.

n The Wooden Modular Composter.

Costs £15 including home delivery. It holds 600 litres and is 35.8ins by 35.8ins by 29.5ins.

Around 20,000 bins have been sold across Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

"People should think about putting their bin on a post-Christmas diet," said Amy Bayliss, the county council's promotions assistant for waste management.

"Composting would significantly reduce the amount of kitchen and garden waste that is sent for disposal from one household. More than 60 per cent of rubbish we throw away in our dustbins could be recycled and reused, and up to half of that is garden and kitchen waste that could be kept at home and composted."

"Christmas time is an ideal time for composting. There are always plenty of vegetable peelings when preparing the Christmas dinner. Envelopes from Christmas cards can also go into the compost bin."

She said waste like fruit and vegetable peelings, eggshells, tea bags, paper towels, cardboard, envelopes and coffee grounds can all be composted.

Top tips for composting:

n Bigger is better - the more put into the compost bin the better the compost will be.

n Mixing the contents now and again with a fork or broom handle will also add air and help the rotting process.

n During winter, cut down on the trips to the garden by keeping a kitchen caddy (a small kitchen bin with a lid) to collect kitchen waste. These caddies are covered meaning they only have to be emptied into the compost bin once a week, or when they are full.

n If you are growing vegetables in your garden, add a small amount of lime to the compost before use as most vegetables prefer an alkaline soil.

n Too many leaves in a compost bin will slow the process. Collected leaves make great compost on their own - simply put them into black plastic bags, add water, make some holes in the bag and leave behind the shed for at least a year.

n After a dry spell (making sure the leaves and grass are not wet), use a lawnmower to pick your leaves up - this shreds the leaves well, aiding the compost process.

n If your compost bin has a lid then make sure it is on to avoid the worst of the wet weather. If not, then cover it with a plastic sheet or old carpet.

n Make sure you get a good balance of "greens", such as uncooked fruit and vegetables and their peelings, and "browns", such as paper towels, napkins, dry leaves and twigs, in your compost.

n Meat, dairy products, cooked food, cat and dog faeces, metal, glass and plastics are a definite no.

Over time, the waste put into the bins will biodegrade and become a nutrient-rich compost, which when ready, can be put onto the garden to improve soil condition and structure and help keep plants healthy.

For more information about composting or to place an order for a bin, call 0845 7300123. Delivery of the bins takes around 14 working days.