EASY composting

[prodarwin]

I'd like to start composting soon.  I'm looking for a way to make it EASY.  Not the outside part, the inside part.  My parents have composted for years, and to me the biggest pain was the smell of the indoor bin and the task of walking out to the outdoor bin (far from the house), especially in bad weather.  I'd like the indoor bin to be easy to use, not smell, and not require emptying very often.  Is this possible?

Where do you keep your compost pail/bin/etc for taking outside?
How frequently do you have to take it out to the compost bin?
Can I use a brown paper bag as the indoor collector, then just toss it in the outside bin?
Do you have a bin in bathrooms or bedrooms for tissues, paper towels, etc?

Related question:

Can you compost paper towels with cleaning product on them?  Our main indoor cleaning product is simple green, so I'm guessing its ok... but what about bleach or windex?

[momo5]

I'm no pro, we just started composting a year or so ago. someone gifted us one of those rotating batch type composters from costco. so you fill it up, turn it every so often and its supposed to work. except that we're still waiting, hopefully it will be ready for spring.
anyway, we had zero smell issues. I have a large tupperware container on the kitchen counter. scraps go in there and I keep it covered. I take it out once a day, although sometimes it grows into two or three containers depending on how much cooking I'm doing.
I wash the container out daily.
I found that the key to keeping the flies away (and the smell) from the composter was making sure you have enough 'browns', we shred the newspaper and that works pretty well. if the compost gets too juicy you'll start to have flies/smell issues.

I would not compost cleaning products that I wouldnt use on my dishes. I cant imagine bleach is good for the soil. I also dont compost anything from my bathroom because that is beyond my husbands 'ick factor' limit.

[Hotstreak]

If you're worried about smell and don't take it outside much, one solution is to keep a small tub in the freezer that you toss everything in.  You shouldn't need to thaw it, just bang on the bottom of the tub or scrape until it all falls in the compost.

[Nords]

I'd like to start composting soon.  I'm looking for a way to make it EASY.  Not the outside part, the inside part.  My parents have composted for years, and to me the biggest pain was the smell of the indoor bin and the task of walking out to the outdoor bin (far from the house), especially in bad weather.  I'd like the indoor bin to be easy to use, not smell, and not require emptying very often.  Is this possible?

My first recommendation is to search your local college/university websites for their agricultural extension, or look for your local gardening club.  Every community seems to have a certified expert who can help you sort through the issues of what works (and what doesn't) for your area.  They'll also have reference documents, and perhaps guidelines or even plans for making your own bin.

Where do you keep your compost pail/bin/etc for taking outside?
How frequently do you have to take it out to the compost bin?
Can I use a brown paper bag as the indoor collector, then just toss it in the outside bin?
Do you have a bin in bathrooms or bedrooms for tissues, paper towels, etc?

As others have said, we use Tupperware containers in the fridge & freezer.  Some food waste seems to survive the composting process no matter how hot the bin gets (tomato seeds, papaya seeds) so we freeze those for a few days to hopefully kill them before composting.  Unless, of course, you use your yard to generate hundreds of tomato & papaya seedlings.

We vermipost and compost.  Our vermiposting indoor container fills up every few days (coffee filters, teabags, fruit rinds, veggie waste) and the vermiposter is on the back lanai right by the screen door.  It has a ventilated cover and we use several inches of shredded newspaper on top to discourage the fruit flies.  Our weekly advertising flyer "newspaper" in our mailbox provides just enough newsprint to supply the worms.

Our compost indoor container takes a couple weeks to fill up, and that's mainly papaya seeds & citrus rinds.  (The worms are rendered sterile by papaya seeds, and they don't do much with orange/lemon peels.  Too much citric acid?)  I guess you could use a paper bag-- until something drips through the paper.  However the paper will (eventually) be vermiposted or composted.

Do you have a bin in bathrooms or bedrooms for tissues, paper towels, etc?

No.  I suppose we could, but it's not very much volume.  We use dishrags & microfiber cloths in the kitchen, too, so there's not a lot of paper towel use in our house.  A paper towel roll in our house lasts for months.

