What do we mean by “yacky”? Well, anything on the “don’t compost this” list really – if you’ve used your kitchen roll to clean up most pet waste or oil spills, or used it in connection with chemical cleaners/agents, then you shouldn’t compost them. The goop might attract unwanted pests to the heap or could be harbouring nasty bacteria or pathogens which might not get broken down composting process.

Kitchen roll or paper towels used to clean up general food mess are usually fine – unless they’re completely saturated with something from the “no” list, they’ll probably breakdown before it becomes a problem. Ditto paper napkins – as long as they’re not too greasy.

The inner cardboard tube from rolls can be composted too.

Moisture is an essential part of the composting process and it can come from things like leftover black coffee – the liquid stuff – as well as water. Leave it to cool a bit before adding it though, so avoid scalding the decomposition microbes.

(Don’t compost milky or creamed coffee – the dairy might attract rats or other unwanted visitors to your heap. The same goes for dairy substitutes like CoffeeMate – the oils might be just as tempting.)

Coffee grounds are also a great addition to compost heaps. Contrary to logic, they’re a “green” – very nitrogen heavy – so great for balancing out carbon-heavy compost heap (ones that include lots of things like cardboard or dried leaves). (That said, if you’re producing a lot of spent grounds, be careful not to overdose your heap – no more than 25% of your heap should be made up of coffee grounds.)

Worms are also said to be coffee-fiends – they love chomping their way through the grounds in wormeries and compost heaps — and that’s always a good thing for composting.

You can compost most coffee filters too – they’re made from paper. (Though ones with a “heat sealed” edge may include a small amount of synthetic materials at the join.)

There is anecdotal evidence that coffee grounds can help made soils more acidic (which is sometimes desirable) and also help protect delicate plants from slugs and snails. Other people pooh-pooh both ideas but as coffee grounds are such a rich nitrogen resource, a soil improver and will rot down pretty quickly in soil, it doesn’t really hurt to try!

Also see:
For other ideas about what to do with coffee grounds, see the Recycle This article on that very subject…

Loose tea leaves will compost down quickly – the clue is in the “leaves” bit of the name! Stir them into the heap to make sure they don’t get blown around or, if you’ve got a lot of them, they don’t form a suffocating layer on the top of the heap (since they’re small, they can quickly cut off the air flow).

However, tea bags are more complicated because the “bag” is made up of different things, depending on the company.

While some brands use entirely natural fibres in the tea bags, many of the main brands (especially those that have “heat sealed” edges) use synthetic fibres – and they don’t rot down. You’re left with lots of little white sacks in your compost, or the natural fibres of the bag break down and leave tiny synthetic fibres mixed into your compost instead.

If you’re concerned about introducing synthetic fibres (typically polypropylene) into your compost heap, you can either avoid composting your teabags, or empty out the tea into the compost & bin the bag separately. If you’re happy with the little fibres though, you can compost the teabags as normal, and just pluck out the little bags that remain after everything else has composted down.

Tea bags that are folded and stapled closed as usually fine to compost – though it is recommended to remove the staple (which won’t compost) and sometimes the string & label too, depending on what they’re made from.

They’re a good addition to a heap, especially one that is heavy with “greens“- the structure of the cardboard can heap aerate a heavy heap and the cardboard can help soak up excess moisture.

They do need some moisture to break down though – if your heap is dry, splosh some water on them and/or tear them up if you want them to rot down quicker.

Also see: if you’d prefer to reuse them instead of composting them, see “how can I reuse or recycle egg boxes? on Recycle This for ideas.