can you compost ___ ?
Instant verdicts for 400 everyday items — with prep tips, browns/greens class, and what to do instead.
browse by category
how verdicts work
Compost it. Fine in an ordinary backyard pile with basic prep.
Compost it, with care. Works in some systems or with specific prep — read the caveats.
Keep it out. Unsafe or won't break down — every no page says what to do instead.
Verdicts follow university extension and EPA guidance — here's how we classify. Or browse all 400 items A–Z.
how to decide if something is compostable
- Was it recently alive? Things that grew — vegetable scraps, leaves, coffee grounds, plain paper — break down; glass, metal, foil and ordinary plastic don't. Certified compostable cups and bags are the special case: the certificate is earned at facility heat — about 136°F for weeks — not in a backyard pile.
- Is it a brown or a green? Browns are dry and carbon-rich (leaves, cardboard); greens are wet and nitrogen-rich (food scraps, grass clippings). A pile needs both, at roughly 25–30 parts carbon to one of nitrogen — the browns & greens calculator does that math.
- Could it carry something you don't want in garden soil? Meat draws raccoons and rats to an open heap and carries pathogens that only heat clears; pet waste and diapers carry parasites and viruses a lukewarm bin doesn't reliably kill. These get the cautious call here, and it's why each item is rated against six systems — a hot pile turned at 130–160°F or a city facility handles things an open heap can't.
- What does your local program say? At the curb, the hauler's list is the answer — and programs disagree: the same certified cup is accepted in one city and refused in the next.
That's the short version of how we classify items, from US university extension and EPA guidance, cautious where sources disagree. When in doubt, look the item up: the verdict shows which systems it works in and, for a no, what to do instead.