Why You Should Add Empty Egg Cartons To Your Compost Bin

It's easy to feel overwhelmed when you start to layer materials in your compost bin. Finding out what you should and should not add to your compost is an important step for long-term success. But some items might surprise you. For example, did you know you should add empty egg cartons to your compost bin? Paper egg cartons are an ideal ingredient for successful composting due to their unique composition, which is rich in carbon.

It's not hard to add egg cartons to a compost bin. After you've finished using the eggs, prepare your egg cartons for the bin by ripping them into tiny pieces. The smaller pieces help the material to quickly decompose. Consider throwing in any leftover eggshells as well — another compost ingredient you already have at home. By using a healthy balance of different organic materials, you will be able to produce finished compost in about three months from start to finish.

The best compost piles utilize a balanced mixture of "greens" and "browns." Green organic materials, like grass clippings, kitchen scraps, and coffee grounds, are high in nitrogen and break down quickly. Egg cartons, however, fall under brown organic materials. Brown organic materials are high in carbon and provide an excellent source of energy for the microorganisms that break down the raw materials. Paper egg cartons, which are made out of carbon-rich paperboard, can be the perfect addition alongside leaves and wood chips.

Most recommendations suggest layering equal parts of green and brown material in your bin. You can even add three times as much brown organic material, which means you need to collect a lot of dry ingredients. Using egg cartons for the compost bin can provide that extra brown material if you don't have enough dried leaves or twigs stockpiled from winter.

So make sure to save used egg cartons to add to your compost bin. Adding more carbon-rich paper can reverse unpleasant odors due to too much nitrogen-rich material. But don't worry if you still end up with extra egg cartons. Just use them to easily regrow onions with a genius egg carton hack.