Countertop compost/scrap bin?

[alisoncooks]

Any recommendations?

DH keeps a backyard compost heap. He collects compostable scraps in random storage containers on our kitchen counter — which grosses me out (those are our food storage containers!)  He also has a tendency to let them sit a few days between trips outside…and I hate seeing the food trash through the clear containers. 

Any nice-looking, odor-blocking countertop bins that you can recommend? Metal, ceramic? Do I need the bag/liners? How often do they need washing?

[Pawz4me]

I have this one. I empty it about every third day. I haven't noticed any odors. I don't use bags. It's easy to wash, but usually a quick rinse is all mine needs.

[marbel]

I can't link on my phone but for Christmas I received a stainless countertop compost bin from Package Free. I love it so much. (Yes, it was a great gift.) We had also used a plastic container that was ugly. This has a filter and I've never detected an odor from it. It washes easily so I won't bother getting bags. 

[ealp2009]

I have a half gallon one and it is too small for us.  We eat fruits and veggies at every meal so we have lots of cores and peals and such.  I empty it every day which I would probably do every day in the summer but our house is pretty cool in the winter and it would be nice not to have to empty it so often. 

This is what I have. 
https://unclejimswormfarm.com/product/supplies/stainless-steel-compost-pail-free-shipping/

Edited January 22, 2022 by ealp2009

[regentrude]

I use a white plastic box that had cream puffs in it 🙂 The big advantage is that if it gets too discolored from tea leaves after a few years, I simply recycle it and use a new one.
It gets emptied when full, which is either daily or every other day.  We eat a lot of fruit and veggies. The lid could snap on to close tightly, but I never bother - there is never any odor. After I empty it, I wash it.
Why would one need a liner? That's just extra trash.

Edited January 22, 2022 by regentrude

[dirty ethel rackham]

We have something like this metal compost container.  We take it out every 2-3 days - more often if we are cleaning out the fridge.  No liner needed.  We just wash it out every time we empty it.

[Kalmia]

We chose a compost bucket that will fit in the freezer. It stays there, not smelling up the house, until it is full and we take it out.

[kbutton]

30 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I have this one. I empty it about every third day. I haven't noticed any odors. I don't use bags. It's easy to wash, but usually a quick rinse is all mine needs.

We have two of these, and we still have some that doesn't fit because we eat a ton of veg. However, it's a great pail--the sides are super slick, so they don't absorb odors, and they fit nicely in the dishwasher. Sometimes a good rinse is enough.

We used to use an empty soap container (it's like a smaller version of a bucket you'd find drywall mud in). It absorbed odors slowly over time because it didn't have a slick surface.

@MeaganS mentioned a nice pail in another thread, but I don't remember which thread, and I think I closed my tab with the link.

[regentrude]

34 minutes ago, Kalmia said:

We chose a compost bucket that will fit in the freezer. It stays there, not smelling up the house, until it is full and we take it out.

So do you have to open the freezer every time you want to discard things into the compost bucket?  Isn't that terribly energy wasting?

[Miss Tick]

We use this one and it lives under the kitchen sink. We put a couple of inches of shredded paper in the bottom and it goes out about once a week. In the summer it gets rinsed at the spigot and dried in the sun, in the winter it dries in the garage. It gets gross once in a while and gets a deeper clean. We've had it for about 20 years. With paper in the bottom it doesn't get smelly.

[MeaganS]

1 hour ago, kbutton said:

 

@MeaganS mentioned a nice pail in another thread, but I don't remember which thread, and I think I closed my tab with the link.

We have this one. We used to just have a bowl just like you because of my husband, but it got gross and we had lots of fruit flies in the summer. This one, combined with compostable bag liners makes it pretty easy and stench/fly free.

[MEmama]

I have a stainless steel bucket but haven’t used it in years. I just use a medium size mixing bowl in my sink and empty it into the collection bucket in the garage whenever it’s full. The bonus is that it’s one less thing on my countertop and it actually gets used by *everyone* in the house because it’s so simple.

