Goodbye, (first) compost bin.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I post a picture and just a few words.
After six years of exposure to the elements, my very first Rubbermaid compost bin has bit the dust. The plastic had gotten so brittle, I could barely keep the bin together as I hauled it to the curb. It was time to say goodbye.
That was a pretty well-spent $6, though, and even though I had to send it off on the recycling truck, I still feel like it was an ecological win. That bin saved probably hundreds of pounds of produce scraps from hitting the landfill and it turned those scraps into something that enriched the soil in my yard.
Composting is really not my most favorite thing in the world to do (It would be far simpler to chuck everything into the trash.), but the obvious environmental benefits make me keep on truckin'.
_____________
P.S. I was just looking through my email this morning and saw that you can get a free bag of Dunkin' Donuts coffee when you sign up with TopCashBack as a new member.
They don't limit accounts to one per household, so you can totally sign up your spouse if you've already signed up (It says so right on the offer page, actually!).
(TopCashBack is like Ebates, but they offer higher cashback percentages, so I've been checking in with them first whenever I need to shop online.)
This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details, and thank you so very much for supporting The Frugal Girl!
We just started composting a few weeks ago with your method. We have high hopes for success. Thank you for the idea 🙂
Just wanted you to know that only your 3rd and final link to Top Cashback is working the other two go to a "page not found". Thanks for the info. I signed up and can't wait to check it all out.
Thank you so much for letting me know! I think they're all working now.
Compost is like black gold! I made some bins out of old pallets...if you know someone who has them...they're cheap and simple to throw together! Here's a link to how I made mine... http://happilymarriedtothecows.blogspot.com/2012/05/making-compost-bin.html
My question is did you replace it with another Rubbermaid container or did you build a wooden one?
I haven't built a wooden one, but I do agree that would be the most awesome solution.
You can make one with 4 wood shipping pallets and some wire hangers. Arrange the pallets as a box. Use the wrie from untwisted hangers to wire the pallets together at 3 of the 4 edges; you'll need 2-3 of these per edge. The 4th one is your door - swing it open to access the compost, prop it closed the rest of the time. To have more bins, add 3 more pallets to your existing set-up. Note that the bin will be much larger than your Rubbermaid one.
Pros: cheap (stores such as Lowes or Target will give away unusable wood pallets), environmentally friendly, scalable, easy to acces the compost (since you access it from the side rather than the top).
Cons: usually ugly.
Oh, no! Sorry to hear it. I remember asking you about that a couple of years ago after the same thing happened to me, but I hoped you'd be luckier in your less extreme climate. My procedure is pretty much the same as yours, and I have to do it on an urban balcony. So I can't use pallets or anything that isn't completely enclosed. In case it's useful, here's what I've learned since the death of my first bin.
Plastic compost setups have two separate vulnerabilities -- one is temperature and the other is ultra-violet. R-maid makes low rectangular containers shaped kind of like yours that are protected for both of these conditions. They're mostly designed for storage on patios, etc. But they are very, very expensive. I asked R-maid once about how much cold and UV exposure their products will tolerate, and they were very, very noncommittal. But I've found two inexpensive systems that work, although each has a disadvantage. Both involve plastic containers that are made to be left outdoors day in and day out, as opposed to plastics made for indoor use. The first possibility is a small garbage can -- the very smallest you can find. This has the advantage of a good cover, plus it's easy to move. But it has to be small, because the disadvantage is its depth -- it's much harder to turn than compost in a long, low box. I guess you could saw off the top to make it shorter, but I think that's more trouble than it's worth.
What I use now is a sturdy green outdoor planter tub of the kind that nurseries use for selling plants. These are made to withstand season after season of use, they come in all sizes but are light in weight, and they aren't expensive. Our local nursery occasionally gives old ones away. We use a relatively small one, because otherwise I used to keep adding new material forever and never put the batch out to mature, so I never had a truly finished batch of compost. Now, when the tub gets full, I transfer it to the garbage can and start a new batch. My tub is about the size of a large drywall bucket. The disadvantage there is that there's no cover to keep out the rain. I clip stainless steel bulldog clips to the bin and then just upend a slightly bigger lightweight planter over the top. That allows for air space with no need to drill holes. So the compost is easy to turn and keep aerated, and so far it's worked really well. For the last two years I've been using the small garbage can for maturing the semi-finished compost.
Probably TMI! I love composting, though. It makes me very happy.
Your solution sounds perfect! My difficulty is that with six of us here, we produce a LOT of produce scraps, which means that we can fill up a drywall bucket in a mere week.
Yes, sorry -- I left out one important thing. Because of the severe space/weight limitations of our balcony space, I have to cut up our scraps very small. I've even been known to zap them in the food processor before putting them out. It's astonishing how much the tub holds that way, plus they compost much, much, much faster. But that's pretty eccentric, I admit. And probably only for enthusiasts. And for six you undoubtedly would have to use a bigger planter. Still, I'm sorry I left that out, and am adding it now in case there are other urban apartment dwellers amongst your devoted followers. Bet there are! Love this blog.
I've fantasized about a garbage disposal with a direct line to the compost pile.
Oh gosh, that would be SO awesome!
I read an article by a guy who had hacked a spigot into his garbage disposal outflow pipe. He could drain the grindings as they came through, and put them directly into the compost. A genius idea, but totally illegal where I live.
Hey, Kristen, this is kind of off-topic, but I came across this today and thought you might be interested in what this guy's doing, as he is of a similar bent to you.
http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-to-save-money-on-food-waste
Cheers!
We have to get going on our compost pile for sure! When we were looking at options we found one and did featured it. It's a video on an easy garbage can composter from P.Allen Smith. You may want to check it out: http://www.salvagesisterandmister.com/video-sunday-compost-edition/
6 years!? That's pretty impressive. Our plastic worm compost bin lasted 2 maybe so I would say that is money well spent. Our regular compost bin is wooden crate my husband picked up at work. The benefits of being married to a truck driver!
Funny timing - mine is close to biting the dust as well, after about 6 years. Given how well an enormous Rubbermaid works for me (size, shape, price, locational suitability), I'm OK with buying a new one every 6-7 years.
Kudos to all of you who compost at home. We used to do that and it's a bit of work. Now our province requires all households to compost; they provide a large bin, a small bin (for the kitchen), and pickup once every two weeks, and it is so much simpler. Yay for keeping all that stuff out of the landfills!
I've had good luck with the large tubs that trees came in from Home Depot. They're stood up well to the Texas heat and blasting sun, and they have built in drainage in the bottom. I use one as my main bin and the other one gets the extra browns until they're needed. It works for me!