What to compost and What Not to Compost

Know Your Organic Compostable Materials

Great news!!! There is a huge number of items that you can compost. But, you must know what to compost, and what not to compost. Identifying compostable materials is the first step of a successful composting project. And everything you put into your compost bin or composter is one less thing that goes into the waste stream. Let’s explore what to put in the compost bin or composter.

Almost any plant matter is a good candidate for composting. Look for yard, garden, and organic kitchen materials, and have not been exposed to chemical pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides. For example, lawn grass clippings are great for composting… until it is treated.

For proper decomposition, use 4 parts Nitrogen (Green) materials, to 1 part Carbon (Brown) materials. More on the proper mix of greens and browns.

Green Materials are Nitrogen Rich

Banana peels, orange peels
Clover
Coffee grounds (it’s okay to toss in the paper filter)
Eggshells have plenty of calcium
Grass clippings, very high in nitrogen
Hay
Hops
Kitchen fruit scraps
Kitchen vegetable scraps
Leftover pizza – remove the pepperoni and sausage
Manures (not pet or human) in small amounts
Pasta and sauce (not the meatballs)
Seaweed(wash off the salt, if taken from the ocean)
Stale bread
Weeds, before going to seed

Note: If your compost project heats up properly, it reaches temperatures that kill weed seeds.

Brown Materials - Carbon

Branches and twigs, chop finely for quicker decomposition
Corn stalks, dried out
Dead, dried up weeds
Dead flowers
Fall leaves
Newspaper (black and white, no colored paper or colored inks)
Peanut shells, preferably unsalted
Sawdust
Shells from clams, lobsters, oysters, etc. Rinse and finely crush first, contains calcium.
Straw
Tree Bark
Wood/fireplace ash – lots of potash, alkaline pH
Wood chips and wood shavings
Wooden Chopsticks
Old mulch – wood, cocoa shells, pine bark
Plant roots
Pine cones and needles – in small amounts, as they are acidic
Peanut shells – break down slowly.

Tip: Shred materials before putting them into your composter. This creates more surface area for bacteria to do their job, and increases the rate of decomposition.

What Else to Compost

Brown cardboard
Brown or white paper bags
Cardboard core of rolls of wrapping paper
Corks from wine bottles – will decompose very, very slowly.
Hair trimming, yes human hair
Kleenex tissues
Newspaper
Paper plates and napkins – white
Paper Towels, but not if used to wipe chemicals, oil, grease, etc.
Towel and toilet paper cardboard holders.
Stale bread, or feed the birds
Teabags
Toothpicks
Vegetable oil- in small amounts
Wax paper- if the wax is organic
White, 100% cotton t-shirts (no colors, no synthetic materials)

Note: Fireplace ash does not need to be composted. It is already broken down. However, many people mix a little fireplace ash into raw or finished compost. Emphasis is on “a little”.