The official bucket rarely got used; removing the lid was just one step too many. 😉 

The liners that I am familiar with are compostable; mine disintegrated under the sink after a few years since we never used them. 

[alisoncooks]

Thanks for all the ideas!

Our compost pile is at the very back of our yard, so it’s a decent walk and not convenient when the weather is bad (like this past weekend when we had ice).  I’d like something that can live on our counter…and smaller is better (we do empty it every day or so…)

@Pawz4me - do you have the bigger or smaller size of the bin you linked?

[Pawz4me]

24 minutes ago, alisoncooks said:

@Pawz4me - do you have the bigger or smaller size of the bin you linked?

The smaller one. We have one of those spinning compost tumblers, and it's right at the back of our house. I'm out there about 27 times a day with the dogs, so it's no trouble at all to take it out. Plus it's mostly just me and DH eating here. We eat a lot of veg and fruit (I'm a mostly vegetarian), but still . . the small one is plenty big enough.

[bibiche]

I have one like the one featured here. https://www.latimes.com/home/la-lh-countertop-compost-bin-box-cliff-spencer-20131121-story.html?_amp=true

In truth, I cribbed the idea from here (or was it Goop?) and had a friend make a similar wooden holder for my compost pan. It looks pretty, is lidded so there are no flies or odors, and it holds a decent amount so I don’t have to run out to the compost pile three times a day.

https://goop.com/alasaw-countertop-compost-bin/p/?variant_id=28188

Edited January 23, 2022 by bibiche

[katilac]

 

On 1/22/2022 at 4:01 PM, alisoncooks said:

DH keeps a backyard compost heap. He collects compostable scraps in random storage containers on our kitchen counter — which grosses me out (those are our food storage containers!)  He also has a tendency to let them sit a few days between trips outside…and I hate seeing the food trash through the clear containers. 

This is what we do, and honestly it's much easier than the specific compost bin we used to have. Easier to wash (can just go in dishwasher), easier to empty, easier to move out the way if the counter space is needed. 

It's okay that it's food storage containers, because compost is nothing but left-over food. 

I do understand not wanting to see it, but that is easily solved by buying an opaque food container. Buy 2-3 for rotating, and make them the only opaque ones you have (so dh knows to only grab those containers, and you don't have the ick factor of it being the same containers you use for leftovers). 

[Kareni]

We use this one ~ 

Indoor Kitchen Compost BIN by Spigo

It needs to be emptied every one to three days depending on what food we are eating. I wash the plastic bucket each time it is emptied. Odor has not been an issue; however, it sometimes draws fruit flies in warmer weather.

Regards,

Kareni

[Farrar]

I have the Oxo one linked in the first reply. I see a lot of people carting it to the compost deposit on Saturdays. But they're all single people. What I do is line it with a compostable plastic bag and then bag it into another compost bin that sits outside and has a critter proof lid. Then most of the year, I just take the bags out and stick them in an old paper bag and take the whole thing to compost deposit. In the summer, it's really disgusting, but... yeah. I don't know. I still haven't figured out a summer solution.

But! I am happy with that thing on my counter.

[Amy in NH]

We have this one, which we use with charcoal filters in the lid and compostable bags.  The compostable bags start to break down after a couple of days, so I sometimes have to double bag on the way out to the pile, and run the thing through the dishwasher.  It doesn't stink, but sometimes hatches fruit flies in summer.  We don't use the metal handle thingie.  I wish it were a little bigger...

[YaelAldrich]

We don't keep the compost bin on a counter. We use a Home Depot 5 gallon orange bucket with its lid. It lasts us 2-4 days before we have to haul it to the compost station in our neighborhood. It doesn't really smell at all. 

