Composts are not only great for creating your own soil booster for your garden they can also cut down on your waste output as well. It’s the natural process of decomposition, sped up by a deliberate strategy in a concentrated environment to transform materials such as grass clippings, vegetable scraps, newspaper and more into a new material (known as “humus”) that can then be incorporated back into the soil.

According to Nance Trautmann and Elaina Olynciw of Cornell University, microorganisms break down organic matter, producing heat, carbon dioxide, water and humus in the process. Because piles can get too hot, aerating, or turning the pile, is essential for your compost to cool, allowing it to mature and become ready for application. The lack of oxygen is needed for aeration. If the pile is not properly aerated or has too much nitrogen and not enough carbon, rotting and stinking can occur. A compost pile should never smell.

You can’t just put any old thing in the compost bin, here is what should be going in:

• Food scraps – Vegetable peelings are a common material produced by households and make a great compost amendment. However, never add animal-based leftovers (fat trimmings, meat, cheese, milk, etc) as the oils and fats are not conducive to a backyard composting operation.
• Fresh grass clippings
• Manure – If you have access to manure from horses, cows, sheep, goats or chickens, it is a great compost ingredient because it speeds up the decomposition process. It is not a requisite for a successful compost pile, however. Never use manure from carnivores.
• Plants and plant cuttings – Just-picked weeds from around the backyard (as long as there are no developed seeds or seed heads) are permissible, as are flower tops. Green leaves from a freshly cut branch work as well (just make sure to shred them).
• Brown materials: Dead, dry leaves, hay and straw, simple paper products such as newspaper, paper and cardboard, crushed egg shells, coffee grounds – tea bags and loose-leaf tea work as well and wood ashes and sawdust – use sparingly. Wood ashes can make the pile very alkaline, which limits microbial activity, and sawdust can take a long time to break down.