# What do you do with the eggshells?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 31, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700 "2011-08-31T00:33:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky_the_Wonder_Spirit)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/21 "2011-08-31T04:53:45Z")
> [@elfkin477](#):
>
> People find mixing food remains with fresh food icky, and that’s all there is to it.
Pretty much. I don’t put onion skins and apple cores back in the crisper drawer, either.
The refrigerator is for storing food, not waste materials.
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### Author:  [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/22 "2011-08-31T04:54:02Z")
When I used to compost (before the compost started to attract vermin) I’d put the shells there. Now they go straight into the bin. It wouldn’t occur to me to put rubbish back into the 'fridge.
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### Author:  [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/23 "2011-08-31T05:16:17Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#):
>
> I use crushed egg shells in my homemade dog food.
Me too **Rushgeekgirl** - only I powder them. (After washing them, and drying them in the oven to remove chemical traces, if anyone’s askin’…)
Sorry **Brown Eyed Girl** - I’m a “that’s gross” voter. Why risk of salmonella?
I’m curious to know why you don’t just throw them out at the time, if you’re not planning to do anything with them.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/24 "2011-08-31T05:40:22Z")
Crunch 'em up and toss 'em on the garden.
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### Author:  [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/25 "2011-08-31T05:51:38Z")
I toss them in the trash. I live in a 4th floor apartment in a giant parking lot. Composting would be a huge hassle.
The idea of sticking the shells back in the carton, however, is very strange and had never even occurred to me before. Why would you do that? I don’t put empty wrappers and juice cartons back in the fridge when I’ve used them; they’re trash. Same for egg shells. Storing food waste in the fridge next to the regular food is pretty nasty.
And what is this about the salmonella only being on the outside of the egg? [This article](http://news.discovery.com/human/egg-salmonella-bacteria.html) says it enters the shell through pores, so it would be on the inside.
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### Author:  [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/26 "2011-08-31T07:26:36Z")
I used to save them to feed to the chickens in the container, but I don’t have chickens anymore and now I put them back in the carton out of habit. Valid reasons for putting them back is A) when the lid is closed on the egg carton you can’t see the shells, and 2) you’re going to throw the egg carton away anyway, what’s the problem with putting the shells back? The only way you’re getting salmonella from eggshells is if you’re rubbing your food all over them before serving. Bacteria don’t fly around all willy nilly.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/27 "2011-08-31T10:42:01Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#):
>
> Why not leave eggshells in the carton? I’m considering it since this seems to be the consensus, but “it’s gross” doesn’t sway me much, frankly.
Well, even if I didn’t compost, I wouldn’t put them back in the carton. They’ve gone from “food containers” to “trash”. If you are concerned about drips, get out an extra plate or bowl, and put the shells in that, and then pitch in the garbage when you have a chance. But putting trash back into a food container is not a good habit, even if your mother DID do it.
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/28 "2011-08-31T12:07:34Z")
> [@Askance](#):
>
> I’m saddened that over half the votes so far are “straight in the trash”. Is composting your organic waste not as nearly universal as I thought?
Eggshells aren’t exactly “organic” - they’re mostly calcium carbonate so they don’t rot down as such.
That said, I do usually put them in the compost bin, but I try to crush them up before doing so, otherwise they just come out whole in the compost. My soil is fairly acidic, so the extra lime from the shells probably helps a little bit.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/29 "2011-08-31T12:36:20Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#):
>
> No one is mentioning the danger of uncrushed egg shell halves! Don’t you know witches can sail in them, or write people’s names to cast spells?
Dammit, it’s bad enough the composters are reducing the available supplies of uncrushed eggshell halves, now YOU have to let that cat out of the bag! What’s a witch to do these days?
… um… what was your name again? My pen slipped on this shell…
More seriously, in addition to adding mine to the compost heap, I also boil some of them and give them them to the family parrots, who seem to enjoy chewing on them as much as they do potato chips or crackers.
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/30 "2011-08-31T12:46:20Z")
There’s no “food waste for composting” here, eggshells go with the “non recyclable trash”. The other varieties of trash are reusable/large (they get picked up by the same NPO), glass, packaging and paper/cardboard. Both the wastewater treatment plant and the garbage treatment plant do compost, but there isn’t a separate pickup.
> [@Askance](#):
>
> I’m saddened that over half the votes so far are “straight in the trash”. Is composting your organic waste not as nearly universal as I thought?
If you can tell me why and how to compost in a 80m[sup]2[/sup] 3rd-floor walk-on with no living plants, I’m all ears. Not everybody lives in individual houses with gardens.
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### Author:  [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/31 "2011-08-31T13:13:37Z")
Garbage disposer.
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### Author:  [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/32 "2011-08-31T13:22:45Z")
> [@Nava](#):
>
> If you can tell me why and how to compost in a 80m[sup]2[/sup] 3rd-floor walk-on with no living plants, I’m all ears. Not everybody lives in individual houses with gardens.
My composting is municipal, so the sadness over a lack of composting isn’t just for individuals.
/sidetrack
I was really worried when they introduced it that it would smell, be a pain to keep up with and generally be unsuccessful but it was an easier change than figuring out what qualifies for the blue box. If your municipality is considering this give them all the support you can. Ours uses the compost for all municiple plantings and provides compost at a low cost if you drive to the recycling centre to pick it up.
/sidetrack off
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### Author:  [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/33 "2011-08-31T13:54:53Z")
Bin. I don’t have a garden and my borough doesn’t do compost collection. I don’t keep the carton anyway - my eggs live in a porcelain duck on the windowsill.
