Greens for Your Compost Bin"
Greens" are the nitrogen-rich additions to your compost pile. These tend to have lots of moisture, break down quickly, and provide a quick burst of heat to your pile. While we call them "greens," technically any plant matter will work here: coffee grounds, for example, are brown in color, but they're rich in nitrogen, hence, they're a "green." Here are some ideas of greens for your pile:
Fruit and vegetable peels
Citrus rinds
Melon rinds
Coffee grounds
Tea leaves/tea bags
Old vegetables from the crisper
Houseplant trimmings
Weeds that haven't gone to seed
Grass clippings
Fresh leaves
Deadheads from flowers
Dead plants (as long as they aren't diseased)
Seaweed
Cooked plain rice
Cooked plain pasta
Stale bread
Corn husks
Corn cobs
Broccoli stalks
Sod that you've removed to make new garden beds
Thinnings from the vegetable garden
Spent bulbs that you used for forcing indoors
Holiday greenery (from wreaths and swags, for example) -- just be sure to cut the stems off of the wreath form or wires first)
Old, less flavorful packaged herbs and spices
Egg shells
Browns for Your Compost Bin"Browns" are the carbon-rich materials in your compost that add aeration to the pile and structure to your compost.
They break down more slowly, so it's a good idea to chop them up fairly small if you're able to. Here are some browns to put in your compost pile:
Shredded newspaper
Shredded office paper/school papers
Shredded, non-glossy junk mail
Torn up plain corrugated cardboard boxes (not with glossy coatings)
StrawBedding from hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits
Fall leaves
Chopped up twigs and small branches
Pine cones
Nut shells (avoid walnut shells as they can inhibit plant growth)
Used napkins
Toilet paper, paper towel, or wrapping paper tubes (cardboard>
Fallen bird's nests
Pine needles/pine straw
Paper coffee filters (used)
Pressed paper egg cartons, torn into small pieces
Sawdust (only from untreated wood
Brown paper shopping bags, shredded/torn
Brown paper lunch bags, shredded/torn
Leftover peat or coir from seed starting
Coir liners for hanging baskets
Wood chips
Bedding from chickens