GREEN WORKS ORLANDO BACKYARD COMPOSTING

The City of Orlando is offering free home composters to residents through Mayor Buddy Dyer’s Green Works initiative. Composting is the process of turning kitchen and yard into usable, nutrient rich soil through natural decomposition.

BENEFITS OF COMPOSTING IT’S EASY TO HOW YOU CAN USE COMPOST

• Divert food and yard waste from the • Fruits and vegetable • Work 1-2” of compost into the top • Tea bags layer of soil in your garden • Save money by reducing the need for • Grass clippings and houseplants • Top dress your lawn to promote chemical fertilizer • Coffee grounds and filters healthy root growth • Creates an enriched soil, which can • Shredded black and white newspaper • Spread finished compost in your be used in your garden and suppresses and shredded cardboard bushes and under your trees out to plant diseases and pests • Yard trimmings, leaves, dryer and the drip line vacuum cleaner lint • Mix compost in with potting soil • Hair and fur when potting plants • Hay, straw, wood chips, shredded cotton and wool rags

USE THE BACK OF THIS PAGE AS A REFERENCE.

To order your FREE composter and download our backyard composting guide visit cityoforlando.net/composter.

Solid Waste Division 1028 Woods Avenue, Orlando, FL 32805 407.246.2314 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday – Friday [email protected] cityoforlando.net/solidwaste COMPOSTING 101 WHAT CAN I COMPOST? Composting requires a mix of nitrogen and carbon to create the proper environment for decomposition. such as food scraps, bring nitrogen whereas brown waste, leaves and paper products, add carbon to the mix.

GREEN BROWN “NO” LIST

Fruit and vegetables Shredded cardboard Nuts, shells, bread, grains Meat, Bones Crushed egg shells Fats, grease, lard, oils

Yard trimmings, leaves Dairy (butter, milk, eggs) Coffee grounds and filters Shredded black and white newspaper Dryer & vacuum cleaner lint Diseased plants Charcoal ashes

Toxic materials Hay, straw, wood chips Nonbiodegradable materials Grass clippings Shredded cotton & wool rags Hair and fur Cat or dog waste, Houseplants