Compost Guidelines

This is a very helpful website if you are interested in learning more about composting. As I said here, I am not diligent with my compost, but it does provide a handy place to put kitchen and garden scraps.

Following is a chart listing common composting materials

Type of Material	Use it?	Carbon/ Nitrogen	Details
Algae, seaweed and lake moss	Yes	N	Good nutrient source.
Ashes from coal or charcoal	No	n/a	May contain materials bad for plants.
Ashes from untreated, unpainted wood	Careful	Neutral	Fine amounts at most. Can make the pile too alkaline and suppress composting.
Beverages, kitchen rinse water	Yes	Neutral	Good to moisten the middle of the pile. Don't over-moisten the pile.
Bird droppings	Careful	N	May contain weed seeds or disease organisms.
Cardboard	Yes	C	Shred into small pieces if you use it. Wetting it makes it easier to tear. If you have a lot, consider recycling instead.
Cat droppings or cat litter	No	n/a	May contain disease organisms. Avoid.
Coffee ground and filters	Yes	N	Worms love coffee grounds and coffee filters.
Compost activator	Not required, but ok.	Neutral	You don't really need it, but it doesn't hurt.
Cornstalks, corn cobs	Yes	C	Best if shredded and mixed well with nitrogen rich materials.
Diseased plants	Careful	N	If your pile doesn't get hot enough, it might not kill the organisms, so be careful. Let it cure several months, and don't use resulting compost near the type of plant that was diseased.
Dog droppings	No	n/a	Avoid.
Dryer lint	Yes	C	Compost away! Moistening helps.
Eggshells	Yes	O	Break down slowly. Crushing shells helps.
Fish scraps	No	n/a	Can attract rodents and cause a stinky pile.
Hair	Yes	N	Scatter so it isn't in clumps.
Lime	No	n/a	Can kill composting action. Avoid.
Manure (horse, cow, pig, sheep, goat, chicken, rabbit)	Yes	N	Great source of nitrogen. Mix with carbon rich materials so it breaks down better.
Meat, fat, grease, oils, bones	No	n/a	Avoid.
Milk, cheese, yogurt	Careful	Neutral	Put it deep in the pile to avoid attracting animals.
Newspaper	Yes	C	Shred it so it breaks down easier. It is easy to add too much newspaper, so recycle instead if you have a lot. Don't add slick colored pages.
Oak leaves	Yes	C	Shredding leaves helps them break down faster. They decompose slowly. Acidic.
Sawdust and wood shavings (untreated wood)	Yes	C	You'll need a lot of nitrogen materials to make up for the high carbon content. Don't use too much, and don't use treated woods.
Pine needles and cones	Yes	C	Don't overload the pile. Also acidic and decomposes slowly.
Weeds	Careful	N	Dry them out on the pavement, then add later.
Sod	Careful	N	Make sure the pile is hot enough, so grass doesn't continue growing.