5 Kitchen Items That Can Go in the Compost (& a Few That Can’t)

When it comes to kitchen scraps, figuring out what you can compost feels a bit like playing compost roulette. Some scraps will help your compost thrive while others will attract unwanted visitors. Composting the proper items will help you cultivate some of the best compost for gardens while avoiding pests.

Feeding your garden homemade compost helps your plants thrive which results in better fruits and veggies. When you feed the scraps of this homegrown produce back to your compost, you build a cycle that provides tasty food, rich soil, and savings on produce.

This is everything you need to know about composting kitchen scraps!

What Can Go in the Best Compost for Gardens?

Dark, moist, slightly basic, and full of nutrients: these 4 characteristics define the best compost for gardens. Although high-quality compost is comprised of a few types of organic matter, greens —which are rich in nitrogen — mostly make up kitchen scraps.

So, what from the kitchen should be composted?

Fruit or Veggie Scraps

Scraps from fruits and vegetables are prime candidates for composting. Their organic nature means they break down with ease. Additionally, a variety of fruits and veggies provides the compost with a variety of nutrients.

Egg Shells

Egg shells play an important role in the cultivation of the best compost for gardens. They add calcium which is crucial for building cell walls and preventing rot in squash and tomatoes.

Although doing so isn’t absolutely necessary, crushing the egg shells a bit will help them break down more quickly in the compost.

Recycled Paper Towels

Our recycled paper towels are completely biodegradable which means they’re the perfect addition to your compost! As long as they’re not soiled with chemical cleaners, grease, or oil, our paper towels will add valuable nutrients to the best compost for gardens.

Coffee Grounds & Filters

Once they’ve been used, coffee grounds and filters usually end up in a landfill. However, introducing them into your compost will give them new purpose. This introduction will provide your compost with beneficial amounts of nitrogen.

Tea Leaves

Tea leaves have also proven to be a valuable addition to compost. These rich sources of potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus aid in balancing out the carbon-rich environment. Furthermore, steeped tea bags introduce a bit of additional moisture and oxygen to the pile as well.

However, not all tea bags are compostable. For this reason, it’s a good practice to empty bag’s contents into the compost, and only throw the whole bag in as a last resort.

Kitchen Items That Should Avoid Your Compost

In contrast to the many kitchen scraps that can go in the compost, there are also a few that should avoid it. When it comes to fermenting the best compost for gardens, some things tend to do more harm than good.

In particular, dairy products like cheese, yogurt, butter, or milk, but not eggs; bones and scraps from meat or fish; and oils, grease, and lard. These types of food waste spoil and rot resulting in pretty unpleasant smells. However, not all creatures find these smells unpleasant, and their presence will draw unwanted pests to your compost.

Feeding the Best Compost for Gardens

In order to cultivate the best compost for gardens, you have to give it the best food for compost. When it comes to kitchen scraps, fruits, veggies, coffee grounds, tea leaves, egg shells, and recycled paper towels are great!

Including these kitchen scraps in your compost will give it room to thrive — which really means get hot and steamy. As a result, you’ll have the best plant food around and your homegrown produce will taste that much better!

Up your kitchen compost game and try a roll of our recycled paper towels today!