Only newspaper. None of that platic-like paper. Yea no glossy paper. Alot of people will tell you that you can "compost anything" this is true but it will take a long time and space. Best to stay with only kitchen waste. Little paper here and there wont hurt along with twig and stick material. But if you want good and SAFE compost stay with only food scraps.

I have two compost piles. One has fruits/veggies/old bread ect....the next one has manure. The first one has high P good for blooming plants. The manure is full of N.

I started an Earth Machine just the other day and I'm terrified of making a slimey, stinky mess. If I limit it to kitchen scraps and light yard trimmings, how do I get enough browns to keep from making slime? My kitchen waste consists mainly of fruit and veggie trimmings and coffee grounds/filters. There might occasionally be some leftover bread, rice or pasta, but not alot and not on a regular basis. I was planning to use torn up newspaper as my primary brown, but it sounds like that might not be a good idea. Am I overthinking this or am I missing something?

Totally Confused

A lot of misinformation floats around about what is "safe" to compost and what should not be. As a general rule of thumb if you can eat it you can compost it, so even those salty tortilla chips could be composted. No kind of plastic will compost, but the glossy paper can be. All that glossy paper has is a clay coating, which some of the matt papers also have. However, some of those newspaper ad inserts should not be composted because they do have metallic inks that you might not want in your garden even though the quantity is fairly small. If the images have a shiny cover, laquer, recycle that paper in a different way.

Torn up or shredded newspaper or cardboard is a great compost ingredient. The "glossy" coating is a soy-based varnish. It decomposes.

Colored inks are now soy-based pigments, and not heavy metals.

The "OH NOES" about colored inks and glossy papers is left over advice from who knows when, but printers are not using heavy metal-based inks any more, and have not done so for years. It's too expensive to clean up the presses afterwards.

Will a soil test reveal any toxins like heavy metals or pesticides?

Lazygardens, can I put my leftover Coors light cartons in the pathways? I have been piling them up and taking them to the recycle bin at the dump, seems like a waste if I can put them in the garden. I have a row garden not raised beds so they will be plowed under at the end of the season. They are glossy and slick but I can shred them with my leaf vacuum, if necessary!

Apex, you can have soils tested for those things but it is expensive and is not included in normal soils tests for soil pH and nutrient levels.

Will a soil test reveal any toxins like heavy metals or pesticides?
If you find a lab that does that sort of testing and ask for it.
When you get your soil tested, they don't put dirt into a machine and wait for it to spit out a list of everything that is in your soil. It just doesn't work that way. In fact, a typical "soil analysis" for your garden can be made up of 5 or more completely separate tests. It just looks like you had only 1 test done because all of the results from all of the tests get reported together on one page.
If you are interested in testing for toxins, you have to be very specific about what you are looking for. If you're concerned about PCB's, there is a test for that. If you are concerned about tebuthiuron, there is a separate test for that, etc. If you don't have reason to suspect a specific toxin, you're just shooting in the dark. Although, there are some labs that will do 'heavy metal' packages or 'common pesticides' packages.
For that sort of testing you would want to go to an environmental lab and they can run metals and other things that are human health concerns and do it according to current EPA methodology so the numbers you get back can be used against published criteria. I know of some less than scrupulous labs that will run heavy metals but use a methodology different from EPA methods and the numbers they get are wildly different from the numbers you would get if you had used EPA methods and are, of course, no use to anybody. But they sure are cheap! (buyer beware)

Let me preface my comment with "This is MY opinion and what I do"

wertach - I compost cardboard. If I can rip it and it doesn't stretch (like plastic does when you try to rip it) then I compost it. If it is glossy/smooth then I try to tear it or shred it so it will break down faster. I admit that is probably overkill, but it makes me feel better. A side note here, last week I pulled the finished compost out of last year's bin to top dress my planting beds. I had packing/shipping boxes in there early last spring. I remembered to pull off the plastic tape holding the boxes together but I forgot the shipping labels. I found them while spreading the compost, pulled them out and dropped them in the trash. I imagine plastic-coated cardboard would have a similar result.

