What Can We Compost?
San Francisco is the first city in the U.S. to provide green bins to residents and schools. The green bin is where we put our food scraps, dirty paper, and yard waste. Putting these things into the green bin helps make compost, which is a type of dirt that is full of nutrients and vitamins. When local farms and gardens use this compost as a natural fertilizer, it helps grow more food! The easiest way to remember what can be composted in the green bin is this:
Anything that comes from a plant or from an animal can be composted.
This includes:
- all vegetable and fruit scraps
- breads, cereal and pasta
- coffee grinds and tea leaves
- animal products like cheese, yogurt, fish, meat (even bones!), eggs and eggshells
- yard waste like leaves, twigs, old flowers, and weeds
- dirty paper like: used paper napkins, paper plates, empty milk cartons, used coffee cups, paper towels, tea bags and coffee filters, greasy pizza boxes, and fast food paper bags, paper wrappers and cartons
These items CANNOT be composted:
- All plastic items including mixed materials like juice and soymilk boxes, juice pouches, etc.
- styrofoam
- metal
- glass
- rocks
Discover the decomposers that make compost happen!
