I had the same exact question. Have half a Costco jar full of expired fish oil pills, and am afraid to use them myself or even give to the cats since they are probably somewhat rancid. Did some googling and was happy to see, it seems that it could be beneficial in the garden. I hate throwing out supplements, and any type of animal product. Something gave it's life for that. The least we can do is try to put it to good use, instead of dumping it into the landfill.

I'm the one that had/has the vitamins that were too big for me. I kept telling myself I'd use them (and I should have know otherwise) and eventually they were expired but I still have the 3/4 of the bottle I didn't use. I'm curious how you suggest one reuses expired vitamins. I'm in agreement that one should reuse if at all possible, but you must have a much greater imagination than me if you know how to reuse vitamins better than the suggestions in the thread this came up in which was "Expired Vitamins in the compost". I don't know about the brown paper post, but let me give you a scenario where I think you are very incorrect on your assumption that Freecycle would be the better option if I came across a roll of brown paper not in use and I had no other use for it but composting. If I put it into the compost, it will break down and provide food for much life including mine. No landfill material where it will take a lot longer to break down due to likely being doused with other chemicals from other trash. If I put it on Freecycle then someone possibly uses it for packaging. That packaging is not nearly as likely to get reused again and will likely go into a landfill because the number of people that don't reuse or compost is exponentially higher than those people like us that do. And Freecycle isn't just full of greenies. It's also full moochers or poor people looking for free stuff. It's a fact that neither of those groups is notorious for their recycling/composting habits. You might think I'm being harsh or politically incorrect, but try driving in a poor area and tell me how littered it is because the people just don't care. Can anyone here speak up from the south side of Chicago (specifically halstead street where the plastic bottles outnumber the blades of grass) or certain areas on the east side of Indianapolis, please? How about the poor areas of Gary, IN? Anyway, the proof is lying in all those yards and along those streets so I don't feel bad about my statement. The point is that the roll of paper is a lot more likely to end up in a landfill using freecycle and the benefit of reuse is largely reduced to less than the benefit of composting it. And I didn't even add in the gas used to transport the roll of paper if you use Freecycle. Let's consider the Freecycle person is like us, but doesn't compost. Instead, the person used the paper for kid projects and turned around and recycled it afterward. Good for them! But the environmental impact of the recycling (which uses fuel and emits lots of carbon and requires transportation) in the end is still larger than the impact of simply composting it. So my good intentions actually led to a worse impact. I find a lot of "environmentalists" tend to forget to take in the big picture. They only see the immediate effect and choose not to think further to the end result. It's why a lot of "environmentalists" buy bottled water. They think that recycling the bottle makes it okay and makes them green. They choose not to consider how much recycling adds to the waste stream, carbon emissions, and pollution. Instead, they throw the plastic into a recycling bin or reuse it a couple of times and then do so and then feel good about their decision to make this a better environment. They forget that all that was negated by the very purchase of the bottle of water in the first place. Are you taking in the big picture? Or are you seeing one simple act as the saving grace while ignoring the rest of the process? I don't think you are purposely ignoring it. But I do think a lot of people accidentally do with good intentions.

I have always thrown in old plants into the bin and my worms are happy and thriving. I have also on occasions had a plant re-establish itself after being in the bin when I though it was dead. I you are concerned about the pests usually that is not a problem unless they are centipedes and then they eat the worms. As to other diseases not sure about that one, if you are unsure then compost to the city.

Yes, also old tortillas, dried bread and Hardened chicken eggs - hardened because i don't eat them!!!