What to Compost

Your composter will work best if it is fed a diet of green (nitrogen-rich) and brown (carbon-rich) materials.

• Greens: Fruit/vegetable scraps, houseplant cuttings, coffee groups, rice/pasta, egg shells, tea bags, flowers, plant/hedge trimmings and small amounts of grass
• Browns: Coffee filters, bread, paper napkins/towels, dryer lint, hair, leaves, straw/hay, small twigs/chips, and dried grass/weeds
• Do NOT Compost: Meat, fish, bones, dairy products, oils/fats, sauces, ashes, pet waste, diseased plants and mature weeds with seeds

How to Compost

Composting is easy?it happens on its own. However, there are a few things you can do to speed up the composting process.

• Chop: It helps to chop up larger items like watermelon rinds or corn cobs before putting them in your kitchen composter.
• Empty: Once your kitchen bucket is full, take it to your composter and dump it into your composter.
• Stir: Mix the new material into the existing pile using an aerator, pitchfork or other garden tool. This also adds oxygen, a key component to successful composting.
• Cover: Cover your food waste with a handful of old leavers, other dried yard waste or soil. This will add carbon and reduce the chance of odors and fruit flies. Then put the lid back on and let is ?cook?.

Seasons of Composting

Composting can be done year round no matter what the weather conditions. Follow the four seasons of composting!

• Spring: Stir well and add some soil to kick-start your composter. Dig out any finished compost from the bottom to use in your lawn or garden.
• Summer: Keep your composter humming by stirring it frequently and conver fresh material with leaves. If the compost looks dry, add some water.
• Fall: The season of harvesting. Clean out your ocmpost and dig the finished material into your garden. If possible, save some leaves to add to the composter during the year.
• Winter: With the colder temperatures, your compost will decompose slower. Don't worry, let it fill up. Once spring comes it will all decompose rapidly.

Using your Compost

Compost is a nutrient-rich soil amendment, created by the natural decomposition of kitchen and yard waste by microbes, worms and other organisms. When mixed with your soil, it will revitalize it, make it healthier and more productive, and increase moisture retention.

• In Your Garden: Spread compost in your vegetable or flower garden in spring or fall, and work it into the soil.
• On Your Lawn: Top-dress your lawn with compost in the spring or fall. This will help maintain healthy soil structure and build your topsoil. It helps to screen the compost first so it spreads easily.
• Around Trees & Shrubs: Spreading compost around the base of trees or shrubs is another easy way to put your compost to use. Your trees and shrubs will love you for it.

The Big Picture

By composting and recycling you can reduce the amount of garbage you generate by up to 80%.

The organic portion of the waste stream contains yard waste and kitchen waste, each representing 25% of total waste generated. The rest of the waste comes form recycables--30% and residential waste--20%.