7 Simple Home Composting Tips

7 Simple Home Composting Tips

Composting can improve your soil, save you money, and help the environment, all at the same time. This one simple act can have a huge impact on your world. If you’re looking to reduce the waste your household generates, then composting is a simple but effective place to start. If you’re just getting started, here are some awesome tips that will help you make great compost. 

#1. Pet Waste Is Organic But Not Best For Compost

If you’re planning to use your compost to enrich the soil for growing edible crops then you’ll want to steer clear of adding dog and cat poo to your pile. Pet waste had harmful bacteria that can make you sick if it gets into your food. It can be used in composting only if it will be used on non-edible soil like your front yard. 

#2. Worms Love Coffee Grounds

Worms love coffee grounds and they can be good for them too. Coffee is a great natural pesticide that will keep slugs and snails away. It also is great at holding moisture which worms need. Coffee grounds can nourish worms with proteins, carbs, and fatty acids. So after your morning cuppa, go ahead and add the grounds to the compost bin. 

#3. Shredded Paper And Compost Are Besties

After you read your newspaper or sort through your junk mail, you can shred paper and add it to your compost bin. It’s a great source of carbon and absorbs moisture. Worms love it too, they will both eat and seek shelter in the paper. 

#4. Go Green - Make Sure Compost Is 50/50 Brown and Green

Did you know that the average home produces 200 pounds of kitchen waste? If you were to compost all the organic material at least, you’d be saving the bulk of your waste from the landfill. But health compost should have both brown (leaves, paper, straw, sawdust) and green (grass clippings, veggies, eggshells, coffee grounds) elements. Make sure to put all your fruit and veggie scraps into the compost pile. 

#5. Skip The Meat And Dairy Products

When adding kitchen scraps to your compost, keep in mind that not all food works the same. While you can technically compost meat and dairy products, they smell and attract flies and maggots. These items also slow down the composting process. So leave these items out of the compost bin, especially if you have an indoor bin. 

#6. Start A Worm Farm For Compost Tea

Worm farming is fantastic for the environment and can be a fun family activity as well. Not only does it reduce food waste but it can make “compost tea” that’s great for plants. Worms are easy to raise and care for and they are machines when it comes to processing organic matter. Worm castings (or “worm poop”) is the gold standard of fertilizers. 

#7. Add Straw For A Carbon Boost

One form of brown compost is straw which makes a great addition to your compost bin for several reasons. It decomposes very quickly and can add heat to the compost mixture you have going. It’s also rich in carbon which compost needs to process. Some people add straw to the top of their compost heap to keep is warm and to make it more attractive looking. 

Composting is a great family activity that even the youngest members can participate in. You can teach little ones about saving and protecting the environment and eliminate household waste at the same time. Even starting a small indoor compost bin can be beneficial. You can check out aesthetic kitchen compost bins in our store and get started right away.