But very little of our waste goes to landfills.  Oahu recycles our corrugated cardboard, most metals, and excess green waste.  Our trash utility burns 90% of it in a waste-to-energy plant that generates at least 10% of the island's electricity, so we don't worry about throwing away paper.  The green waste contractor does its composting on fields with piles that are 20 feet wide, nearly that high, and a hundred yards long. 

Can you compost paper towels with cleaning product on them?  Our main indoor cleaning product is simple green, so I'm guessing its ok... but what about bleach or windex?

I wouldn't mess with any of those in a compost bin, let alone vermiposting.  I'm skeptical that "Simple Green" is just branding, not descriptive.

We have two composting bins now-- one that's a rotating drum on a frame, and another that's a cube on the ground with little doors at the bottom.  It seems to be easier to fill one and let it decay away (with appropriate turning & watering) while we're filling the other one.  However the rotary one seems to fill up awfully quickly since it's only about half the volume of the cube.  We've only had the rotary one for a few months so I haven't really worked out the production timing yet.

[prodarwin]

Thanks for the comments so far.

Freezer idea is out because our freezer is almost full most of the time anyway.  Also, it would make things more of a hassle, reducing the likelihood of us using it.  This is the main thing I'm looking for... if it isn't easy or its disruptive, my significant other will likely just throw the stuff in the trash anyway.

I will say that my primary reason for using this isn't to generate compost for gardening or to be "green".  The latter is a nice bonus, but what I'm really looking to do is to stop generating trash so I don't need our trash service.  If I could do a trip to the landfill every few months with a few bags of trash, that would be great.  I've been watching what's been going in our trash cans lately and I think 95% of it could likely be composted.

[Mr One Wheel Drive]

About the concern over cleaning products, we use about 25%/75% vinegar to water and it works just as good as any commercial product. Baking soda and water work too any time you want to scour something. Then all of it can be composted.

[Rural]

Thanks for the comments so far.

Freezer idea is out because our freezer is almost full most of the time anyway.  Also, it would make things more of a hassle, reducing the likelihood of us using it.  This is the main thing I'm looking for... if it isn't easy or its disruptive, my significant other will likely just throw the stuff in the trash anyway.

Someone gave me a uselessly tiny metal waste basket with a lid -- the kind you step on, except this was too small for any human foot. I almost donated the thing, but then I realized it was the perfect countertop compost scrap container. It has a removable plastic liner, so when it fills up, it's easy to just take the liner out to dump it, and it's washable if it gets stinky.

[Weedy Acres]

I'm just getting started, but I'm going to put a wooden crate out back as soon as the snow melts this week.  In the meantime (in between the bouts of bearable weather) I'm saving food scraps in a plastic ice cream tub and every few days (before it starts rotting and stinking) I wrap it in a newspaper (browns) and put it into a 5-gallon covered bucket outside the back door.  That contains the food/smeels and keeps the critters out.  Then once a week or two I should be able to dump it into the composting crate.  It may remain semi-frozen until spring comes, but they say that's no problem.

In nicer weather, I don't expect that I'd have any problem dumping the indoor container into the compost bin every day or two.  Just cover whatever you dump with plenty of browns, to keep the thing from turning into a hot, stinky mess. I'm planning on using newspaper, shredded paper, sawdust, and the abundance of leaves we've got.

BTW, for a great resource for composting, and all other things gardening try browsing through the forums here:  http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/soil/

[windawake]

My composting process is incredibly easy. I throw all compostables into a 5 gallon bucket under the sink with a lid. I only take it out once every 1-2 months. It smells when you open the bucket sometimes, but doesn't stink up the kitchen. Also, our garbage no longer smells because most of the smelly stuff goes in the compost. The secret to composting is to balance nitrogen sources (green things, in my case food scraps) with carbon sources (brown things, paper and dried leaves). As long as you have the right balance it won't smell. I don't think too much about it but try to throw some torn up brown paper in there from time to time. If you care more you could just figure out how to make the balance right.

Everything starts to compost in the bucket so it's a little gooey when I dump it outside, but then I just give it a quick rinse and scrub in the utility sink, let it air dry, and we're ready to go. I've been doing this for about 1.5 years. My process would not work with a paper bag because the bag would start to break down before I dumped it.

