What are compostable materials?

Answer 1

Compostable materials means anything that can be added to a compost heap that will gradually degrade and become nutritional compost.

You need the right mix of Carbon (dead, brown stuff, newspaper, cardboard Pizza boxes, bread, dry leaves, twigs and sticks) and Nitrogen (green, living, vegetables, fruit garden clippings, grass cuttings, urine, seaweed, manure, molasses, blood and bone). The twigs and sticks help to keep air going through, which is essential.

Materials include:

• green leaves
• brown leaes
• food scraps
• soil
• mulch
• paper and cardboard
• egg cartons
• fruit peels and egg shells.

There are some materials that are compostable. They include dried leaves, straw, wood chips, kitchen refuse, wood ashes, garden refuse, spoiled hay or straw, etc.

The best material for composting is shredded leaves and just about any other yard waste. You can even compost weeds if the compost gets sufficiently hot to kill the weed seeds.

Paper napkins, pet hair ,wood chips , hay , leaves ,old species , pine needles, paper or wood and some things also

You can use nearly any organic matter or plant life. Old vegetables, egg shells, leaves (not sycamores leaves but oak and maple etc. work), grass clippings, and especially green items they work. Although no coffee grounds and meat. Also manure works very well if you live in a rural area and farmers are willing to give it to you or sell it. Beware it causes lots of weeds growth.

Only biodegradable materials and kitchen waste food can be used on a compost heap, because the biodegradable materials are broken down by decomposers naturally and are then used on a compost heap.

You can add lots of things like rotten banana peels, vegetable skin peels, lime (to reduce acidity, grass cuttings or anything that is biodegradable (can rot down/break down into dirt/soil).

Clean, non-toxic, uncontaminated materials that are carbon- or nitrogen-rich and that will break down into their constituent compounds within a year are what can go into a composter. A composter typically can range in size from a counter- to a trash can-sized container.

Compostable materials break down under the influence of proper levels of air, moisture, and temperature. The air level must be sufficient for the decomposition to be aerobic, in the presence of oxygen. For anaerobic decomposition is the breakdown that takes place in the absence of proper air, and without the assistance of oxygen, in landfills. The consequence is the landfill's characteristically foul odors, and the characteristic production of methane, which is a greenhouse gas. The moisture level must be sufficient that the compostable materials have the consistency of a gently wrung out sponge. And the temperature must be high enough that the pile is heated, equally and consistently throughout. Additionally, the pile must be regularly turned. Proper respect to the conditions, and to the turning, encourages the production of dark brown, fresh-smelling, organic matter-rich compost, or humus, in just under a month or just under a year. Therefore, compostable materials need to cooperate with easy, safe access and monitoring.

So they mustn't be the food - such as dairy, greasy and oily, and meat products - that attract hungry, foraging wildlife. And they mustn't be weeds. For weeds seed and sprout easily, and quickly hamper safety and surveillance. They need to fitcomfortably into the location, or space, that's designated for composting to take place. They must be of shapes and sizes that cooperate with regular turning, and with decomposition in a year's time at most. And they mustn't be toxic. For toxicity isn't good for the overall environment, and gets in the way of the formation of organic matter. Some popular compostable choices are already dead carbon-rich brown, and freshly cut or severed nitrogen-rich green, materials from the yard; kitchen scraps; natural fabrics; and paper and paper products.

You can compost all sorts of natural things such as * Peels of fruits and vegetables (N Nitrogen)

* dead plants (C Carbon) * Egg shells (C) * Uncooked grain and pulses (C) * Cooked left-over food (N)

* paper towels (C) * cardboard pizza boxes (C)

* Garden clippings and leaves (N) * vacuum cleaner and hair (C)

* any kind of paper (C) * Cardboard (C) * lawn clippings (N) * dry leaves, twigs and sticks (C) * Hay, straw (C) * Worm or human urine (N) * Seaweed (N) * horse, chicken or cow manure (N) * Bran, molasses, blood and bone (N)

* anything organic except

Don't put in:

* Animal products (fish, egg, dairy, beef and chicken) * Seafood * Pig, dog, cat, rat or human manure (These can spread disease unless your compost gets to really high temperatures. * leaves with a high oil content like gum or eucalyptus (small amounts only)

* Weed seeds (kill them in a bucket under water for two weeks, or in a plastic bag in the sun)

Answer 2

Clean, non-toxic, uncontaminated materials that are carbon- or nitrogen-rich and that will break down into their constituent compounds within a year are what can go into a composter. A composter typically can range in size from a counter- to a trash can-sized container.

Answer 3

Yard debris functions as the backyard materials that are used for composting. Lawn litter may range from fallen leaves to grass clippings to pruned shrubs and trees. Almost any vegetation that grows and perishes in backyards tends to be eligible as long as they are small enough to decompose in less than one year and provided that they have no contaminants, diseases, germs, seeds or viruses.

Answer 4

Compostable materials break down under the influence of proper levels of air, moisture, and temperature. The air level must be sufficient for the decomposition to be aerobic, in the presence of oxygen. For anaerobic decomposition is the breakdown that takes place in the absence of proper air, and without the assistance of oxygen, in landfills. The consequence is the landfill's characteristically foul odors, and the characteristic production of methane, which is a greenhouse gas. The moisture level must be sufficient that the compostable materials have the consistency of a gently wrung out sponge. And the temperature must be high enough that the pile is heated, equally and consistently throughout. Additionally, the pile must be regularly turned. Proper respect to the conditions, and to the turning, encourages the production of dark brown, fresh-smelling, organic matter-rich compost, or humus, in just under a month or just under a year. Therefore, compostable materials need to cooperate with easy, safe access and monitoring. So they mustn't be the food - such as dairy, greasey and oily, and meat products - that attract hungry, foraging wildlife. And they mustn't be weeds. For weeds seed and sprout easily, and quickly hamper safety and surveillance. They need to fit comfortably into the location, or space, that's designated for composting to take place. They must be of shapes and sizes that cooperate with regular turning, and with decomposition in a year's time at most. And they mustn't be toxic. For toxicity isn't good for the overall environment, and gets in the way of the formation of organic matter. Some popular compostable choices are already dead carbon-rich brown, and freshly cut or severed nitrogen-rich green, materials from the yard; kitchen scraps; natural fabrics; and paper and paper products.