[Bootsie]

On 1/22/2022 at 4:05 PM, Pawz4me said:

I have this one. I empty it about every third day. I haven't noticed any odors. I don't use bags. It's easy to wash, but usually a quick rinse is all mine needs.

We have one like this, also.  The slick sides make it relatively easy to clean.  How often it needs to be dumped really depends upon what we are throwing in it and how much.  Usually, we need to dump it because it is full rather than because it is smelling bad.  Years ago we used  composting bags inside a container but they were more hassle than they were wort and they tended to be expensive.  If we have overflow from either a lot of peeling at one time or because it is bad weather and we don't want to take it out and dump it, we use old plastic yogurt containers.  If they get too icky they are simply thrown in the recyclying bin.

[skimomma]

We have one that attaches on the inside of the cabinet door under the sink.  It is out of sight but still easy to access.  It has a lid but we only use the lid during fruit fly season.  As a PP suggested, we put a half of a paper egg carton in the bottom to help with liquid/smells.  Ours gets dumped as often as daily in high summer to only once every 5 days in winter.  We have to use snowshoes to get to the compost bin in winter so try to keep trips to a minimum.

[Pam in CT]

We use a clear plastic upright rectangular Tupperware with removable but seal-able lid, like the kind meant for keeping cereal in the cabinet (? a tradition I've never understood because what's wrong with the box it comes in? but anyway...)

It doesn't smell.  I take it out to the compost system every 1-2 days, and wash it every time.  But

... it IS admittedly gross to see the crumbled coffee-ground strewn stuff inside, and everyone in the family complains about it, and I DO whisk it out of sight under the sink if anyone outside the family is coming over.

BUT.

I have noticed that UNLESS THE THING IS RIGHT THERE ON THE COUNTER RIGHT NEXT TO THE SINK and OBVIOUSLY MEANT FOR COMPOSTABLE FOOD everyone but me forgets that "we" compost, and they all just throw everything into the trash.  They all complain about seeing the gross food through the transparent container, but if it's out of sight, the entire undertaking seems to flit completely out of mind.  I am 100% certain, based on my initial and periodic efforts to keep the thing under the sink, that if I tried any of the much-better-looking links, utilization of the system would plummet.

Is my beloved family unusually obtuse about composting? Or resistant?  Or something else? 

Training tips?

[Pawz4me]

It occurred to me this morning that one of the main reasons I like the Oxo container I linked to earlier better than a Tupperware, yogurt container, etc. is that with the Oxo I can flip the lid, drop something into it, and have the lid close. All one motion, and one hand is all that's needed. It's so much easier than having to put something down, take a lid off a container, put the item in the container, then put the lid back on. Now obviously if you're doing a big meal prep you'd leave your Tupperware (or whatever) container out with the lid off and dump as you chop. But I mean like when I rinse a handful of blueberries to mix in with my overnight oats and one or two looks a little suspicious, or a coffee filter full of grounds, or a paper towel I've dried an apple with--that type of thing. It's easy peasy to put things like that in the Oxo container with one hand.

[marbel]

39 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

I have noticed that UNLESS THE THING IS RIGHT THERE ON THE COUNTER RIGHT NEXT TO THE SINK and OBVIOUSLY MEANT FOR COMPOSTABLE FOOD everyone but me forgets that "we" compost, and they all just throw everything into the trash.

Yes, same, and this is why I like my stainless steel one. We do have to take the lid off to put stuff in it - that's where the charcoal filter is - but it is very noticeable on the counter, and in a not-gross way. It also has a bigger opening than the old see-through plastic container so when people get casual about the coffee grounds or tea bag, they have a better change of actually hitting the target. 

It would never work if I kept it put away.  3/4 of my family are "out of sight, out of mind" people. 

[regentrude]

2 hours ago, Pam in CT said:

... it IS admittedly gross to see the crumbled coffee-ground strewn stuff inside, and everyone in the family complains about it, and I DO whisk it out of sight under the sink if anyone outside the family is coming over.

BUT.

