DECiding on Compost? – Check out our new guide
May 3 – 9 is International Composting Awareness Week (ICAW)! This year’s theme is “Compost! Feed the Soil that Feeds Us!” Whether you’re a new or experienced composter, composting can benefit you if you are looking to save both natural resources and money. Want to consider or refine your composting at home? Then we are pleased to announce that DEC has a new resource—our Home Composting Guide – Making Compost Takes Some Care (PDF). Below is a glance at what you can find in the guide:
New to Home Composting? – Let’s Get Started
- Decide which option is best for you
- Do-It-Yourself Bins
- Buy a Bin
- Open Composting
- Multi-bin Composting
- The Compost Recipe: Making Compost Takes Some Care; Add Greens, Browns, Water, and Air
- What not to add to your home composting pile:
- Meat, bones, or seafood scraps
- Metal
- Dog, cat, or human waste
- Diseased or infected plants (unless you have consistently hot compost pile)
- Dairy products
- Glass
- Treated or painted wood
- Trimmings toxic to other plants (e.g., black walnut or hemlock)
- Oils, fats, or grease
- Plastic
- Coal ash from briquettes or fireplace ash
- Plants that spread through rhizomes (e.g., Japanese knotweed, iris, lily of the valley, and pachysandra)