163 Things To Compost

In our homeschool lessons, we've been talking about composting lately and the kids have really enjoyed reading this book. Composting is a lost art and I've heard some say it's as easy as baking a cake. In my opinion, it really is! You continue to throw layer upon layer of things (see below) and it will literally "cook", creating the most amazing earthy, black soil that you can grow anything in. Even if you're not a vegetable gardener, start composting for your flower beds or lawn. It'll cut down on your trash production and you're putting things from the earth right back into it again, replenishing micro and macronutrients, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).

Here are the 163 things to compost:

(The ones with *astricks* next to them are things we've composted in the past and still compost)
Paper napkins
*Freezer-burned vegetables
Burlap coffee bags
Pet hair
Potash rock
Post-it notes
*Freezer-burned fruit
*Wood chips
Bee droppings
Lint from behind refrigerator
*Hay
*Popcorn (unpopped, 'Old Maids,' too)
Freezer-burned fish
*Old spices
Pine needles
*Leaves
Matches (paper or wood)
Seaweed and kelp
Hops
*Chicken manure
Leather dust
*Old, dried up and faded herbs
Bird cage cleanings
Paper towels
Brewery wastes
*Grass clippings
Hoof and horn meal
Molasses residue
*Potato peelings
Unpaid bills
Gin trash (wastes from cotton plants)
*Weeds
Rabbit manure
*Hair clippings from the barber
Stale bread
Coffee grounds
*Wood ashes
Sawdust
*Tea bags and grounds
*Shredded newspapers
*Egg shells
*Cow manure
Alfalfa
Winter rye
Grapefruit rinds
*Pea vines
Houseplant trimmings
Old pasta
*Grape wastes
*Garden soil
Powdered/ground phosphate rock
Corncobs (takes a long time to decompose)
Jell-o (gelatin)
Blood meal
Winery wastes
Spanish moss
Limestone
Fish meal
Aquarium plants
Beet wastes
*Sunday comics
Harbor mud
Felt waste
*Wheat straw
Peat moss
Kleenex tissues
Milk (in small amounts)
Soy milk
Tree bark
Starfish (dead ones!)
Melted ice cream
*Flower petals
*Pumpkin seeds
Q-tips (cotton swabs: cardboard, not plastic sticks)
*Expired flower arrangements
Elmer's glue
BBQ'd fish skin
Bone meal
*Citrus wastes
Stale potato chips
Rhubarb stems
Old leather gardening gloves
Tobacco wastes
Bird guano
Hog manure
Dried jellyfish
Wheat bran
Guinea pig cage cleanings
*Nut shells
Cattail reeds
Clover
Granite dust
Moldy cheese
Greensand
*Straw
*Shredded cardboard
Dolomite lime
Cover crops
Quail eggs (OK, I needed a 'Q' word)
Rapeseed meal
Bat guano
Fish scraps
*Tea bags (black and herbal)
*Apple cores
Electric razor trimmings
*Kitchen wastes
Outdated yogurt
Toenail clippings
Shrimp shells
Crab shells
Lobster shells
Pie crust
Leather wallets
*Onion skins
Bagasse (sugar cane residue)
*Watermelon rinds
Date pits
Goat manure
Olive pits
Peanut shells
Burned oatmeal (sorry, Mom)
*Lint from clothes dryer
*Bread crusts
*Cooked rice
River mud
Tofu (it's only soybeans, man!)
Wine gone bad (what a waste!)
*Banana peels
Chocolate cookies
Wooden toothpicks
Moss from last year's hanging baskets
Stale breakfast cereal
Pickles
'Dust bunnies' from under the bed
*Pencil shavings
Wool socks
Artichoke leaves
Leather watch bands
*Fruit salad
*Tossed salad (now THERE's tossing it!)
*Brown paper bags
Soggy Cheerios
Theater tickets
Lees from making wine
Burned toast
*Feathers
Animal fur
*Horse manure
Vacuum cleaner bag contents
Coconut hull fiber
Old or outdated seeds
Macaroni and cheese
Liquid from canned vegetables
Liquid from canned fruit
Old beer
Wedding bouquets
Greeting card envelopes
Snow
Dead bees and flies
Horse hair
Peanut butter sandwiches
Dirt from soles of shoes, boots
Fish bones
Ivory soap scraps
Spoiled canned fruits and vegetables
*Produce trimmings from grocery store
Cardboard cereal boxes (shredded)
Grocery receipts

For more information about composting, click HERE.