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### Author:  [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/34 "2011-08-31T14:05:55Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#):
>
> My composting is municipal, so the sadness over a lack of composting isn’t just for individuals.
Yeah, but it’s not necessarily feasible in some municipalities…my city has some composting in certain neighbourhoods, but it just isn’t realistic where I live. Where would we keep it? Indoors is gross, and I don’t so much have a balcony as a slightly large fire escape, so that’s not really do-able. There is no yard in my building. There are mice and rats and other vermin in the city (100-year old buildings, it happens). Composting is a really nice thought, but it just doesn’t work. We even have twice-a-week garbage pickup and it still festers and stinks up the place during the summer.
As for egg shells, I’ll pile them up on the stainless steel counter until I have a chance to scoop them up and toss them in the trash. Then I clean the counter.
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### Author:  [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/35 "2011-08-31T14:15:19Z")
Garbage, and I would have been shocked if that weren’t the overwhelming answer. I just don’t see the point of putting your trash back into the fridge to throw out later.
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### Author:  [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/36 "2011-08-31T14:18:16Z")
> [@Askance](#):
>
> But why do it? You don’t put any other trash in the fridge. Er, do you?
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#):
>
> Sorry **Brown Eyed Girl** - I’m a “that’s gross” voter. Why risk of salmonella?
>
> I’m curious to know why you don’t just throw them out at the time, if you’re not planning to do anything with them.
> [@chizzuk](#):
>
> The idea of sticking the shells back in the carton, however, is very strange and had never even occurred to me before. Why would you do that? I don’t put empty wrappers and juice cartons back in the fridge when I’ve used them; they’re trash. Same for egg shells. Storing food waste in the fridge next to the regular food is pretty nasty.
I already explained why I do it. A) It’s convenient and less messy to drop the eggshell right back in an empty pocket of the egg carton to throw them all out at the same time, B) I don’t find eggshells to be particularly gross, and C) I don’t believe there is any additional risk of transferring salmonella to the unbroken eggs (I may very well be wrong about this, I admit).
To me, they are just as much foodstuff as they were prior to removing the insides, so it doesn’t bother me having them sit in the fridge any more than it does having a partially empty egg carton sitting in the fridge which will eventually also become trash. As long as they’re in the fridge they don’t rot or smell or get any grosser than they were when they were intact. Any residual egg white on the shell dries out quickly and the eggshells are contained.
> [@chizzuk](#):
>
> And what is this about the salmonella only being on the outside of the egg? [This article](http://news.discovery.com/human/egg-salmonella-bacteria.html) says it enters the shell through pores, so it would be on the inside.
Thank you for fighting my ignorance. I now understand there is likely to be more salmonella around the egg yolk than on the outside of the shell. Still, I think the risk of cross-contamination from broken eggshells is slim for several reasons: the eggshells do not coalesce with the unused egg; the eggshells are refrigerated preventing any exposed salmonella from multiplying; and salmonella poisoning from eggs accounts for less than 1% of food-borne illness.\* I am more concerned with contamination from raw meat and slightly more concerned about contaminated vegetables.
And I am still going to eat my eggs over easy at least while can still depend on a healthy immune system.
> [@elfkin477](#):
>
> Because it’s gross _is_ why. Just like “why don’t we put orange peels back in the fruit bowl?” has the same answer. Oranges probably wouldn’t get contaminated by the peels any more than eggs sharing a carton with shells would since the whole oranges have a nice thick peel themselves and at normal humidity/room temperature the old ones dry out sooner than get slimy, but it’s just not usually done. People find mixing food remains with fresh food icky, and that’s all there is to it.
Sure, I might do it with orange peel to if I found it convenient and/or necessary. You know, if it came in its own trash receptacle like eggs do. Orange peel doesn’t gross me out either. To be clear, though, there’s a big difference in my mind between leaving something in the fridge and leaving it on a counter. Put it back in the fruit bowl at room temp and it’s going to start rotting and attract bugs. As it is, I can’t have even fresh fruit in a bowl on the counter in our apartment because the complex is infested with gnats, flies, and roaches. Ergo, I have had to start using a smaller trash bin and taking it out more frequently, nor do I feel comfortable composting considering the number of roaches I see outside my door. Organic materials don’t attract pests while they are in the fridge and I can throw them out all at once, then take the full trash out, thereby reducing the organics in my trash at any one time. I guess it’s sort of a passive pest control method, come to think of it.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/37 "2011-08-31T14:24:09Z")
The eggshells go into the compost bucket, because the carton isn’t future trash, it’s future recycling.
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### Author:  [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/38 "2011-08-31T14:29:17Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#):
>
> Why not leave eggshells in the carton? I’m considering it since this seems to be the consensus, but “it’s gross” doesn’t sway me much, frankly.
The carton is recyclable, that’s why not. At the lake I save the cartons and give them to a friend with chickens, in the winter they go out with the paper recycling. I compost the eggshells.
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### Author:  [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/39 "2011-08-31T14:32:40Z")
Walking on eggshells? I’m a lazy composter, most green waste gets pitched whole into the hole, so too many eggshelss not good. I am a better recycler so the carton would have to remain clean from egg droppings, thus eggshells get tossed immediately after cracking.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-the-eggshells/594700/40 "2011-08-31T14:36:39Z")
I toss them (and the rest of the egg) into a blemderful of juice, let 'er rip, and drink them down. Good source of calcium.
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