# Why is it that meat ruins compost **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-that-meat-ruins-compost/161859 "2003-03-16T22:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrLiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DrLiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrLiver)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-that-meat-ruins-compost/161859/1 "2003-03-16T22:36:38Z")
I just remembered something that my environment prof said; he said that it would be difficult to organize a compost collecting system (like recycling but with old vegetables and fruits and other plants) because if only one person throws meat in it; the whole pile would be ruined; So, is that true? and if so, why? doesn’t meat just decompose like everything else? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-that-meat-ruins-compost/161859/2 "2003-03-16T22:39:54Z")
Yes, but rotting meat stinketh in quite a different and neighborhood-unfriendly way from rotting leaves. Also, it attracts flies and maggots, and hungry stray dogs and raccoons, in a way that rotting leaves do not. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-that-meat-ruins-compost/161859/3 "2003-03-16T23:23:13Z")
You might like to try out [this site](http://www.env.qld.gov.au/environment/environment/waste/c.html) which should answer all your composting needs. Like **DDG** says, meats stinks and carnivore poo is also out as it can easily spread disease. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-that-meat-ruins-compost/161859/4 "2003-03-17T02:26:43Z")
It’s the fat and oils which do not readily decompose, but rather oxidize and become rancid. You wouldn’t think of composting used cooking oil, either. And what everyone else said. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-that-meat-ruins-compost/161859/5 "2003-03-17T02:33:49Z")
OTOH, _one_ piece of meat in a large compost heap isn’t likely to ruin the whole thing, but in general, what everyone elese said. ---
**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-that-meat-ruins-compost/161859/6 "2003-03-17T03:34:28Z")
Now that you’ve heard the theory, here are some observations: Small amounts of meat aren’t really going to make any difference. My neighbor’s cats kill birds and voles all the time so I have bits of rotting meat around, if not in, my compost pile and the smell is generally not an issue (although it’s a damn good thing they can’t kill anything bigger). As for attracting flies, that’s not an issue if the meat is in (as opposed to on) the compost pile. As for attracting raccoons, I’m not convinced that a bit of flesh is any more attactive than an apple core or potato peels. And the whole disease thing is way overblown by people unfamiliar with germ theory.