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101 Things You Can Compost

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So many people responded with shock in my previous composting post that you could compost wine corks, finger nails and hair, I decided to write an expanded list of items that are all safe for composting! While doing my research on all of these items, I was shocked too!

For those non-composting folk: Once you see all the things that go in the landfills instead of back into the garden or earth’s soil – hopefully you’ll be encouraged to start composting too!

Here goes… 101 things you can compost!

    Kitchen

  1. Coffee grounds
  2. Coffee filters
  3. Burlap coffee bags
  4. Milk (in small amounts)
  5. Outdated yogurt
  6. Tea bags
  7. Used paper napkins
  8. Pizza boxes, ripped up
  9. Paper bags, ripped or balled up
  10. The crumbs off of the counters & floors
  11. Cooked pasta
  12. Cooked rice
  13. Egg shells
  14. Stale bread
  15. Stale cereal
  16. Stale preztels
  17. Pizza crust
  18. Freezer burnt Veggies
  19. Freezer burnt Fruit
  20. Stale crackers
  21. Tofu
  22. Paper towel rolls
  23. Used paper plates (NO wax coating)
  24. Cellophane bags (Cellophane – not plastic.)
  25. Nut shells
  26. Expired herbs and spices (or new if you wanted to?!)
  27. Cereal boxes (ripped up)
  28. Wine corks
  29. Moldy cheese
  30. Potato peelings
  31. Melted ice cream
  32. Old jelly, jam, or preserves
  33. Stale beer (tragedy!)
  34. Stale wine (double tragedy!)
  35. Paper egg cartons
  36. Toothpicks
  37. Bamboo skewers
  38. Paper cupcake or muffin cups

    39. Bathroom

  39. Used facial tissues
  40. Hair from your hairbrush
  41. Toilet paper rolls
  42. Matches
  43. Toe and fingernail clippings
  44. Urine (only a minimal amount!)
  45. 100% Cotton cotton balls
  46. Q-tips (cotton swabs: cardboard, not plastic sticks)
  47. Cardboard tampon applicators (yuck!)
  48. Latex condoms

    49. Laundry

  49. Lint from the dryer
  50. Old/stained cotton clothing (ripped or cut up)
  51. Old wool clothing (ripped or cut up)
  52. Wool socks (ripped or cut up)

    53. Office

  53. Shredded Bills and documents
  54. Envelopes (Without the plastic window)
  55. Pencil shavings
  56. Post-it notes
  57. Elmer’s glue
  58. Business cards (Not the glossy kind)
  59. Receipts

    60. Outdoors

  60. Wood chips
  61. Grass clippings
  62. Pine needles
  63. Seaweed and Kelp
  64. Leaves
  65. Tree bark
  66. Clay soil
  67. Old leather gardening gloves (ripped up)
  68. Sawdust
  69. Leftovers from the garden

    70. Pets

  70. Fur from the dog
  71. Fur from the cat
  72. Rabbit/gerbil/hamsters, etc. droppings/bedding
  73. Bird cage dropping/newspaper
  74. Feathers
  75. Alfalfa hay or pellets
  76. Rawhide dog chews
  77. Fish food
  78. Fish scraps
  79. Dead jellyfish, starfish, etc.
  80. Crab shells
  81. Dry dog food
  82. Dry cat food

    83. Other: Around the house

  83. Vacuum cleaner bag or canister contents
  84. Newspapers (shredded or ripped up)
  85. Subscription cards from magazines
  86. Trimmings from houseplants
  87. Dead houseplants and their soil
  88. Flowers from floral arrangements
  89. Natural potpourri
  90. Used matches
  91. Ashes from the fireplace, barbecue grill, or outdoor fire pit
  92. Wrapping paper rolls
  93. Paper table cloths
  94. Crepe paper streamers
  95. Latex balloons
  96. Raffia
  97. Halloween Jack o’ Lanterns
  98. Hay bales used as part of your outdoor fall decoration
  99. Natural holiday wreaths
  100. Christmas tree (Chopped up)
  101. Evergreen garlands

It’s fun to watch how fast the compost pile grows when you are taking advantage of all things compostable!