Composting is an easy and green way to make your own organic fertilizer. It’s free, it reduces waste in landfills, you save money by creating the compost at home yourself rather than buying from nurseries that charge high prices for bagged products – plus there are environmentally friendly benefits!
You may be thinking that you can compost just about anything, but there are some things to avoid if your goal is high-quality fertilizer.
To get the best results and keep any harmful materials out of the finished product, check out this list of things you should never add to your compost.
1. Cat and Dog Poop
There are many types of manure that you can add to your compost pile. Cow, horse and chicken waste all provide valuable nutrients for plants while cat and dog poop has the potential to be dangerous because it adds harmful microorganisms into the ground which could affect future crops grown there!
You should compost your dog and cat poop in a separate pile. This will help the earth by recycling it so that you can use this decomposing organic material on non-food plants only!
2. Tea Bags
Composting your tea leaves is great for the environment, but be sure to add them without any bags. The synthetic fibers that come with most teabags will not break down over time and can end up in our soil instead of being broken down like they should!
You could use compostable materials such as cotton or hemp when making these substitutions though so make sure you double check first before placing anything into our nature’s recycling bin.
3. Meat Scraps
The best way to avoid attracting critters and avoiding the possible problems they might cause is by not adding meat or fish scraps in your compost.
While these items may be organic, giving off nutrients that could help garden growth will only attract more animals than you want around.
4. Bakery Products
Cakes and pastries might be delicious, but they’ll attract all kinds of pests. You can compost a slice or two of bread or pasta- hooray for leftovers!
However you need to make sure that your food waste is well buried in order stop friendly visits from raccoons who want their share too.
5. Glossy or Coated Paper
Some paper products can be added to your compost with no worries, such as soy-ink newspaper and old paper towels. Shredded cardboard works well too because all of these papers come from trees!
Paper that has a plastic like coating or has bright colors, won’t decompose in the environment so don’t put it there; they’ll just end up polluting it instead. There’s also certain types of wrapping paper made out of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) which may not biodegrade at all!
6. Coal Fire Ash
Soaking your soil in a wood-fire oven can be good for the environment, but don’t use ash from coal or charcoal briquets because it contains too much sulfur.
For plants with sensitive roots like tomatoes and strawberries this could prove harmful.
7. Non-Biodegradable Materials
Don’t add plastics, glass or aluminum foil to your compost pile because they’ll never break down. You won’t be able to use the resulting material from these items in your compost pile ever.
8. Large Branches
You can use branches and other materials that have been cut down or chipped for your compost pile. This will ensure it breaks apart quicker, so you don’t need to wait too long before using the finished product!
9. Sawdust from Treated Wood
If you have untreated, natural wood, or painted or treated wood, then don’t add it! Wood like this will only end up creating more of the same toxic compounds and never break down during the process.
The sawdust from untreated wooden boards is actually quite beneficial if added into your compost pile, so stick to it!
10. Cooking Oil
Don’t add cooking oil to the compost pile! Not only will it make your life more difficult, but you might be setting yourself up for an unpleasant experience.
The oils in our food are bad enough when they’re just sitting on a plate at home – imagine having them seeping into soil and making everything smell icky too.
11. Personal Hygiene Products
It is important to be mindful of the potential risks when composting personal hygiene products.
Compost with human blood or other bodily fluids poses a significant health risk and can cause bacteria from any one person’s waste make its way into your pile, where it could potentially lead do dangerous food-borne illnesses.
12. Diseased Plants
One of the most important things you can do for your garden is to avoid planting diseased plants. It’s easy to think that because a compost pile seems like an inviting place, it must be safe – but this isn’t true!
Bacteria and diseases can live in the interior environment created by warm-temperature materials, which would then be spread on other gardens when you apply it.
13. Plants Sprayed with Pesticides
You’ll want to avoid plants with pesticides or herbicides sprayed on them because those sprays are full of toxic chemicals that will spread throughout your compost. Then you’ll layer it into the soil and absorb their negative effects too!
14. Dairy Products
A properly balanced compost pile doesn’t smell. Avoid storing dairy products, such as milk and cheese for a long period of time in order to avoid attracting pests or making your home an attractive place due to the unpleasant smells.
Composting can be a simple and effective way to recycle organic material for use in your garden. But, before you start composting- make sure that it’s not just any old pile of stuff! You need the right materials with which to grow healthy plants!