Food Scraps Compost What should go into the COMPOST bin? Food & food scraps (including meat, dairy and bones) Coffee grounds and filters, tea leaves, and tea bags Food-soiled paper: napkins, paper towels, paper plates, coffee cups, milk cartons Fiber based food packaging (The cafeteria’s to-go cups, clamshells, and utensils are compostable.) What should NOT go into the COMPOST bin? Bioplastic (these are no longer accepted) Chip bags Food wrappers Aluminum foil Plastic, including “compostable” plastic (even if it has food residue) Glass (even if it has food residue) Metal (even if it has food residue) Stickers on produce- always remove first Never Pour Hot Oil Down Drain Don’t pour hot oil or fat down the drain or straight into the trash. Ways to Reduce Avoid Food Waste Be strategic about how you store and eat your produce. Vegetarian Times provides a great explanation of why some veggies and fruit go bad before others, and offers a handy chart to help you plan your week. A Detailed Meal Plan One way to avoid creating food waste is to create a detailed meal plan for the week and build a shopping list around that meal plan. This better ensures everything will get consumed. Check out this meal planner from Eureka Recycling. Did You Know? The Impact of Food Waste According to this PDF fact sheet by the NRDC, the United States invests much of its natural resources on growing food: 50 percent of land and 80 percent of fresh water in the United States is used for agriculture. Meanwhile, 40 percent of food in the United States is wasted, and 41 million Americans live in food-insecure households. I Value Food: A Campaign to End Food Waste The Perfect Compost Recipe Can I Make My Compost Pile Break Down Faster? Your compost pile breaks down faster if you mix together the right amounts of green and brown material. Your brown to green ratio is based off of your carbon to nitrogen ratio: 25-30 parts carbon to one part nitrogen is ideal. Keep in mind that food or yard waste all have different C:N ratios (shown here). Don’t get out your calculator for these ratios, instead just eyeball how much you put into the compost pile.