The need to reduce food waste and the growth in gardening have renewed interest in composting. Compost benefits your garden soil in so many ways including soil structure and water retention, and it's so easy to do! To start though, you need to know what you really can compost and what should NEVER be put in your compost bin. A good mix of scraps from your home compost bin and other household waste can produce beneficial compost for your garden and plants, reduce waste going to our landfills and save you money.
WHAT CAN BE COMPOSTED?
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| Scrap Happy Freezer Compost Bin |
- Kitchen scraps - these include all vegetables, fruits, bread, pasta, flour and rice. These can be moldy, cooked or uncooked.
- Coffee grounds, coffee filters and tea bags.
- Twigs, wood chips, sawdust, toothpicks and burnt matches - twigs should be small, and even then will take longer to compost.
- Grass clippings and weeds.
- Manure - from plant eating animals only.
- Egg and nut shells.
- Leaves - these can either be green or dry leaves.
- Straw.
- Fireplace ashes.
- Newspapers, paper towels, uncoated junk mail and toilet paper rolls - we prefer to tear these into smaller pieces before composting. Do not compost paper towels that were used with chemicals such as cleaners.
- Cardboard - from smaller thinner boxes such as cereal boxes.
- Drier and vacuum cleaner lint.
- Cotton and wool rags - we cut these into smaller pieces so they compost faster.
- Hair and fur.
- Dairy products, fish, meat, bones or skin - in addition to adding smell, these food items attract all sorts of pests, including insects, mice and rats.
- Noxious weeds or diseased plants - composting may not destroy the seeds of noxious weeds or diseases affecting plants. For example our area, bindweed can be a problem. Composting won't kill bindweed.
- Animal feces or cat litter - these can add parasites or pathogens to your compost, which can then be transferred to your garden soil.
- Cooking oil - like meat and bones, cooking oil can attract pests.
- Walnut shells - due to potential toxicity issues for garden plants.
