Composting is a quick and easy way to reduce organic waste in the home. When you compost, you offer more to the soil and reuse items you would once throw away.
Composting 101: What Can I Compost?
Composting is all about reusing the organic waste in the home and reducing the overall amount of trash filling landfills. When starting a compost bin it is essential to understand what items can be composted and what items cannot.
As a rule of thumb, all items that were once alive can be composted. There are three different types of composting materials: quick composting materials, slow composting materials and very slow composting materials.
Composting materials are also divided by ingredients in the compost material. There are green compost materials and brown compost materials that need to be included in the compost bin in order to balance the rotting process.
Quick Composting Materials
Quick composting materials are often referred to as " activators". These activators are great to get your compost bin started as they decay very quickly. Quick composting materials need to be combined with slow composting materials and very slow composting materials in order to balance your compost bin.
Quick composting materials include grass clippings, leaves and weeds.
Slow Composting Materials
Slow composting materials will make up the majority of the bulk in your compost bin. These items will be comprised of older plant materials such as large leaves and food waste.
While most of the food waste from your home can be used in your compost bin, meat, dairy products and some cooked foods can attract animals to your compost bin. These items should be avoided whenever possible.
Very Slow Composting Materials
Very slow composting materials include any wood materials. Larger pieces of wood are best broken into smaller pieces before being placed into the compost bin.
Greens Versus Browns
Along with compost materials being divided by decaying times, they are also divided by organic makeup. Composting materials are characterized as either green or brown.
Green compost materials are nitrogen rich. These include raw vegetables, grass clippings, coffee grounds, tea bags and urine (diluted 20 parts water to 1 part urine).
Brown of compost materials are carbon rich. These materials include cardboard, paper, magazines, wood, sawdust and leaves.