How to compost at home

City resources

The first option for composting at home is to participate in your city’s organic material collection program, if they have one. All you have to do is put your organic waste in the compost bin provided and put it out on collection day.

Because your waste will be diverted from landfills and allowed to decompose naturally, it will create less greenhouse gas. Solid waste disposal contributes to approximately 7% of all the greenhouse cases we emit¹.

Making your own compost at home

You can easily make your own compost at home by following a few basic principles.

1. Use the right recipe

1.1 Use a home composter or a bin that provides ventilation.

1.2. Follow a proportion of 2 parts brown materials, rich in carbon, to 1 part green materials, rich in nitrogen. First put in your green material (vegetable skins and peels, grass, green plants) and add on top of that double the amount of brown and dry material (dead leaves, sawdust, coffee grounds, newspaper).

1.3. Stir it up occasionally, and water as needed. The microorganisms in your bin will do the rest.

2. Respect the restrictions

What you shouldn’t put into your home composter:

• Animal products (meat, bones, eggs and diary) that can create odors, or disease-causing bacteria
• Fats and oils (salad dressings, peanut butter) that can attract rodents
• Toxic waste (cleaning products, paints and other household products)
• Sick plants, weeds, rhubarb (natural insecticide), citrus (too acidic)
• Pet waste

In a few months you’ll have a rich, soil-like material that you can use to help your plants grow. You’ll also be reducing your production of waste and your greenhouse gas emissions.

Happy summer, happy gardening and happy composting!

¹ Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (Source not available in English)