Composting

Composting in San Fransisco:
Some very interesting facts in these articles, including how much of the trash heading to landfills can be recycled or composted.

• The Nation's most ambitious Composting Law
• This article was more informative
• Fast cooking compost pile

Make sure your location is level and in partial shade. 4'x4' palettes make a perfect square and are excellent compost bin walls.
First layer
Straw (not hay). Using straw as your first layer keeps your pile off the ground and keeps out weeds and pests. You can get straw at your local garden center.

• Adding cardboard to compost
• See also high-fiber composting (see Wiki link and comments)
• DIY compost bin
• or not
• Compost can include: leaves, newspaper, (no colored inks or glossy mags) straw, dry grass clippings, cardboard, nutshells.
• What you can compost