I see many references at various compost related info sites, where I often see, "no meat or animal products", but rarely an explanation as to why. Finally saw one response in your site, "because it gets smelly".
Is that the only reason? I thought maybe it might have something to do with such products (meat and meat products) cultivating an undesirable bacteria or something like that. Can anyone enlighten me on this?
By Annuity - Victor from San Francisco, CA
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
Such products also draw unwanted critters to paw through your compost pile, such as skunks, opossums, and rats.
The meat also contaminates the soil with e-coli germs and other really bad bacterias. This gets into your vegetables or fruit and makes you very sick.
Rats! Trust me, you do not want an infestation of rats! So no meat or meat byproducts.
I don't put any meat products in my compost AT ALL and still have a very fat mouse living there! I guess he/she likes lettuce and carrots!
What I learned was that in order to compost meat you need a compost pile to reach really high heats. Since a home compost pile usually can't reach the high heats of commercial pile can, it is not safe to compost meat.
The only reason I know of is Parasites and e-coli. And trust me, you don't want them!
It's because it attracts animals, not because it foments especially bad bacteria. We always composted all household garbage except poultry by the "sheet method". Rotating the spot every year, we'd simply spread the garbage over the ground and leave it. Next spring, we'd till it under. We would use any poultry carcasses to feed the crabs in the salt-water creek nearby, ensuring a good harvest of those as well.
We were out in the country with plenty of dogs around so the wild animals didn't bother the composting area, but the dogs sure liked a good roll. After which, someone would be detailed to take the dogs onto the dock and throw them overboard. Wait for them to swim ashore, catch and repeat a few times, LOL. Got the dogs clean, but scared the crabs away for a day or so each time. Using this composting method, our gardens (on a site which had been used for gardening since the 1600's) have always been amazingly fertile, not needing much amendment except lime, occasionally.
On the other hand, now that I live in a town with neighbors close by, I compost in a bin and discard all animal products in the trash.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
