monroe county, indiana solid waste management district

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•  Composting food and yard waste can reduce your trash bill and help the Earth.
•  25 to 35% of your trash can be composted and it’s EASY to do.
•  Vermicomposting can be done using redworms in a bin inside or outside  
    your apartment or house. Composting does NOT smell when done properly.

Ingredients and Procedure:
You can use almost all of the organic materials that come from your house, yard, and garden in your composting pile. Composting turns these into a RESOURCE that you can put right back into your own soil. Compost anything that was a plant. All plant materials contain nitrogen and carbon. Materials high in nitrogen, like kitchen scraps, moldy food in your refrigerator, fresh grass clippings, weeds, plant trimmings, are called “GREENS.” Materials high in carbon, like twigs and dried leaves, dried grass, cardboard, bread, pasta, and rice are called “BROWNS.”
If the compost bin is uncovered/open bin, ALWAYS cover food waste with browns or soil so no odor or flies will develop. However, if a plastic covered bin is used, covering the waste is not necessary, although if covered, it will decompose more rapidly. If using redworms, (vermicomposting), use a layered compost bin.

NO BACKYARD? Use a 10 gallon bin indoors (1 lb. redworms). Shredded and moistened newspaper can be used for the bedding for the redworms/red wigglers. Food waste is buried in the worm bin. Use the rich soil that is created for potted plants.

DO NOT USE: dairy or meat products as they attract rodents and domestic animals, have an odor when decomposing, and they take much longer to decompose. So no cheese, milk, butter, oily foods like peanut butter and dressings although a little will not make a difference.  NO plastics, foil or other inorganic items!

  

3 parts brown                            (CARBON Source)                
2 parts green                             (NITROGEN Source)         
Optional: a dash of soil                                                          

1. Layer or mix ingredients into bin or pile
2. Keep moist but not wet

3.   Optional: stir or turn ingredients occasionally
If pile does not warm up within 1 week, add additional green materials.
If undesirable odors occur, add more brown materials.
NOTE: Compost does NOT have to be mixed or turned. However, if it is turned, the increased oxygen that is created will decompose the waste more rapidly.