I live in an apartment building so my outside set up is a large plastic garbage bin with lid and a ton of big holes drilled into it. Works great and is just finally getting filled. I'm going to probably get another one so one can be 'active' and the other can be composting. I plan to use the compost for gardening at my community plot and in the small garden in the front of the building.

[Indio]

I compost outside and indoors. When the weather is too nasty to get to the outdoor bin, I feed it to the worms in the basement. They produce great casting that have been a major boon for my garden. The outdoor bin is located near the raised beds. This way when I want to take the black gold composted soil out of it, I don't have far to go to get it to the ideal location. I've saved lots of money with compsoting because I rarely have to buy new soil. Since I compost almost everything and recycle all of the platics, we haven't produced a bag of trash in over 14 months. Even the cardboard boxes get broken down, laid flat and become a new garden area by using the lasagna composting method.

[Gerard]

In the meantime (in between the bouts of bearable weather) I'm saving food scraps in a plastic ice cream tub and every few days (before it starts rotting and stinking) I wrap it in a newspaper (browns) and put it into a 5-gallon covered bucket outside the back door.  That contains the food/smeels and keeps the critters out.  Then once a week or two I should be able to dump it into the composting crate.  It may remain semi-frozen until spring comes, but they say that's no problem.
In nicer weather, I don't expect that I'd have any problem dumping the indoor container into the compost bin every day or two.  Just cover whatever you dump with plenty of browns, to keep the thing from turning into a hot, stinky mess. I'm planning on using newspaper, shredded paper, sawdust, and the abundance of leaves we've got.

This is almost exactly what I do, if you replace "compost bin" with "big pile". No problems so far, six years in.

[MandyM]

I would actually consider composting paper towels that may have (diluted?) bleach on them. Bleach breaks down pretty quickly once in contact with organic material, so as long as its a minor part of your pile you should be ok. For other cleaners, consider using rags/cloths instead of paper towels to reduce the waste.

[greaper007]

I have about a 2 gallon glass jar that I dump everything in.   My compost bin is just behind my house.   I end up filling that thing up about every 1-2 days, but I don't find it's that big of a deal to walk to the backyard and dump it out (along with the recycling).    It doesn't really start to stink until about the third or fourth day for me.

I built a 3 bin composter  last year, and at first it seemed like overkill but I think it may end up being just the right size.    My compost is moving slowly through the winter, but I'm not even half full on my kitchen bin yet for the winter.    And I've had a few days where it really starts to cook once we warm up a little bit.

[Cwadda]

We don't do major composting, but we reuse plastic vegetable grocery bags or use plastic mixing bowls, leave them out on the porch going to the backyard, and move them to the compost pile every few days.

[PantsOnFire]

Composting is like cooking.  If you want it to be easy, just do it.  Every day.  Before you know it you'll be good at it and it will be easy.  And threads like this will annoy you.  ;-)  (I kid--think of it as a delicate facepunch.)

[ABC123]

   I started composting a couple of years ago.  My main goal was to cut down on trash, not to make compost for garden use.  It needed to be cheap and easy, or I knew there was no way I would stick with it.  So I took an old Rubbermaid bin and drilled some drainage holes in the bottom and put it in my backyard.  I have 2 32oz. yogurt tubs I keep in the freezer that we put scraps in and when they are full they get taken out.  They usually get taken out every couple days, but since I usually get the kiddos to do it it isn't a big deal.  I keep ours in the freezer not because of smell, but because of bugs.  We seem to attract ants really easily in our kitchen.
   When I was doing my compost research, I looked into the idea of vermicompost.  But the idea of keeping a container of worms in my house with 2 preschool aged boys running around just seemed like a recipe for disaster.  But I do think it is a really cool idea.
   On a side note, dryer lint is compostable, just in case you didn't know.

[puglogic]

Prodarwin, I'm a composting geek (I'm a master composter, if you can believe it) and this is what I do to avoid any problems, especially my own inertia, around composting.

I too keep a little thing in the freezer, but only for certain times of the year when I don't want to put it out. For example, I don't put sweet fruit scraps out during the time bears are waking up or going to sleep, things like that.

I have a composting setup way on the other side of the yard, and found I NEVER took things out there, especially in the winter.  So this is what I did.