I have noticed that UNLESS THE THING IS RIGHT THERE ON THE COUNTER RIGHT NEXT TO THE SINK and OBVIOUSLY MEANT FOR COMPOSTABLE FOOD everyone but me forgets that "we" compost, and they all just throw everything into the trash.  They all complain about seeing the gross food through the transparent container, but if it's out of sight, the entire undertaking seems to flit completely out of mind.  I am 100% certain, based on my initial and periodic efforts to keep the thing under the sink, that if I tried any of the much-better-looking links, utilization of the system would plummet.

Is my beloved family unusually obtuse about composting? Or resistant?  Or something else? 

Training tips?

Make the trash harder to access than the compost bucket.

We have way, way more compost than we have trash. We have maybe one plastic shopping bag full all week - compared to gallons of compost. 

 

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by regentrude

[Bootsie]

45 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Make the trash harder to access than the compost bucket.

We have way, way more compost than we have trash. We have maybe one plastic shopping bag full all week - compared to gallons of compost. 

 

 

What do you do with your gallons of compost?  We have a problem that our outdoor compost bins are full and we only have use for so much compost in our gardening.  Our community picks up lawn debris for composting purposes but will not accept kitchen composting materials.  

[regentrude]

3 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

What do you do with your gallons of compost?  We have a problem that our outdoor compost bins are full and we only have use for so much compost in our gardening.  Our community picks up lawn debris for composting purposes but will not accept kitchen composting materials.  

I put it on the compost pile in the backyard. What looks like a big pile shrinks down to not all that much compost over the winter. (The kitchen scraps are negligible compared to the volume of grass clippings, leaves, and other gardening debris.) I use it when I plant, spread it one the flowerbeds, etc. I am really a gardener, but I could use lots more to nourish the depleted soil on our property. I have been hauling compost home from the community site in boxes.

[Bootsie]

36 minutes ago, regentrude said:

I put it on the compost pile in the backyard. What looks like a big pile shrinks down to not all that much compost over the winter. (The kitchen scraps are negligible compared to the volume of grass clippings, leaves, and other gardening debris.) I use it when I plant, spread it one the flowerbeds, etc. I am really a gardener, but I could use lots more to nourish the depleted soil on our property. I have been hauling compost home from the community site in boxes.

Oh I wish you were close enough I could share some.  We have a large bin (that is bigger than our trash bin) for yard clippings that the city picks up each Wednesday.  Many weeks I have that full by Thursday; we jump up and down on it to pack more in. We have a small yard so really can't figure out where all of the leaves and clippings are coming from (and we usually don't bag grass clippings).  Even adding it to beds, spreading on the lawn, putting in pots, It is going to take a long time to go through the compost we have.  We have been puzzled as to how we can generate so much lawn debris in a space that is too small to use the lawn debris for compost.  I think one of the issues is that our neighbors have large trees that drop leaves in our yard, on our patio and on our driveway--surfaces that don't need composting.  

[Clarita]

Don't know if this one has been recommended. I enjoyed this one when it was just my husband and I. AmazonSmile: Full Circle Fresh Air Odor-Free Kitchen Compost Bin, Green Slate : Home & Kitchen. Now I have a bowl that I empty constantly because I was filling up that compost bin everyday and at that point it's easier just to have a bowl.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Clarita

[YaelAldrich]

1 hour ago, Bootsie said:

What do you do with your gallons of compost?  We have a problem that our outdoor compost bins are full and we only have use for so much compost in our gardening.  Our community picks up lawn debris for composting purposes but will not accept kitchen composting materials.  

Encourage your municipality to start a composting program.  We live in Boston and in a condo so have zero need for composting (no desire to garden at all!!!).  So I pushed my husband away from composting until the city put in compost bins in the general neighborhood (walkable - 15 minutes if I were not shlepping the big container).  I am happy to compost now and we contribute 2-3 5 gallon bins every week.  Our garbage has gone down from 4 bags of trash to 2 bags a week. I take it out when I am running another errand and it's on the way.  Across the Charles River, Cambridge actually encourages composting by picking up the compost from your home every week!!!

