Composting is a great way to reduce household trash while producing useful materials for your garden. It has the added benefit of being low-cost and easy to implement.
To produce good compost, your set-up will require a few things.
- Aeration: your compost needs to breathe. Mix to keep loosely tumbled (you can give a plastic bin a good shake to accomplish this or toss compost with a pitchfork or roll a can to tumble contents.
- Moisture: not saturated, not dry, but moist. If you are adding a number of dry materials, you can use a misting sprayer with water to moisten.
- Heat: a relatively closed space will allow for heat to build up. This helps to speed up the rate of decomposition and the production of final compost material.
- Green and Brown Materials: You should have a 50% mixture of items that are rich in either nitrogen (green: food waste, live yard scraps) or carbon (brown: leaf litter, sawdust, shredded paper) to keep a good balance for the final product. Layering of materials works best.
See the lists below for items that can and should not be included in your compost.
| Green Materials | Brown Materials | Non-Compostables |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee grounds | Shredded newspaper, office and school paper, non-glossy junk mail, post-its | Black walnut tree leaves, twigs, branches |
| Fruit and vegetable peels and rinds | Empty toilet paper, paper towel, wrapping paper rolls | Coal, charcoal ash |
| Tea leaves and bags | Torn up corrugated cardboard, cereal boxes | Dairy products - milk, butter, sour cream, yogurt, cheese, ice cream, yogurt |
| Old and spoiled fruits and vegetables | Brown paper bags | Eggs |
| Weeds before going to seed | Paper napkins and tissues | Diseased or insect-ridden plants |
| Plant and grass clippings | Paper coffee filters | Fats, grease, lard, oils |
| Fresh leaves | Fall leaves | Meats, fish bones, scraps |
| Deadheads from flowers | Paper coffee filters | Pet or human waste |
| Dead NOT diseased plants | Felt waste | Pet litter |
| Corn cobs and husks | Excelsior | Yard wastes treated with chemicals |
| Spent flower bulbs | Burlap bags | |
| Old herbs and spices | Coir liners from hanging baskets | |
| Holiday greenery | Spent matches | |
| Seaweed | Pet fur and hair clippings | |
| Sod and moss | Dryer lint | |
| Eggshells | Wood chips, ash, and sawdust from non-treated wood | |
| Cooked plain rice and pasta | Straw | |
| Old cookies, breads and cereals | Animal bedding | |
| Pickles | Twigs, small branches, pine cones, pine needles | |
| Bee droppings | Left over peat from seed starting | |
| Unpopped popcorn kernels | Raffia | |
| Jello | Nutshells, olive pits | |
| Old wine and beer | Old bird nest materials | |
| Liquid from canned fruit and vegetables | Shrimp, crab, lobster shells | |
| Dead insects | Old wool socks, furs | |
| Old movie tickets, grocery store receipts | ||
| Pencil shavings | ||
| Coconut hull fiber | ||
| Tofu | ||
| Wooden toothpicks | ||
| Feathers |