ApexAZ - I compost shredded newspaper. I'm not worried about toxins or heavy metals. The small amount of those items that might (emphasis on MIGHT) be in the paper does not concern me - mostly because a) I don't believe they are used anymore, and b) the small amount that could make it into my compost compared to other items like grass, UCG, leaves, etc. is probably less toxic than sitting on my porch breathing the exhaust from cars as they drive by.

I don't put diseased plants, waste from meat-eating animals, meat or dairy products in if I can help it. Just because I don't want to be that careful about getting the temps up. I tend to compost warm and slow rather than hot and fast. It is easier for me.

If you are really worried about the toxins in your paper/cardboard then do some research. Find out what company prints your paper or manufactures the cardboard and ask them what kind of chemicals are found in the finished product. Ask the newspaper to give you the material safety data sheets for the ink they use. They will have to have them on file anyway for OSHA requirements.

Asking on this forum is going to give you a wide range of opinions from the most conservative to the uber liberal. One member's facts they post are often contradictory to another member's facts. At some point you are going to have to figure out what YOUR composting views/opinions are and settle in for the ride. I can tell you one thing..My way works - for me. YMMV (your mileage may vary)

That's the internet for you. Everyone seems to have an opinion. I think the more information the better though. Thank you for all of your responses.

Thanks Momstar! It does rip and not stretch. I will run it through my shredder first, because I know it doesn't decompose very fast when left whole. I put some on top of some poison oak next to my building last summer, slick side down, and it is still there! However I can break it up easily with a hoe. Poison oak is gone!

I just had heavy metals testing through my local Extension service. It cost $65. The Extensions are well-respected. I didn't know about those issues with some labs, but I can't imagine the Extensions using poor quality tests.

What I really wanted to test for was PAH levels (poly-aromatic hydrocarbons). For the life of me, I couldn't find a lab that would test for that on a home (not commerical) scale. Anyone know of one? (That's reputable.)

Your local Extension Service office uses the soil lab at the state university for testing, so the tests those labs do should be of top quaility. Those labs are where people that oversee commercial labs learn how to do soil tests while the people that actually do the tests in those commercial labs may not be college grads.
Granted, the person doing the actual test of your soil at the university may be an undergrad.

candogal wrote:
"What I really wanted to test for was PAH levels (poly-aromatic hydrocarbons). For the life of me, I couldn't find a lab that would test for that on a home (not commerical) scale. Anyone know of one? (That's reputable.)"

I am not sure what you mean by 'home' vs. 'commercial' scale. Most environmental labs should be able to test one sample or a hundred. Environmental contractors who test soil at contaminated sites will send varying numbers, sometimes just one or two samples, so the labs are set up to handle that. PAH testing on a soil sample can be a bit expensive though - maybe as much as $100-$150.

Let us know what city/state you are in.

Also, I am curious why you want to test for PAHs - do you have a reason to think they are dangerously high? And what standards would you compare the results to?

Totally confused asked how to avoid making slime in the Earth Machine--

-let some of the kitchen waste or garden trimmings dry before adding (coffee grounds dry fairly quickly outside this time of year)
-keep slightly moist, not wet
-turn or stir in the browns (carbons): dry grass, leaves, wood products (chips, shavings, household papers, facial tissues, toilet paper tubes, paper towels, paper napkins, etc.), old hay or straw

We've always been able to get free sweepings from the feed store if you ask, clean up any spills you make, & stay out of the workers way. Any occasional seed sprouting isn't a problem when you mulch.

To collect the paper products in your home have a separate waste can & make it convenient to use. It worked for us to add a step on can in the kitchen for compost materials & a 2nd waste can in the restrooms for the paper products.

When my kids were young & had runny noses I would give then their own box of tissues as well as an empty box for their soiled tissues. If I didn't have an empty box stored away I gave them a paper sack with folded over edges to make "baskets". No more tissues on the floor by the couch & more material for composting!

Composting becomes a habit once you figure out the system for collecting in the house & taking it outside frequently. Don't let it become a chore or no one will want to compost anymore!

My oldest disliked compost most of all, but did her share of "taking it out". Now that she's married she is composting for herself using a worm bin.