I won a Compost Bin at my job's Green Fair and am excited as this would be a great addition for my organic vegetable gardens. I have researched the do's and dont's as far as what to add to a compost bin and just want to know a little more on the Do's as far as kitchen items are concerned.
Are paper towels allowed? Shredded newspapers are a yes, so I wondered about shredded paper towels.
Thanks and any other tips to add or don't add would be wonderful! Thanks, guys!
I've been composting for years and put all paper products into it. You can shred it for quicker decomposition but it's not necessary. I put all food scraps except dairy, bone, meat and grease. That helps keep the critters out. I also put in it daily coffee grounds and filter, tea bags, any stale food ie chips, cookies (with 4 kids, lots of waste). I throw a couple hand fulls of pine needles and leaves on top of each bowl of kitchen stuff. Dump a bucket of water on it weekly. Done. When that bin is full (5 ft round container) I let it sit and start another one. Hope this helps.
It would depend what they had been used for.
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Our municipality takes care of our compost. They have listed paper towel as an OK for composting.
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I've been composting for years and put all paper products into it. You can shred it for quicker decomposition but it's not necessary. I put all food scraps except dairy, bone, meat and grease. That helps keep the critters out. I also put in it daily coffee grounds and filter, tea bags, any stale food ie chips, cookies (with 4 kids, lots of waste). I throw a couple hand fulls of pine needles and leaves on top of each bowl of kitchen stuff. Dump a bucket of water on it weekly. Done. When that bin is full (5 ft round container) I let it sit and start another one. Hope this helps.
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Technically, I think that your garden would not be truely "organic" if you use paper towel and newspaper in your composter. There are chemicals that are used to bleach the paper, make some inks etc. that when added to soil make it not organic anymore. If you aren't hard core organic, you just mean you dont use man made pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides, then yes, you can put those items in your composter.
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I put my newspapers, paper towels, dog poop etc. in the green compost pail that is picked up weekly.
This is a good link http://www.sheridannurseries.com/GardenSite/sectiongardeninginformationFRAMESET.htm
Also, does anyone know if you can compost old bread in the compost bin?
edit: i just found this link and they don't recommend composting bread because it rots and attracts vermin.
http://www.envocare.co.uk/makingcompost.htm
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Paper towels compost fine, so do coffee filters. You want to avoid ads or shiny colored paper (like magazines) these have a plastic coating added to them. Newspaper ink these days is usually soy-based so they aren't a problem.
From the kitchen, bascially anything plant based that is waste can go in. A lot of people also add egg shells.
I know people who have added bread to the compost, but I find it tends to attract mice, etc before the worms break it down, so I tend avoid it. Maybe if you dried it out and crushed it into small crumbs?
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