Even for you earth-friendly folks, composting probably seems a little extreme. I get it: In addition to being a little too "Portlandia" for my taste, composting used to intimidate me. I had a hard time imagining how it would fit into my busy life.

Luckily, composting is not nearly as hard as you think. It's Mother Nature's work, baby. I keep a big compost barrel in my backyard and a tiny little container next to my sink. Whenever I cut up an apple or peel an orange, I throw the scraps in the container. Every few days, the container gets emptied into the barrel. And that's it, my friends: You get wonderful, wormy, compost-y soil.

But fruit and veggie scraps aren't the only things you can compost. There are so many everyday items that you can throw into a compost bin. Here are a few more:

- Wine corks
- Cooked rice or pasta
- Cotton clothes (cut them into small pieces)
- Paper kitchen goods like towels, plates, cereal boxes and egg cartons
- Used tissues and cotton swabs
- Elmer's glue
- The lint in your vacuum cleaner and dryer screen
- Feathers from old down pillows

Got any more tips on crazy things you can compost? Hit me up in the comments section with your favorites!