101 Things You Can Compost and The Things You Shouldn’t Compost

Composting is a wonderful practice that makes for amazing, homegrown, rich soil for gardening purposes. We want to share 101 things you can compost to reduce waste and make something beautiful!

It is easy to create compost and saves you loads of money when it is gardening time. Not to mention the fact that is it less wasteful and spend less on garbage pickup. Once you see this list, you will be surprised about the number of items you can compost. 

If you want to learn about why you should compost, we would recommend grabbing some books on composting from the library or on Amazon. 

101 Things You Can Compost

1. Paper products like napkins, tissues, toilet paper, paper towels and paper plates. Used is fine for most instances depending on what it is used for, so use discretion. (except toilet paper – just flush that! LOL) 
2. Freezer-burned foods like fruits, vegetables and breads
3. Burlap 
4. Coffee grinds and paper coffee filters
5. Pet hair
6. Paper like Post-it notes, computer paper, old mail, cardstock, lined notebook paper, newspapers, etc. 
7. Wood chips
8. Hay 
9. Popcorn (unpopped too)
10. Beans (dried and cooked)
11. Old and expired spices
12. Pine needles
13. Leaves
14. Yard clippings
15. Seaweed and kelp
16. Farm animal manure (like cow, rabbit, sheep, chicken, etc.)
17. Herbs, including old/dried up
18. Grass clippings
19. Vegetable peelings and waste from any vegetable (Potato peelings, celery ends, lettuce ends, stems, etc.)
20. Weeds
21. Stale bread
22. Wood ashes
23. Sawdust from untreated wood
24. Tea bags and grounds
25. Egg shells
26. Dead and unharvested remain plants and clippings from previous gardening (except diseased)
27. Alfalfa
28. Citrus fruit rinds and peels
29. Banana peel
30. Other fruit wastes 
31. Apple peels and cores (although homemade apple cider vinegar would be better use of these)
32. Houseplant trimmings
33. Grape vines
34. Garden soil
35. Corncobs (takes a long time to decompose)
36. Jell-o (gelatin)
37. Spanish moss
38. Fish meal
39. Aquarium plants
40. Wheat straw
41. Peat moss
42. Tree bark
43. Flower petals
44. Pumpkin/sunflower seeds and other stale/old roasted seeds 
45. Dead flower arrangements
46. Stale potato chips
47. Nut shells
48. Cattail reeds
49. Clover
50. Straw
51. Shredded cardboard
52. Outdated yogurt
53. Shrimp shells
54. Crab shells
55. Lobster shells
56. Leather wallets, watchbands and belts (cut out the plastic and metal parts)
57. Onion skins
58. Watermelon and other melon rinds
59. Date pits
60. Olive pits
61. Peanut shells
62. Oatmeal (cooked, raw, stale, old, etc.)
63. Lint from clothes dryer
64. Bread and pizza crusts
65. Wooden toothpicks
66. Small wood pieces, dust and clippings (from untreated wood)
67. Nuts and nut shells (EXCEPT walnuts)
68. Flour of all kinds (wheat, white, corn)
69. Moss from last year’s hanging baskets
70. Stale breakfast cereal
71. Pickles
72. Pencil shavings
73. Wool socks
74. Artichoke leaves
75. Old salad (without dressing)
76. Brown paper bags
77. Burned toast
78. Feathers
79. Animal fur
80. Coconut hull fiber
81. Dead insects
82. Horse hair
83. Fish bones
84. Produce trimmings
85. Thin cardboard like from cereal boxes, boxed foods, etc. (shred it)
86. Stale/old crackers and pretzels
87. Non foam egg cartons
88. Bamboo skewers
89. Natural old loofahs and bath sponges 
90. Old cotton and wool clothing cut in small strips/pieces
91. Stale pretzels
92. Wine corks
93. Dead houseplants and their soil (except diseased)
94.  Natural potpourri
95. Ashes from the fireplace, barbecue grill, or outdoor fire pit
96. Wrapping paper rolls
97. Paper table cloths
98. Crepe paper streamers
99. Jack o’ Lanterns and hay bales from fall decor
100. Natural and real Christmas and holiday decor like  wreaths, Christmas tree (majorly chopped up!) and evergreen garlands.
101. Our personal favorite….homework and bills! 

After reading this list, you can find that there are so many things you probably throw away each day that would make for great items in your compost. Stop throwing them away and make something useful. 🙂

We have a corner sectioned off by logs in our backyard where we throw our compost items. We will “mix” it up and let it rot into something great for the garden! 

Along with the 101 things you should compost, we also wanted to share with you things you shouldn’t compost as they are dangerous and can create a breeding ground for bad bacteria instead. 

Mother Nature Network has put out a list of the 30 things you shouldn’t compost. At first, some of the items on our list might look like they conflict, but read the “do and don’t” lists carefully to identify the differences. 

The 30 Things You Shouldn’t Compost HERE

See more gardening ideas HERE