What Goes In – and Stays Out of – a Compost Pile

Once you’ve chosen to start your own compost pile, what should you add?

Compost needs brown and green materials – the brown materials are high in carbon and the green materials are high in nitrogen. Together, they break down and create killer compost. If possible, physically break down your materials before adding them to your compost pile so they will decompose more quickly.

Image courtesy of Bomania

Brown (high carbon) Materials to Compost

• Bedding from pets like guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits
• Coir liners from hanging baskets
• Corrugated cardboard (torn into small pieces)
• Dead leaves (shredded)
• Pine needles
• Dead plants (that aren’t diseased)
• Hair
• Nut shells (not walnut shells)
• Shredded (non-glossy) junk mail
• Shredded newspaper
• Shredded paper
• Sawdust from untreated wood
• Straw
• Paper egg cartons (torn into small pieces)
• Paper (shredded or torn into strips)
• Paper napkins
• Paper lunch bags
• Paper shopping bags
• Pine cones
• Twigs
• Untreated wood chips

Green (high nitrogen) Materials to Compost

• Alfalfa
• Algae
• Bread
• Citrus rinds
• Clover
• Coffee grounds
• Corn cobs
• Corn husks
• Dried herbs and spices
• Egg shells
• Grass clippings (herbicide-free)
• Green weeds that haven’t gone to seed
• Houseplant trimmings
• Fresh leaves
• Manure
• Melon rinds
• Non-meat and non-dairy kitchen scraps
• Old vegetables
• Peels and trimmings from fruits and vegetables
• Pine greenery
• Cooked plain rice
• Cooked plain pasta
• Sod
• Spent bulbs
• Tea bags
• Tea leaves

Do Not Compost

• Bones
• Fat
• Clippings from lawn that have been treated with herbicides
• Diseased plants
• Excrement from omnivores like cats, dogs, or humans
• Meat
• Sawdust from treated wood
• Sugary or salty foods
• Thorns
• Weed seedheads

Talk back
If you’re a composting veteran, what other materials do you add to your compost pile?

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Hilary Kimes Bernstein

Hilary Kimes Bernstein is a Christ follower, wife, mama, and journalist. She writes about making healthy decisions that honor God and happen to help the environment at Accidentally Green. Short and sweet - like her writing - Hilary is the author of several healthy living eBooks.

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