I set up two normal trash cans set right outside the back door to our yard.  You can prettify them with a shelter or whatever, but I just have them there because i don't give a shit.  One has holes drilled all over it for air circulation. The other is undrilled and full of dry leaves (which I scavenge from neighbors who have deciduous trees every fall).

In my kitchen, on counter next to the sink, is a large cookie jar I got from Goodwill, a big one with the rubber seal around the lid.  This is my "incoming" vessel, everything gets tossed in there from the kitchen, including paper towels when we use them, coffee filters, eggshells, everything.  We eat a metric ass-ton of plant foods, so it fills up about every third day.  On that day, I take it one step outside the back door, and dump it in the holey trash can. Then I reach into the other trash can, take an armful of leaves, and bury what I just put in there.  Repeat, repeat, repeat, as often as necessary.

If you have paper you want to compost (junk mail, whatever)  you can shred it up and substitute it for the dry leaves.  it's a "brown."  That's what we do with our pizza boxes if they aren't too greasy. They rot in no time.

Anyway when the drilled trash can is reasonably full, I wheel it across the yard to the compost piles (we use a open pile boxed in by pallets), usually with help, and dump it all in.  By then, the composting process has already started due to the nice mix of greens and browns, and freezing and thawing.  My lazy-composter's tool is a compost turner, kind of a corkscrew thing for stirring it up.  I employ that about every four weeks, and water the pile(s) when I need to.  If it's dry, I throw a tarp over the pile so it doesn't dry out too much.  We make some awesome compost that gets dug into the garden plots every fall, and it's rotted down to black earth by spring, and there you go.

My husband isn't the kind to fuss over something like compost; he'd rather launch it in the trash given a choice.  This is so easy for him that he just does it automatically, doesn't even think twice.

Anyway, just what we do, ymmv.

[Nords]

   When I was doing my compost research, I looked into the idea of vermicompost.  But the idea of keeping a container of worms in my house with 2 preschool aged boys running around just seemed like a recipe for disaster.  But I do think it is a really cool idea.

We started vermiposting when our daughter was about 14 years old, and we keep our container on the back lanai. 

Your boys would think that worms are the coolest pets ever, and they'd feed them all of their "leftover" veggies.

[phred]

to all of you who compost:  any problems with rodents?

[clarkm04]

I've been indoor composting for 3 years.  No issues, no smells.

I do avoid putting any fruit into my indoor to avoid fruit flies.

Here's the composter I own
http://www.amazon.com/Worm-Factory-DS3GT-3-Tray-Composter/dp/B000S6LZBO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393083511&sr=8-1&keywords=Worm+bin

Here's where I got my worms from
http://unclejimswormfarm.com

If there's a local shop hit them up or if you know someone ask for their worms.  I've given worms to two people now.

It's very easy to maintain and it makes awesome soil.

Cheers!

[Nords]

To all of you who compost:  any problems with rodents?

I used to have a rodent problem, but now I have enough compost to keep them happy.

Their burrowing also does a great job of aerating it.

Our composters are 50 feet from our back lanai under a cluster of palm trees that house a flock of mockingbirds.  When the rodents visit (rats & mice) I can only tell by the way that the compost has been disturbed.  (Or when I open the lid on the composter without first making a lot of noise as I approach.)  However when a mongoose comes to check out the menu, the mockingbirds go nuts with a specific cry (we've learned to recognize it) followed by coordinated dive-bombing attacks.  It's been a while since a mongoose has tried to visit.

However you're asking about the wrong critters:  you should consider raccoons and perhaps bears.  There are specific composter designs intended for both of those species.  Bears are particularly good compost helpers because they'll fling your composter around enough to completely turn the pile and keep it decomposing at peak efficiency... until they finally figure out how to crack open the barrel.

[phred]

Thanks, Nords.  No bears here.

 Some friends of mine put up some plastic bin type composting units.  They told me that within a month something(s) had torn the bottoms out to get at the food scraps; they claimed rats.  On the other hand, the nature center has a composting unit they've built made from 2x2s, 2x4s, and chicken wire.  They've claimed no rodent problem, and I never saw evidence of rodentia anywhere around it.

