Composting Do's and Don'ts for Waste Materials

The following are selected items that are suitable for composting and those that are harmful to the decomposition process. Here are the properties of some specific waste. It's not a complete list by any means, but does provide insight and tips when choosing composting ingredients.

Materials that can be used in composting:

Kitchen/household Items:

Remains of vegetables and fruit. They provide nitrogen and carbon, plus potassium and phosphorus. Rapidly decomposes.

Cooked/boiled pasta. They produce a lot of compaction in quantity.

Crushed egg shells. They provide calcium. and also decomposes slowly.

Sawdust. Provides carbon and absorbs moisture and slowly decomposes.

Bones. Slowly decomposes and improves the compost structure.

Untreated wood ash Provides minerals to the compost

Body Hairs are fine but decomposes very slowly.

Dust from the vacuum cleaner. Only use if your carpeting is of natural fibers. Do not include the dust from synthetic carpeting.

Outdoor Items:

Cut grass is excellent as it's rich in nitrogen ans is an excellent activator. Good to mix with leaves, branches.

Weeds. They are ok to use, but should not be of the climbing vines because they can root in the mass.

Remains of pruning. Slowly decomposing, should be added in small pieces and quantities. They encourage aeration.

Sawdust. Provides carbon and absorbs moisture. Slowly decomposes

Straw and hay. The older the cuttings, the better. Moisten before adding

Animal manure.Rich in nitrogen, good activator.

Waste of herbivorous animals like cow, horse and rabbit. Never use the biological wastes of animals that eat meat. So unless your pets are vegan, leave their wastes out.

Materials that can not or should not be composting:

In this group are mostly inorganic waste of origin, not biodegradables, They are a source of contamination and don't contribute significantly to compost temperature and therefore delays the decomposition process. They'll also cause problems with sanitation.

For example, seeds and fruits of could germinate and give rise to unwanted plants.

Human and domestic animals waste like cats and dogs, may contain pathogens and tissue so that must not be used

Meat, fish, shellfish and remains of dairy products can cause problems of unwanted odors and attract insects or other animals older.

The remains of conifers such as pines are very acidic and compost bad and need to be excluded.

Other wastes such as leaves of chestnut, walnut, oak or oak, contain substances that inhibit the growth of beneficial bacteria involved in the process of composting. If they cannot be entirely avoided, use them only small quantities

The following are items will never decompose well enough for composting:

Disposable diapers

Cards or papers in bright colors or printed in ink color

Hard objects, rocks, glass, metal, plastic, batteries

Chemicals including those from the garden or household (paint, nail polish ...)

Oils

Medicines

Ash from treated wood