How do I make my own compost?

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Reprinted with permission from The Foundation for New York’s Strongest

A compost pile is much more than just a pile of food scraps. It requires care and a balance of nutrients. Every compost system needs a mixture of four main ingredients: green plant matter (greens), brown plant matter (browns), air and water. Let’s learn a little bit more about each one of these ingredients!

• Green matter, also called “Greens” are rich in nitrogen. They can be any fresh plant material such as fruit and vegetable scraps, lawn clippings, and young weeds. Even though they aren’t green, tea bags and coffee grounds are also in this group.

• Brown matter, also called “Browns” are rich in carbon. They can be any dried plant material such as, dead leaves, straw, sawdust and shredded newspaper.

• We need air because the decomposers that break down your greens and browns need air to survive! The way we add air to our compost system is by mixing or turning it regularly to allow air in.

• The decomposers that break down your compost need water. Your compost should feel like a wrung-out sponge. When caring for a compost system you’ll need to check the moisture every few days and give it some water if it feels too dry.

At this point you might be wondering, who or what are these decomposers?! We like to call these decomposers; the FBI. Which stands for fungus, bacteria and insects. These days we are hearing a lot about bacteria in relation to germs, but not all bacteria are bad! In a compost system bacteria do most of the work, even though they are invisible to the naked eye. Without decomposers all life would stop because new plants would not have the necessary nutrients needed to grow. Decomposers turn our garbage into plant food. In this way, valuable nutrients are returned to nature rather than shipped away to a landfill.

To learn more about how to compost in New York City, visit nyc.gov/composting