[MayDay]

We keep a medium bowl in the kitchen counter and empty it at the end of every day.  In the winter it gets dumped into a five gallon bucket that sits right outside the back door.  Luckily we have raised deck, so no animals come up the flight of stairs to get to the deck.  Makes things very simple.  In the summer I take it down to the garden every evening as the bugs and stink would be out if control. 

I just have a plain pile surrounded on three sides by chicken wire, with one side open to I can turn it easily.  It is within my fenced veggie garden, so no problems with animals there. 

[Prairie Stash]

After 7 years in this house, I'm a lazy composter.
Brown paper bags, fill with scraps and toss in. Plastic wrapped cucumbers, toss in. Paper, toss in.
Basically toss everything in, you're making dirt.
I never turn compost, who cares if it takes an extra 6 months? It'll still be dirt one day.
When I harvest I pull out the plastic (from food wrap) it's way easier than doing it before.
I use to balance greens and browns, not anymore. My dirt might be subpar, I'm doing it for waste reduction though.
A neighbour's cat patrols my yard regularly, no rodents.

I use to vermicompost, for 4 years. Awesome for small spaces, not as easy if you can have an outside composter. One day the experiment ended, it was time to try something new.

[phred]

I use to balance greens and browns, not anymore. My dirt might be subpar, I'm doing it for waste reduction though.

Your compost will not be subpar.  The reason some balance browns & greens is so the compost will heat up enough to kill any pathogens contained within.  I don't think this is a worry unless your mouser poops in the compost bin.  On the other hand, Nature cold composted for tens of thousands of years before man came along, and did just fine

[galliver]

We use this under the sink: www.amazon.com/Airtight-With-Handle-Large-10X8X6/dp/B007WQSML4  I like the larger size because it takes 2-4 weeks to fill before we have to trek across the yard to take it out (I was *not* doing that every day this winter!) I also like the snaps that make it easier to close and the handle :)  I wash it out with soap and water when I dump it, so it takes it back to zero smell-wise. Yes it stinks a little when it's open but it's contained 99% of the time.

My roomie set up the outdoor bit; a cylinder of chicken wire in the back corner of the yard. No worms or anything fancy. Works fine on veggies and paper; I think I've seen/heard that some setups let you compost meat scraps(?), but ours does not.

[prodarwin]

After 7 years in this house, I'm a lazy composter.
Brown paper bags, fill with scraps and toss in.

This is what I'm leaning toward.  If I could do this and just get in the habit of taking out the compost with me when I walk to my car in the morning, that would be great.

[oldtoyota]

We were given a stainless steel container with a carbon filter in the lid. We put food in there and take it out to the compost heap every now and again. No smell so far. We rinse it out each time we dump it.

We keep ours next to the sink on the counter. However, you could also keep it under the sink.

[sara54]

I'm a little late to the discussion, but I have some easy instructions here for just starting out: http://www.sarabytheseason.com/2011/05/02/vermicomposting/. The bin directions are for vermicomposting, but I recommend it to all of our friends who are just starting out. It's an easy and cheap way to get started. Once you see how easy it is to get "garden gold," you'll get addicted and move up to some of the bigger, more elaborate system setups.

(Although we have worm bins in the basement and use the trash can method outdoors like one of the posters mentioned above)

[lady brett ashley]

Our compost system is super lazy: we keep the bin outside the kitchen window.  Every time you have scraps, you just chuck 'em out the window.  No smells inside, no treks to the compost.  The only upkeep is that when the weather gets hot, we have to make sure to layer the scraps with leaves to keep it from getting a stench.  Makes for better compost anyway, and we live in a foresty neighborhood, so rearranging fallen leaves is pretty much a given anyhow.

[oldtoyota]

to all of you who compost:  any problems with rodents?

We did when there was construction nearby. If we still have a problem, I have not spotted it with my own eyes. I work around it by watering down the pile (keeps rats from nesting there as they do not want to nest where it's wet).

[Simple Abundant Living]

Thanks for the thread, I'm interested in how everyone makes composting easier. 

Does anyone have suggestions on DIY compost plans?  I'm interested in building something out of wood and/or wire fencing that would allow me to have space for at least three piles- one I add to and two others that are still in various stages of "cooking". I had a tumbler-just got rid of it.  It didn't work for me because I was always adding new scraps to the pile and it never seemed "done".  I have plenty of room in my yard and would just like to layer the greens and browns and let time and bacteria do the rest. Any suggestions?

