What Not To Add to Your Compost Pile
There are a number of materials that you should keep out of your compost pile.
Don't Add
- Meat & Bones
- Poultry & Fish
- Fatty Food Waste
- Whole Eggs
- Dairy Products
- Human & Pet Feces
- Pernicious Weeds
- Pressure Treated Wood
Materials to exlude:
- The feces of humans and pets can carry diseases that can infect humans, therefore composting should not be attempted.
- Meats and fats can contain harmful bacteria. Their pesence in the bin will also slow down the composting process and can attract rodents and local animals.
- Weeds with mature seeds and plants with pernicious root systems can be a problem unless the compost pile gets hot enough to kill them off.
- Pressure treated wood or any chemically treated wood products. Pressure treated wood (often recognizible by its' greenish colour) has been shown to leach arsenic into the soil when used for making kids playground equipment, compost bins and raised beds. It would certainly be a very bad idea to compost any such wood or sawdust. Other chemically treated woods should also be avoided.
Other materials that should not be composted:
- Inorganic garbage
- Plastic
- Metal
- Glass
- Ceramics
- Used Cat Litter
- Particle Board
- Plywood
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