You know all about composting
veggie peels and fruit cores, but what about composting wine? If you toss
leftover wine into the compost heap, will you be harming or helping your pile? Some
people swear that wine is good for compost piles, but wine’s effect on compost
likely depends on how much you are adding. For more information about
composting wine, read on.
Can You Compost Wine?
You might wonder why anyone would waste wine by pouring it
on a compost heap in the first place. But sometimes you purchase wine that
doesn’t taste good, or you let it sit around so long it turns. That’s when you
might think of composting it.
Can you compost wine? You can, and there are a lot of
theories about wine’s effect on compost.
One is certain: as a liquid, wine in compost will stand in
for required water. Managing moisture in a working compost heap is essential to
keeping the process going. If the compost pile gets too dry, the essential
bacteria will die for lack of water.
Adding stale or leftover wine to the compost is an
environmentally friendly way to get liquid in there without using water
resources to do it.
Is Wine Good for Compost?
So, it’s probably not detrimental to your compost to add
wine. But is wine good for compost? It might be. Some claim that wine acts as a
compost “starter,” spurring on the bacteria in the compost to get busy.
Others say that the yeast in wine gives a boost to the
decomposition of organic
materials, especially wood-based products. And it is also claimed that,
when you put wine in compost, the nitrogen in the wine may also help in breaking
down carbon-based materials.
And anyone who makes their own wine can add the waste
products in the composting bin as well. The same is said to be true for beer,
and beer-making waste products. You can also compost the cork from the wine
bottle.
But don’t overwhelm a small compost heap by adding gallons of wine to it. That much alcohol could throw off the requisite balance. And too much alcohol might kill off all of the bacteria. In short, add a little leftover wine to the compost heap if you like, but don’t make it a regular habit.
You know all about composting
veggie peels and fruit cores, but what about composting wine? If you toss
leftover wine into the compost heap, will you be harming or helping your pile? Some
people swear that wine is good for compost piles, but wine’s effect on compost
likely depends on how much you are adding. For more information about
composting wine, read on.
Can You Compost Wine?
You might wonder why anyone would waste wine by pouring it
on a compost heap in the first place. But sometimes you purchase wine that
doesn’t taste good, or you let it sit around so long it turns. That’s when you
might think of composting it.
Can you compost wine? You can, and there are a lot of
theories about wine’s effect on compost.
One is certain: as a liquid, wine in compost will stand in
for required water. Managing moisture in a working compost heap is essential to
keeping the process going. If the compost pile gets too dry, the essential
bacteria will die for lack of water.
Adding stale or leftover wine to the compost is an
environmentally friendly way to get liquid in there without using water
resources to do it.
Is Wine Good for Compost?
So, it’s probably not detrimental to your compost to add
wine. But is wine good for compost? It might be. Some claim that wine acts as a
compost “starter,” spurring on the bacteria in the compost to get busy.
Others say that the yeast in wine gives a boost to the
decomposition of organic
materials, especially wood-based products. And it is also claimed that,
when you put wine in compost, the nitrogen in the wine may also help in breaking
down carbon-based materials.
And anyone who makes their own wine can add the waste
products in the composting bin as well. The same is said to be true for beer,
and beer-making waste products. You can also compost the cork from the wine
bottle.
But don’t overwhelm a small compost heap by adding gallons of wine to it. That much alcohol could throw off the requisite balance. And too much alcohol might kill off all of the bacteria. In short, add a little leftover wine to the compost heap if you like, but don’t make it a regular habit.