[RetiredAt63]

How much are you concerned about looks?

For serious composting I like pallets.  They give enough volume that your heap will heat up nicely (I have had compost piles where I could not stick my arm down the ventilation hole, it was much too hot).  Just stand 4 pallets up in a square; permanently attach three of them together, and have the 4th one attached in a way that it can be easily removed (I use hooks and eyes).  Then you have it enclosed as you add material, but it is easy to remove the "door" when you want to move the compost over to the next bin.  Also, they are easy to make in series, since the side of one can also be the side of the bin next to it.

Just be sure your pallet wood has not been treated with anything you don't want in your vegetable garden.

Chicken wire is OK but not as sturdy, concrete blocks will last forever but harder to relocate, and you have to be sure you have enough ventilation.

More ideas at  http://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2013/06/7-ideas-for-homemade-compost-bins/

If you want to be fancy, check out this: http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/ultimate-compost-bin

Does anyone have suggestions on DIY compost plans?  I'm interested in building something out of wood and/or wire fencing that would allow me to have space for at least three piles- one I add to and two others that are still in various stages of "cooking". I had a tumbler-just got rid of it.  It didn't work for me because I was always adding new scraps to the pile and it never seemed "done".  I have plenty of room in my yard and would just like to layer the greens and browns and let time and bacteria do the rest. Any suggestions?

[iris lily]

After 20+ years of marriage I have simply become resigned to having a bug attracting compost bucket by the sink. DH insists on it.

If we have people over to our house to dinner or drink or something like that, I move it outdoors for that interim.

Now don't get me wrong, I love me some compost, but I get my from the city's big operation; our household compost is poorly rotted, IMHO. But DH insists on composting all plant materials. Ok.

[happy]

For Kitchen scraps I use a Bokashi bin. www.bokashi.com.au/‎
The kitchen scraps are pickled/fermented by a bacteria. You add a handful of fine sawdust impregnated with the bacteria every time you add scraps. Its cheap a $10 bag lasts me over 6 months. You bury the contents and they break down v fast. I usually add them to my outdoor compost bin and cover them up. You can use the liquid (Bokashi tea), diluted on the garden as fertiliser.

I keep mine in the kitchen. No smell, except when you take the lid off. An odd ferment smell. Scraps go straight in.

I used this system because if I get busy and forget about it for a few eels, it just ferments in the bin. I was worried I might kill off worms with neglect. Also I don't have an easy to access place to put the worm farm, and guessed I wouldn't put the scraps in regularly.

[Nords]

I had a tumbler-just got rid of it.  It didn't work for me because I was always adding new scraps to the pile and it never seemed "done".  I have plenty of room in my yard and would just like to layer the greens and browns and let time and bacteria do the rest. Any suggestions?

We bought a tumbler off Craigslist, and it's been a maintenance hassle.  However it certainly cooks down the volume of the material and I've been adding to it for months now. 

Our plastic composter (bought from Costco years ago) hasn't done well in the UV but it's "good enough".  We've stopped adding to it since we bought the tumbler, so in the next few months we'll be able to harvest that and start filling it again while we let the tumbler decay its contents. 

For serious composting I like pallets.  They give enough volume that your heap will heat up nicely (I have had compost piles where I could not stick my arm down the ventilation hole, it was much too hot).  Just stand 4 pallets up in a square; permanently attach three of them together, and have the 4th one attached in a way that it can be easily removed (I use hooks and eyes).  Then you have it enclosed as you add material, but it is easy to remove the "door" when you want to move the compost over to the next bin.  Also, they are easy to make in series, since the side of one can also be the side of the bin next to it.

Just be sure your pallet wood has not been treated with anything you don't want in your vegetable garden.

Wooden pallets were great when we started composting, but then the ground termites moved in.  This may only be a problem in a tropical climate, but "our" termites had no problem moving over 75 feet (to our storage shed) and nearly 200 feet (to our neighbor's back lanai). 

I've seen a lot of plastic pallets at Costco, and they look like a much better alternative... or else a "bin" built out of PVC/ABS piping.