Thirty - one percent of waste that Americans rate in landfills in 2008 comprise of paper products , according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . Composting newspaper product like coffee filters that you would otherwise put in your folderol can is an well-to-do way of life to shrink your household waste and produce a rich grease amendment for your potted plants and lawn . In fact , grant to a Composting Council Fact Sheet , adding paper products such as coffee filters to your compost helps minimize odors and provides a bulking agent ( material that advertise atomic number 8 stream in the compost ) .
Step 1
train your coffee filter for composting . When you remove your used chocolate filter from your coffee Lord , shred them carefully into strips . Do n’t bother taste to withdraw the coffee berry grounds from your filters ; according to the July 2008 issue of " Science Daily , " coffee grounds contain approximately 2 percent nitrogen so they provide an excellent source of N for your compost wad . Keep a household compost bucket or bowl handy on your counter or below your kitchen sink so you have a convenient locating to take in your used burnt umber filters .
Step 2
Collect your coffee filter with other constitutive material . To bring forth compost more quickly , collect a range of nitrogen - rich materials ( such as cow manure , bracing lawn trim and veggie Peel ) and C - full-bodied materials ( such as straw , hay , beat leaves and sliced paper ) in addition to your coffee filters and coffee grounds .
Step 3
bed your coffee tree filter with the other organic materials in a compost pile . Your compost pile needs to be at least 3 cubic substructure ( 3 feet by 3 ft by 3 - feet ) to assert the high temperatures required to produce finished compost . Layer 3 to 5 inches of carbon - rich materials ( include your chopped coffee filters ) on bare surface soil ; top this stratum of atomic number 6 material with an evenly - sized layer of N - deep materials . Mist the layers of constituent materials with your garden hosepipe and top with a 1- to 2 - inch layer of surface soil ; topsoil contains the rot micro-organism that create compost . Repeat this layering process until your pile is as marvellous as it is all-inclusive .
Step 4
Monitor the wet level in your compost pile . Make certain the compost is approximately as moist as a wrung - out parazoan ; if it ’s too wet , add extra carbon materials , such as more sliced coffee filters , to assimilate the excess moisture .
Step 5
Rotate your compost stilt on a regular basis after wait five to six hebdomad for the compost process to begin . Use a manure fork to desegregate the levels once every one to two workweek . Your coffee filters and the other constitutive materials should decompose into ruined compost within approximately six to eight months .
