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!
- Coffee grounds
- Coffee filters
- Burlap coffee bags
- Milk (in small amounts)
- Outdated yogurt
- Tea bags
- Used paper napkins
- Pizza boxes, ripped up
- Paper bags, ripped or balled up
- The crumbs off of the counters & floors
- Cooked pasta
- Cooked rice
- Egg shells
- Stale bread
- Stale cereal
- Stale preztels
- Pizza crust
- Freezer burnt Veggies
- Freezer burnt Fruit
- Stale crackers
- Tofu
- Paper towel rolls
- Used paper plates (NO wax coating)
- Cellophane bags (Cellophane – not plastic.)
- Nut shells
- Expired herbs and spices (or new if you wanted to?!)
- Cereal boxes (ripped up)
- Wine corks
- Moldy cheese
- Potato peelings
- Melted ice cream
- Old jelly, jam, or preserves
- Stale beer (tragedy!)
- Stale wine (double tragedy!)
- Paper egg cartons
- Toothpicks
- Bamboo skewers
- Paper cupcake or muffin cups
- Used facial tissues
- Hair from your hairbrush
- Toilet paper rolls
- Matches
- Toe and fingernail clippings
- Urine (only a minimal amount!)
- 100% Cotton cotton balls
- Q-tips (cotton swabs: cardboard, not plastic sticks)
- Cardboard tampon applicators (yuck!)
- Latex condoms
- Lint from the dryer
- Old/stained cotton clothing (ripped or cut up)
- Old wool clothing (ripped or cut up)
- Wool socks (ripped or cut up)
- Shredded Bills and documents
- Envelopes (Without the plastic window)
- Pencil shavings
- Post-it notes
- Elmer’s glue
- Business cards (Not the glossy kind)
- Receipts
- Wood chips
- Grass clippings
- Pine needles
- Seaweed and Kelp
- Leaves
- Tree bark
- Clay soil
- Old leather gardening gloves (ripped up)
- Sawdust
- Leftovers from the garden
- Fur from the dog
- Fur from the cat
- Rabbit/gerbil/hamsters, etc. droppings/bedding
- Bird cage dropping/newspaper
- Feathers
- Alfalfa hay or pellets
- Rawhide dog chews
- Fish food
- Fish scraps
- Dead jellyfish, starfish, etc.
- Crab shells
- Dry dog food
- Dry cat food
- Vacuum cleaner bag or canister contents
- Newspapers (shredded or ripped up)
- Subscription cards from magazines
- Trimmings from houseplants
- Dead houseplants and their soil
- Flowers from floral arrangements
- Natural potpourri
- Used matches
- Ashes from the fireplace, barbecue grill, or outdoor fire pit
- Wrapping paper rolls
- Paper table cloths
- Crepe paper streamers
- Latex balloons
- Raffia
- Halloween Jack o’ Lanterns
- Hay bales used as part of your outdoor fall decoration
- Natural holiday wreaths
- Christmas tree (Chopped up)
- Evergreen garlands
Kitchen
Bathroom
Laundry
Office
Outdoors
Pets
Other: Around the house
It’s fun to watch how fast the compost pile grows when you are taking advantage of all things compostable!