How do you keep your kitchen compost?

[motherbirth]

I have been composting for years and still don't have a really good solution. I had a ceramic compost crock and it broke. Now we use a coffee can with a plastic bag from produce lining it, but I have to empty it two or three times a day. Has anyone worked out a really good system for keeping their kitchen compost (in the kitchen) until they take it out? Under the sink won't work because we have our garbage there, and we don't have any kind of closet in the kitchen for compost/recyclables.

[treespeak]

Well, this is definitely not for everyone, but my solution is to keep it in the bottom "crisper" drawer of the fridge. It doesn't get stinky there and the bin holds a lot of compost. I take it out one or twice a week when it gets full, but there are no smell issues even if I skip a week.

[chirp]

prolly not the greenest solution...

but i hang a used plastic grocery bag (no holes, or double bagged) from a seldom used drawer in the kitchen. not the prettiest, but it holds a lot, dumps into the composter easily, and throws away afterwards.

i hated cleaning out old compost holders. i needed something disposable. i would buy nice holders with lids and just throw them out because i was disgusted cleaning it out at the end of the week (er however long it took)

hth!!

[motherbirth]

Originally Posted by chirp

prolly not the greenest solution...

but i hang a used plastic grocery bag (no holes, or double bagged) from a seldom used drawer in the kitchen. not the prettiest, but it holds a lot, dumps into the composter easily, and throws away afterwards.

i hated cleaning out old compost holders. i needed something disposable. i would buy nice holders with lids and just throw them out because i was disgusted cleaning it out at the end of the week (er however long it took)

hth!!

I hear you! That's why I've been re-using plastic produce bags, they would get thrown out anyway so at least I am not adding to the trash. I hate washing containers too.

They make disposable biodegradable compost bags but A) then you have to keep spending money on them and B) I would imagine they might leak.

I wish I had a bigger kitchen; then I could have a closet that could hold our trash, compost, and recyclables. We just keep the recyclables on the back porch and keep bringing them out.

[Carhootel]

my parents used this when I was growing up and it worked really well. It lasted us YEARS

[Jennifer3141]

I do worm composting right there in the kitchen.

[philomom]

A lot of my scraps go to my urban chickens now. But yes, the fridge is a solution. We don't have the bugs in Oregon that I used to have in Georgia, but we do have a bunch of fruit flies. Ick.

[krismarie]

i just use a large pyrex bowl which i line with a paper towel and cover by just placing a flimsy plastic cutting board (the kind you can bend) on top. i think not having it air tight helps keep it from getting stinky. i do have problems with fruit flies in the summer... but oh well. oh and it sits right out on some counter space in the corner of my kitchen. we empty once every day or two.

[noobmom]

I just keep an open bowl right next to the sink. It goes out every day or two, usually right after I cut the veggies for dinner, which is when I produce most of my fruit/vegetable scraps. It doesn't stink at all because it's open to air (anaerobic decomposition is what makes the stink). DH dumps it into either the hot composter or the worm bin in the carport and rinses it out with water. It gets properly washed every now and again. We only have problems with fruit flies occasionally if we wait too long to take it out. If you empty it every day and rinse the bowl fruit flies are not a problem.

[tintal]

Freezer

In the freezer! No smell and we just dump it outside when it is full!

[scrapadoozer]

We put our compost in an open cardboard egg carton in the kitchen. When it gets full, the whole thing gets dumped into the bin as the egg carton makes good compost as well!

[rhianna813]

We use a plastic container specifically made for cereal of all things. It's tall and narrow with a removable lid. But the best part is it has a wide mouth flip up opening. It's very easy to open with one hand to get the scraps in. The whole lid comes off to pour onto the compost pile. Easy to clean and Holds 1.5 gallons and does not take up much counter space.

Looks like this: http://www.overstockdrugstore.com/pr...Container.html

Rhianna

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by rhianna813

We use a plastic container specifically made for cereal of all things. It's tall and narrow with a removable lid. But the best part is it has a wide mouth flip up opening. It's very easy to open with one hand to get the scraps in. The whole lid comes off to pour onto the compost pile. Easy to clean and Holds 1.5 gallons and does not take up much counter space.

Ooh- that's what I use too! (Not the exact one pictured, but a cereal-type container.) Works great, and holds enough that I only have to empty it once or twice a week.

[pinky]

Originally Posted by Carhootel

my parents used this when I was growing up and it worked really well. It lasted us YEARS

We've been using one of these for about 8 years and it's still in great shape. We do use the biodegradable liners, and they work great. Definitely keeps down the ick. We empty a couple of times a week and except in high summer, that works just fine.

[neldabean]

We use a small blue enamelware stockpot has a lid and handle so it is easy to take out. I give it a quick rinse and it's good to go.

[chirp]

Originally Posted by rhianna813

We use a plastic container specifically made for cereal of all things. It's tall and narrow with a removable lid. But the best part is it has a wide mouth flip up opening. It's very easy to open with one hand to get the scraps in. The whole lid comes off to pour onto the compost pile. Easy to clean and Holds 1.5 gallons and does not take up much counter space.

Looks like this: http://www.overstockdrugstore.com/pr...Container.html

Rhianna

ha! i have one of those that i never use. it was a housewarming gift!

[Kelilah]

Anything the chickens will eat goes into a bowl in the fridge until we're ready to cut up a big pile of it and take it out to them (about once a day). The rest of it goes into the compost bucket, which is just a kitty litter bucket - the kind that holds about 10 or 15 pounds of clumping litter, I forget exactly the size, but it's a white square bucket with a firmly-snapping lid. We keep it next to the trash can and take it out about once a week when it's full. The lid keeps the smells in and the fruit flies out, and we're very happy with it. Technically it was free, since we would've bought the kitty litter anyway, so that's great too!

[cristeen]

Until the baby was born, I was using a small stainless steel garbage can... bathroom size. I line it with newspaper or packing paper (since most companies stopped using peanuts and use paper now), and that just gets dumped in with the compost and cuts down on clean up. Definitely get one that doesn't have an airtight lid - that way it rarely smells, as long as you take it out regularly.

With a little baby in the house though, we have trouble taking it out more than once a week, so we switched to a large 5 gallon plastic bucket. I hate using it because it doesn't clean as easily as the ss does, and it holds smells. And it's so big that I'll let it sit all week and then any animal product in it gets really stinky (we have city-wide composting, and they take any food product).

[MovingMomma]

We use old plastic containers from yogurt, sour cream, etc. We do take it out once a day now that we have chickies. When we waited longer before we'd toss the container when it got too nasty, but I think the key is not keeping it around.

[kcstar]

We use an old margarine tub, and take it out about once a day. If it gets nasty we either wash it, trash it, or stick it in the recycle bin.