There are two types of composting materials: browns and greens. Browns are carbon rich and greens are nitrogen rich. There are different recommended ratios of browns to greens. One common ratio is 50 / 50 in your compost pile. Here are a variety of ways to add to your compost bin!
Compost Materials List
Browns: dry leaves and grass, dry plants, twigs, egg shells, compostable paper products, straw / hay in small amounts, pine needles, cardboard, egg cartons, shredded newspaper
Greens: grass clippings, green plants and trimmings, fresh leaves and flowers, vegetables, fruits, coffee grounds, tea bags, hair trimmings, manure from animals that only eat plants
What Not To Compost: meat, seafood, dairy, nuts, bones, grains, grease, diseased plants, weeds, pet waste
Grass Clippings
Skip the recycling bin and put them in your compost instead.
Leaves
Round up leaves around your yard and put them straight into the compost.
Food Scraps
Save all food scraps that you can compost in a container in your kitchen, then every so often add it to your compost bin. If your food scraps turn moldy, you can still compost them.
Paper Products
They include: paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, cardboard without a shiny surface or a lot of ink or tape, coffee filters, newspaper, egg shell cartons and more!
Coffee Grounds From Starbucks
Starbucks has a “Grounds For Your Garden” program where participating Starbucks set out used coffee grounds in a labeled basket in their stores. You could also contact a local coffee shop and ask if they could save you some used coffee grounds.
Ask Friends or Family
Your friends or family might be willing to save some compostable food scraps, leaves, grass, etc.
Master Gardeners or A Local Garden Organization
Ask a Master Gardener or local garden organization near you if they have any ideas on how to obtain compost materials. They could have connections!
Local Restaurants, Cafes, Juice Bars, Grocery Stores, or Breweries
You could ask them if they would be willing to save food scraps that they would ordinarily thrown out. A lot of imperfect or passed the pull date produce gets thrown out. Breweries have hops which are great for compost!
Local Zoos, Community Gardens, Horse Stables, or Farms
Zoos, horse stables, and farms might have manure that you could use. Community gardens and might have excess compost materials. It doesn’t hurt to call around and ask.
Get a Bunny
Rabbit manure is great to add to your compost materials. It breaks down quickly and is rich in potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen.
In Australia there is a program called Shared Waste. It connects you with neighbors who want to share their food scraps and other organic material.