Once you are all set to begin composting, you will quickly discover that you do not need to look far for materials to add to your compost heap. Indeed, that is among the many benefits associated with composting.
No matter where you live or what your lifestyle is like, you will quickly find out that you have good composting materials all around you.
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Composting at home is the simplest option to adopt, as this is where you frequently cook, eat, and clean.
Among the best strategies to tackle new composting efforts is to try to separate the various areas of your house, then weigh up what each area can offer to your compost bin.
Doing this will help you know where the most active composting materials are when you require them. In addition, you will get ideas for neutralizing materials in order to control odour as well.
So let us go through each one of the common areas of a house
Kitchen Composting Materials
The vast majority of common composting materials will emanate from the kitchen, especially materials that help activate the compost heap and make it decompose more rapidly.
Your kitchen will provide you with abundant organic material from fruits and vegetable scraps, used tea and coffee grounds, shredded paper wrappings, and even old paper or burlap bags as well.
When you are cleaning the kitchen area, you can toss your dust and even lint from behind the fridge into the compost pile as well.
Furthermore, old food like ketchup, mustard, wilted lettuce, and rotten tomatoes can go in as well.
Dining Area
Leftover food items from meals can be put into your compost bin, as can paper serviettes and paper towels. Remember the dirt and dust from this room whenever you clean as well.
Home Office and Study
Should you have a home office or study area in your house, then you will have a rich source of compost here too.
Items such as paper, used post-it notes, lists of to-do items, shopping lists, old schedule pages and much more can all be put into your compost heap. If you tend to eat in this area, then any leftover food can also be thrown in.
Pet Areas
Regardless of whether your household pets are in kennels, or they wander the house, the chances are that you collect pet hair continuously. This makes a great addition to your compost pile.
If you have smaller pets such as hamsters or birds, then their wood chips and newspaper can be included as well. Even pet droppings can be put into a compost heap.
Bathroom and Laundry Room
Rather than dispose of the lint from your dryer when you are laundering clothes, add it to your compost pile instead.
The same thing goes for hair from the shower and sink drains, as well as hair, which comes from cleaning your hairbrush or comb.
Yard and Garden Compost Materials
The outside of your property is where you are likely to find the best materials for composting.
Whenever you cut the lawn, if you cannot stand to leave the grass clippings sit and decompose, where they lie, gather it up and add it to the compost heap.
The same applies to raking leaves. If you need to rake them up, then make sure that you add these to the compost pile as well.
Whenever you are pruning the rose bushes or tree branches, break the clippings up into smaller pieces and add them to the compost pile.
If you have dead flower heads, pine needles, hay, straw, or anything else organic that you can think of, all of it should go straight into the compost pile.
Simply gather whatever you can find that is not plastic or metal, and odds are it is a perfect choice for composting.
Composting Materials to Avoid
While it is true that virtually anything organic can be composted, there are going to be exceptions depending on where you live.
Putting meat and dairy products onto the compost heap can produce a very bad odour, which will upset your neighbours, and maybe get you into trouble with your local health department.
Therefore, keep your area and neighbours in mind when choosing items to compost, and have some fun finding the various composting materials from around your house.