Can You Put Cardboard In Compost

When you’re managing a compost pile, one of the best things to put in it is cardboard. It’s an easily accessible material that you probably have lots of lying around, and it can be used to improve your soil and help your organic waste break down more quickly. There are some concerns about using cardboard in your compost pile, though. We’ll take a look at both sides of the cardbaord-in-compost debate so that you can decide for yourself if this is something you want to do.

Cardboard Can Be Easily Recycled

Cardboard is one of the most popular items to recycle. As a lightweight material, it’s easy to transport and can be recycled into new products using little energy. Cardboard can also be used as a packing material for shipped goods, which means businesses will use less plastic or styrofoam, which are not recyclable. The U.S., Canada, and Mexico signed an agreement called The North American Recycling Accord in 2018 that aims to increase municipal recycling rates from 34% to 50% by 2025 by increasing consumer awareness about recycling programs and providing more funding for local governments so they can implement these programs better.

Cardboard Is A Great Soil Amendment

Cardboard is a great source of carbon, one of the three macronutrients that plants require (along with nitrogen and potassium).

Carbon provides energy to plants and helps them grow. A good amount of carbon in your soil will help you create better compost faster, as well as improve the overall health and structure of your garden bed or potting mix.

What You Need To Know About Cardboard

• Cardboard is biodegradable.
• Cardboard is made from recycled paper.
• Cardboard can be composted, but it takes a long time to break down.
• You can use cardboard as an effective soil amendment for your garden or home plants. It helps retain moisture, increases porosity and aeration, and improves soil tilth—all of which make it great for growing vegetables or flowers in pots! If you’re not able to use your compost right away, layering it with some shredded pieces of cardboard will keep it from smelling until you do want to add it back into the soil later on down the line (or even better yet: start adding more layers every few months).

The Pros Of Using Cardboard In Compost

The pros of using cardboard in compost include:

• Cardboard is a great source of carbon, nitrogen, air and water. The decomposers in your compost pile will use these elements to break down the material and make finished compost that you can use for gardening or other purposes.
• Cardboard provides good soil structure that helps with drainage and aeration—both essential for healthy plants. It also makes it easier for worms and insects to move around in your garden’s soil if they need to get from one part of your garden bed to another (e.g., when doing their job of breaking down organic matter).
• The nutrients in cardboard are released slowly over time as microorganisms break them down into more usable forms by feeding off them as energy sources themselves—which means there are many benefits but no drawbacks associated with using this material instead of something else like leaves or grass clippings!

The Cons Of Using Cardboard In Compost

So, you may be wondering, what are the cons of using cardboard in compost?

• Cardboard takes a long time to break down. It can take more than six months for cardboard to decompose in a backyard compost pile. In fact, if you’re trying to get rid of a lot of paper products such as junk mail and receipts, cardboard is not the best choice because it will just add to the amount of paper that needs to be recycled.
• Cardboard can attract rodents and other pests. If your backyard area has lots of leafy plants growing around it, rats or mice might find their way into your yard and start nesting there if they smell food nearby (such as an unattended stack of empty boxes). This could also happen if you leave some trash on top too long after taking out what was inside—so make sure that whatever container you use for storing shredded papers doesn’t spill over!

Cardboard is a great addition to your compost, especially when you shred it first to help it breakdown faster.

When it comes to composting, there are a lot of different materials that can be used. However, many people overlook cardboard because they assume it’s not an environmentally-friendly option.

This couldn’t be further from the truth! Cardboard is actually one of the best things you can use in your compost bin because of all the benefits it offers:

• Cardboard helps improve soil aeration by adding more air pockets into your soil. This makes it easier for roots to grow through and increases plant health overall.
• Cardboard helps build better structure in your soil by giving you more drainage holes so that water drains out quicker and doesn’t stay trapped on top of the ground where plants might drown or get too much moisture (which can cause them to rot).
• Adding cardboard into your compost also improves fertility since cardboard contains carbon material which acts as an excellent fertilizer source for plants’ root systems when mixed with other organic matter like leaves or grass clippings!

Recycling is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and help the environment. But if you choose to compost instead, you can still use cardboard in your pile. The pros of using cardboard in compost include its ability as an excellent soil amendment and its ability to prevent weeds from growing due to its thick layers. On top of that, it’s also great for aeration purposes when mixed with other materials such as kitchen scraps or leaves.

However, there are some cons that come along with adding cardboard into compost piles too. For one thing, it’s not biodegradable so it may take longer than other materials before breaking down completely (which could lead to large amounts of carbon dioxide being released over time). Another con is that cardboard isn’t very flexible which means it doesn’t absorb water well when wet – this could cause problems if you’re trying not to let your pile dry out by watering regularly!

If all these factors seem like something worth considering before adding any type of paper product into your homemade garden bedding then go ahead – but remember: every person’s experiences will vary depending on what works best for their needs!