Ohio University Ecohouse Residential Guide
Add the Ingredients You can compost the following materials easily: •
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Kitchen waste - best to chop up or grind the wastes so that they can be broken down faster § Fruit and vegetable wastes - peels, skins, seeds, leaves § Egg shells § Coffee grounds (including paper filters), tea bags, used paper napkins § Corncobs - should be shredded to make them break down quickly § Meat/dairy products - see sidebar Yard waste § Grass clippings - Some grass is okay, but too much will add excess nitrogen to the compost pile and make it smell bad. It may be best to use a mulching lawn mower for your grass. § Leaves § Pine needles § Weeds § Woody materials (branches, twigs) § Straw or hay Newspaper Seaweed, kelp or marsh grass hay - If you live by the ocean and it is legal to harvest these, they are excellent, nutrient-rich materials. Rinse or soak them thoroughly in fresh water to remove excess salt before adding them to your compost pile. Composting Meat & Dairy Sawdust - This is an excellent source of Meat and dairy products are high in fat. They will cause carbon. an unpleasant odor if added to a passive pile or poorlymanaged active compost pile. For a hot, well-turned compost pile, meat and dairy wastes are not a problem. However, it is better to run the wastes through a blender or food processor to reduce their size and speed their decomposition.