The raw materials that go into compost come from organic waste. These green, organic disposables can come from your garden, your kitchen, and even your home at large. The more of it you keep from the trash, the more you keep from landfills. According to the United States EPA, yard trimmings and food residuals together constitute 20-30 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream.

The best thing about making your own compost is that you can control what goes in it and keep the harmful stuff, you control the balance of ingredients and don’t rely on any one component. A variety of ingredients — brown and green — are needed in the pile. The more varied the materials in your compost, the richer the finished product, filled with micro-nutrients and diverse, beneficial microbial life, will be. Here’s our list with special considerations for composting.

(1) Recommand:

• Leaves
• Grass clippings
• Dry cat or dog food
• Any non-animal food scraps, such as: fruits, bread, cereal, peelings, vegetables.

(2) Need Preparation or Special Time(can be added to compost, but may still be there during a season):

• Nut
• Twigs
• Pine cones
• Corn cobs
• Wood chips
• Pits of some fruit, such as: mango, avocado, pecah and plum.

(3) Avoid:

• Battery
• Hard bone
• Metal products
• Glassproducts

From the Kitchen

Your kitchen can make a significant contribution. Fruit or vegetable trimmings, rather than going down garbage disposals and into the sewer system or septic tank, make excellent compost additions. Breads, cereals, hamburger buns, old oats whether quick or slow, rolled or cracked — in fact, grains of any kind or condition are fine. Coffee grounds add nitrogen, and tea is fine; toss them in with their bags or filters (unbleached coffee filters are preferable and the staples in tea bags can be troublesome).