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Related Topics: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Composting At Home

Composting Resources

• Cornell Waste Management Institute's Small Scale Composting

• Find a Composter

Compost is organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow. Food scraps and yard 

waste currently make up 20 to 30 percent of what we throw away, and should be composted 

instead. Making compost keeps these materials out of landfills where they take up space and release 

methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

All composting requires three basic ingredients:

• Browns - This includes materials such as dead leaves, branches, and twigs.

• Greens - This includes materials such as grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps, and 

coffee grounds.

• Water - Having the right amount of water, greens, and browns is important for compost 

development.

Your compost pile should have an equal amount of browns to greens. You should also alternate 

layers of organic materials of different-sized particles. The brown materials provide carbon for your 

compost, the green materials provide nitrogen, and the water provides moisture to help break down 

the organic matter.

What To Compost

What Not To Compost and Why

Benefits of Composting

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• Enriches soil, helping retain moisture and suppress plant diseases and pests.

• Reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.

• Encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that break down organic matter to 

create humus, a rich nutrient-filled material.

• Reduces methane emissions from landfills and lowers your carbon footprint.

How to Compost at Home

There are many different ways to make a compost pile; we have provided the following for general 

reference. Helpful tools include pitchforks, square-point shovels or machetes, and water hoses with 

a spray head. Regular mixing or turning of the compost and some water will help maintain the 

compost.

Backyard Composting

• Select a dry, shady spot near a water source for your compost pile or bin.

• Add brown and green materials as they are collected, making sure larger pieces are chopped 

or shredded.

• Moisten dry materials as they are added.

• Once your compost pile is established, mix grass clippings and green waste into the pile and 

bury fruit and vegetable waste under 10 inches of compost material.

• Optional: Cover top of compost with a tarp to keep it moist. When the material at the bottom 

is dark and rich in color, your compost is ready to use. This usually takes anywhere between 

two months to two years.

Indoor Composting

If you do not have space for an outdoor compost pile, you can compost materials indoors using a 

special type of bin, which you can buy at a local hardware store, gardening supplies store, or make 

yourself. Remember to tend your pile and keep track of what you throw in. A properly managed 

compost bin will not attract pests or rodents and will not smell bad. Your compost should be ready 

in two to five weeks.

Last updated on September 25, 2015

Composting At Home | Reduce, Reuse, Recycle | US EPA Page 2 of 2

http://www2.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home 10/16/2015