Compost icon

Composting 101

cycle of organic material and compost

Start reducing household waste that you are sending to the landfill and create a valuable resource right in your own backyard by composting. It’s nature’s form of recycling that you can play a role in!

Composting is the biological process of recycling organic material into a nutrient-rich fertilizer that supports healthy plant and soil growth.

Benefits of Composting

image detailing the benefits of composting

Why are things labeled Green and Brown?

Items labeled Green are organic materials rich in nitrogen, whereas Brown items are organic materials rich in carbon.

Green Materials

  •   Grass Clippings
  •   Tea Bag
  •   Rice Grains
  •   Hair
  •   Fresh Leaves
  •   Fruits Vegetables
  •   Seaweed
  •   Fresh Flowers
  •   Alfafa Meal
  •   Rotten Manure
  •   Coffee Grounds
  •   Kitchen Scraps

Brown Materials

  •   Corncobs Stalk
  •   Paper
  •   Pine Needles
  •   Sawdust Woodshaving
  •   Dry Leaves
  •   Straw
  •   Woodchips
  •   Vegetables Stalks
  •   Soiled Napkins and Paper Plates
  •   Peat Moss

What Not To Compost

There are materials that should not be composed as they could be harmful to plants and soil life. They may contain substances that are harmful to plants, create odor problems, attract pests, rodents, and flies, and contain parasites or other bacteria that may be harmful to plants, soils, and even humans.

image of items that should not be composted
  •   Fish
  •   Meat
  •   Bones
  •   Metal
  •   Greasy Food Scraps
  •   Plastic
  •   Glass
  •   Styrofoam
  •   Dairy
  •   Diseased Plants
  •   Fat Butter
  •   Oil

Recipe for Compost

Ingredients

  • compost bin icon Bin or Box
  • 🌿 Green Materials
  • 🍂 Brown Materials
  • 🌊 Water
  • 💨 Air
food scraps to compost
Pro Tip: keep a small container in your food prep area to collect scraps for your compost.

Directions

  1. Make a box/bin or purchase a compost bin and set it up on well-drained soil near a water source.
  2. Add brown and green materials, cut and shredded as needed, and ideally in layers.
  3. Moisten materials.
  4. Mix it about once a week to give it air and add water as needed. It should be moist.
  5. Your compost is ready to use when the material at the bottom looks dark and rich in color and feels like soil.

References

Additional Resources

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