Think Before You Bin It: The Do's & Don'ts of Composting

Avoid common mistakes and get the most from your food scraps with this simple guide.

What is composting?

Composting is the controlled breakdown of organic matter that can enrich soil and plants. Organic matter includes anything that was once living, such as food or dead leaves. When these things break down via composting, they return essential nutrients to the soil. 

Why compost?

Composting allows us to turn our trash into treasure. By using organic scraps into compost, we prevent food waste from ending up in the landfill, thus keeping the carbon in the soil and out of the atmosphere. Using our trash to better the planet is extra important, because more than half of the greenhouse gas emissions in our landfills come from food waste.

In order to ensure that the food on our plates contains the vitamins and minerals we need, it is important to enrich the health of our soil. Composting helps return valuable nutrients back to the soil, like nitrogen and magnesium. Nutrients are being depleted from our soil due to mismanagement of farm land, soil erosion, reduction in crop diversity and increased CO2 levels. Composting allows us to naturally support healthy soil and can even reduce the need for fertilizers. 

How to get started composting:

If you have a yard

✅ DO Select a space in your yard for your compost pile that is anywhere from 3x3 to 5x5. This space should be accessible year round, and have good drainage. Your pile can be in a barrel or it can be a bay made from wood, wire or cinder blocks.

❌ DON’T Select a space in your yard that is right up against a fence, or worry about exposure to sunlight or shade. If using a barrel or bin, don’t forget to reinforce with a lid to keep out rodents.

✅ DO Learn what to put in your compost pile. There should be a balance of “green”, which are nitrogen rich materials, and “brown”, which are carbon rich materials. 

• Green materials: Fruit and vegetable scraps, grass clippings, coffee grounds, egg shells.

• Brown materials: Dry leaves, plant twigs, shredded non-coloured and non-glossy paper, untreated wood chips, and shredded cardboard that does not contain any wax coating, glue or tape.

❌ DON’T Put any of the following materials into your compost: Meat, fish, bones, dairy, fats/oils, large amounts of cooked food, aggressive weeds, pet waste, dryer link, stickers, herbicide treated plants, treated or painted wood, “compostable” foodservice ware.

✅ DO Have the proper ratio of green to brown materials. The base of the pile should be composed of twigs, mulch, and/or wood chips to encourage air circulation and liquid absorption. Then, layer your green and brown materials, adding a bit of water between each layer to add moisture to the pile, in a ratio of two parts brown to one part green. 

❌ DON’T Haphazardly dump your green materials into your compost. There should always be a brown layer on top of the food scraps. 

✅ DO Monitor your compost pile; it should be moist and warm. Turn and mix your pile every one to two weeks with a garden fork. If the pile is a bit too dry, add water to moisten. If the pile has a bad odour, it may be too wet or need more air circulation, which you can fix by adding more brown materials. If the pile is not emitting any heat, add more green materials.

❌ DON’T Neglect your pile. While composting is low maintenance, it does require a bit of support in order to achieve its final form.

✅ DO Use your compost to enrich your garden. Your compost pile will be “done” when it is brown and crumbly, no longer emitting heat after mixing, and does not contain visible food scraps. Now, it can be distributed in the garden, spread on the topsoil in the yard, or mixed into potting soil for house plants.

❌ DON’T Be disappointed if you still need to use some fertilizer for your garden. Composting is supplemental and helps reduce the amount of fertilizer required. 

You can learn more about starting your backyard composting here and here.

If you do not have a yard:

✅ DO Check your local city services website to see if composting is offered in your city. Some cities provide curbside service and also provide specific instructions about recommended storage and collection times. 

❌ DON’T Assume composting isn’t possible for you! Even if you don’t have a local compost, consider talking to your city representatives about starting a composting program for your community. 

TL;DR Composting can be a great way to reduce waste & greenhouse gas emissions, while supporting the health of soil and therefore the health of our plants. You can start composting at home, or participate in your community's composting system.

Words by Madeline Peck RDN, CDN, Huel nutrition team