How to Compost Stale Bread

Composting stale bread adds to the "green matter" part of your compost pile. All compost piles must be made of a combination of green material, such as food waste, and brown matter, such as leaves, sawdust or paper. The two combined infuse nitrogen and carbon into your compost pile. When they have finally broken down completely, they leave behind a dark, nutrient-rich soil for your plants. Adding stale bread to your compost pile is simple and requires only a few basic techniques.

Things You'll Need

• Basin or bowl
• Outdoor compost bin
• Pitchfork or compost aerator

Instructions

1. Gather stale bread leftover from meals or not eaten in time. Make sure it has not touched any meat or fish products. Meat and fish cannot be composted safely.

2. Collect all the stale bread scraps in your home for one week, storing them in a covered basin or bowl.

3. Combine the stale bread scraps with any other food waste that you want to add to your composting pile (no meat, fish, dairy or fats). Dump them into an outdoor composting bin once per week.

4. Add an equal amount of brown matter for every part of stale bread that you add to your compost pile to ensure that everything breaks down.

5. Turn the compost regularly a few times each season with a pitchfork or compost aerator to ensure that oxygen is getting to all parts of the pile.

References

• Environment Canada: Reduce your Garbage output: compost
• Sage Environmental Services: Composting