Do you know what goes in a compost pile??
Making a compost pile is one of the best things you can do for your garden and the environment. Not only does it eliminate waste in your own trash can, but it provides a nutrient rich feeding ground for your plants and vegetables. By throwing in leaves, fruit and vegetable peels and then using that enriched soil to grow more fruit and vegetables and other plants, you’re recycling; call it “The Circle of Life” if you will. Many people don’t know what a compost pile consists of and are confused as to what actually goes in a compost pile. The graph below breaks it down (no pun intended) as to what goes in a compost pile, whether carbon or nitrogen is released, and also gives additional information on the material at hand.
One-third of landfill waste is made up of compost materials.
Compost can divert as much as 30% of household waste away from the garbage can.
Compost helps divert plant disease.
Composting offers a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers.
Now that we’ve gone over items that should be composted, below are items that should never be used when composting.
Bread products: This includes cakes, pasta and most baked goods. Put any of these items in your compost pile, and you've rolled out the welcome mat for unwanted pests.
Cooking oil: Smells like food to animal and insect visitors. It can also upset the compost's moisture balance.
Diseased plants: Trash them, instead. You don't want to transfer fungal or bacterial problems to whatever ends up growing in your finished compost.
Heavily coated or printed paper: This is a long list, including magazines, catalogs, printed cards and most printed or metallic wrapping paper. Foils don't break down, and you don't need a bunch of exotic printing chemicals in your compost.
Human or animal feces: Too much of a health risk. This includes kitty litter. Waste and bedding from non-carnivorous pets should be fine.
Meat products: This includes bones, blood, fish and animal fats. Another pest magnet.
Milk products: Refrain from composting milk, cheese, yogurt and cream. While they'll certainly degrade, they are attractive to pests.
Rice: Cooked rice is unusually fertile breeding ground for the kinds of bacteria that you don't want in your pile. Raw rice attracts varmints.
Sawdust: So tempting. But unless you know the wood it came from was untreated, stay away.
Stubborn garden plants: Dandelions, ivy and kudzu are examples of plants or weeds which will probably regard your compost heap as a great place to grow, rather than decompose.
Used personal products: Tampons, diapers and items soiled in human blood or fluids are a health risk.
Walnuts: These contain juglone, a natural aromatic compound toxic to some plants.
http://eartheasy.com/grow_compost.html
http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/how-build-compost-pile
http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/recycling/stories/30-things-you-should-never-compost-or-recycle