 

[Pam in CT]

I can't imagine having more compost than uses for it!

I have two large compost bins close to the house for kitchen waste and clean-ish soft garden cuttings and wood shavings from the chicken coop, and several mountainous heaps out in the wooded periphery where I dump weedy stuff, grass & leaves, and shredded cardboard.  I alternate which kitchen-stuff bin I'm using; it takes about 6 months to fill the one in current use, and by that time the prior one is ready to use in the beds.  As for the larger mountains in the woods, as regentrude says, what looms like a mountains in the fall reduces down to a modest bump by spring.  I sort of rake it out and then start a new one.  Over the course of 20+ years in the house I've sort of leveled out a lot of the bumps and hillocks.

 

[regentrude]

24 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

Oh I wish you were close enough I could share some.  We have a large bin (that is bigger than our trash bin) for yard clippings that the city picks up each Wednesday.  Many weeks I have that full by Thursday; we jump up and down on it to pack more in. We have a small yard so really can't figure out where all of the leaves and clippings are coming from (and we usually don't bag grass clippings).  Even adding it to beds, spreading on the lawn, putting in pots, It is going to take a long time to go through the compost we have.  We have been puzzled as to how we can generate so much lawn debris in a space that is too small to use the lawn debris for compost.  I think one of the issues is that our neighbors have large trees that drop leaves in our yard, on our patio and on our driveway--surfaces that don't need composting.  

Have you tried mulching the leaves with your lawn mower? Makes a huge difference. 

[KungFuPanda]

I have multiple compost bins and a tendency to procrastinate. 
Here is my compost network:

1. Cheap, tiny steppy can in the kitchen with removable plastic liner

2. Worm bin in the basement

3. bucket with leaves by the back door

4. Big plastic cylinder in the back yard

5. chicken wire cylinder at my community garden plot

If it’s warm I’m outside anyway and take stuff to the outdoor compost. If it’s cold I add the scraps to the worm bin in the basement. If I’m feeling particularly lazy, I just empty the kitchen bin into the bucket at the back door. I empty the back door bucket into the main compost when it’s not freezing. 
 

Edited to add this link, but I’m pretty sure my can came from 5below  I keep it on the floor near the prep counter, so there are no steps to take. The liner is a plastic bucket with a handle that I can pull out and carry to a compost bin.   I would recommend finding a stainless one  

https://www.amazon.com/YCTEC-Removable-Wastebasket-Anti-Fingerprint-Stainless/dp/B07QCFFDBP/ref=asc_df_B07QCFFDBP/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=343383076789&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8726271463226519633&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007837&hvtargid=pla-755227583958&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=69024255557&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=343383076789&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8726271463226519633&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007837&hvtargid=pla-755227583958

Edited January 24, 2022 by KungFuPanda

[Bootsie]

9 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Have you tried mulching the leaves with your lawn mower? Makes a huge difference. 

We mulch the leaves that fall on the lawn.  However, we have little lawn.  We have a pool into which many of our neighbors' leaves fall.  The scrub oaks around here have small leaves rather than having piles of large maple leaves or similar.  We also have pecan trees which drop shells and lots of twig-like pieces and a sweetgum tree that drops sweetgum balls.  Last week DH filled up half of the lawn cart simply with sweetgum balls that had fallen in the driveway that week and those can't be mulched with a mower.  

[Beth S]

I use an empty 2# plastic Folgers coffee container.
It's a snap-on lid, so I can kinda do it one-handed.

In the cabinet under the sink.
Never had a problem with odors.

I just replace it when it gets too icky.
Composting is fun!

[katilac]

50 minutes ago, Beth S said:

I use an empty 2# plastic Folgers coffee container.

Ooh, those would be great for that!