Avoid Putting These 7 Kinds of Common Household Waste in Compost

Composting household waste is not only an environmentally responsible thing to do, it can also be fun. It’s especially rewarding for gardeners to see what would have been garbage converted into nutrient-rich soil for your flowers and vegetables. If you’re just getting started making compost, it’s important not to be overly enthusiastic. Some things that you might assume are ok to throw on the pile, especially organic things, are actually no-nos.

Great Things To Compost

Let’s start on the positive side. There’s plenty of waste in a typical home that will make great compost. Here are some examples:

• Yard waste: grass clippings, leaves, straw, hay, and shredded tree or shrub branches.
• Peelings: apple peels and cores, banana and orange peels, melon rinds, potato peels.
• Paper products: cardboard, newspaper, and non-glossy paper with staples removed. Tissues, paper towels, and napkins are also fine.
• Sawdust: use only sawdust from non-treated lumber, not decking or painted or finished woods.
• Breakfast: crushed eggshells, coffee grounds, used tea bags, corks.
• People Clippings: unpolished nail clippings or hair that has not been colored or bleached.

Things Not to Compost

We’re going to give you a specific list of things not to compost, but first, here are some general guidelines for the types of things you don’t want in your compost pile:

• Things that take a long time to decompose.
• Food wastes that smell bad as they decay.
• Materials that are treated with chemicals that can get into the environment.
• Substances that can transmit disease.
• Things that attract scavenging animals.

1. Meat scraps, bones, grease

Although meat, bones, and grease are organic products, they don’t belong in your compost. They decompose slowly, smell very bad, and can attract scavengers to your yard. Your backyard compost pile is unlikely to reach a high enough sustained temperature to kill pathogens in the decaying material, as well.

2. Whole eggs

It’s ok to put eggshells in your compost if you crush them up. Whole eggshells will take a long time to decompose, though. As for the whites and yolks, cooked or uncooked, they will smell bad and attract rodents , skunks , raccoons , and other vermin.

3. Dairy products

As with meat and eggs, dairy products like cheese and milk will create a terrible smell and attract animals that eat garbage. They can also host pathogens that will make you sick. Leave them out of the compost pile.

4. Human or Pet Waste

A regular household compost pile should not contain human or pet waste because it smells bad and can transmit disease. If you do want to compost these waste products, invest in a composting toilet for human waste. For pet waste, you’ll need a “hot” compost pile that reaches an internal temperature of 165 °F for a minimum of 5 days. This is necessary to kill parasites . Then the compost has to be cured for two years before use and should be used only for flowers and decorative plants, never on anything edible.

5. Diseased Plants, Weeds

It seems a complete no-brainer to compost used potting soil, dead plants, or weed clippings. There are two problems with it, though. Whatever parasite or disease killed your plant can be transmitted to other plants. Secondly, seeds from cut weeds can get into the compost. You’ll have to de-weed your compost as well as having more work to do in your garden when you spread it.

6. “Biodegradable” Plastics

You don’t need anyone to tell you to keep plastic and styrofoam out of your compost. It takes hundreds of years to break down, and when it does, it puts microplastics into the environment. What might trip you up, though, are plastic-looking food and drink containers labeled “biodegradable” or “100% compostable.” This usually means it has to be processed in an industrial facility. It will not break down properly in a small home pile.

7. Treated Wood

Although sawdust and shredded or chipped wood can go in compost, these should come from things like tree branches or untreated lumber. Stained, painted, or varnished wood, such as furniture or decorative trim from your house, should not go into the pile. Nor should sawdust or chips from decking or outdoor furniture that has been pressure-treated with chemicals to make them rot-resistant. Not only will these take a long time to break down, but they will put unwanted chemicals into your garden.

Heating Up Your Compost

What if you really do want to compost food products, animal waste, or other potentially disease-bearing materials? This will require making sure the decomposition process sustains a temperature of about a minimum of 130 °F for a month. How do you do that?

• Make your pile at least 3 feet long, 3 feet high, and 3 feet wide (1 cubic yard) so that it has enough volume to generate the required temperature.
• Add nitrogen-rich materials to increase the heat. Manure from herbivores such as cows or rabbits is one example.
• Measure the temperature and turn the mixture when it reaches 160-165 °F. If the temperature gets too high it will kill beneficial microbes and stop the decomposition process.
• Make sure the pile has enough oxygen by mixing larger and smaller pieces. For example, straw might be mixed with sawdust or other finely shredded pieces.
• If it smells bad, it has too little oxygen. Aerobic compost is full of oxygen, good for plants, and doesn’t stink.

Clearly, composting requires some brainpower and muscle power to work. But with a little practice, it will become a natural and rewarding part of your daily routine.

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