Kitchen scrap container: what's your process/solution?

[RosieL]

I have compost piles, but for some reason DH and I have never gotten into a long-term swing of saving and depositing our veggie scraps. I do when I know I'm cutting up lots, but I'd love to have a container always there, always available, to toss scraps that will eventually be tossed outside. Often I have just a regular bowl that acts as a scrap receptacle for a few days then we go empty it in the currently active compost pile. But that takes up counter space. I wish I had a container that could act like a garbage bin - permanent place, collects waste for a few days, then is taken out at least once a week if not more often, whenever it's full.

I'm curious if anyone has experienced the same lack of routine and what solutions you've come up with. 

(Williams sonoma and other foo foo places have really expensive bins, but I don't see that they'd be easy to clean or take up any less counter space...)

[Adaline'sMama]

Do you have a cat?

I use a Tidy Cats litter container like this: http://www.amazon.com/Nestle-Purina-Petcare-7023001669-Litter/dp/B0052XFVVI

I love it because the lid has a bend in the middle, and I can open it with one hand and push it closed with the bowl that I dump in there. I cook a lot, so we have lots of scraps and its big enough to take out only once a week. It contains the smell, and we rinse it out with the hose outside each time. The great thing about it is that when it gets too grody for me to want to clean it, I throw it away and use another one because we have to buy kitty litter anyway. (I only replace it about twice a year). Basically, I have a bowl or cutting board that I keep the scraps on while im cooking and then when Im done chopping, I dump it in the Tidy Cats bucket under the sink. We spray paint ours blue and write "Compost" on it with a big huge sharpie marker.

[MaJoie]

I use an empty (well rinsed) oxi-clean bucket to hold the scraps and eggshells the chickens will eat. That goes to the barn each morning. Things we don't give them like potato peels, onion skins, and such go into a 2 gallon bucket with a lid that I empty when it gets full. I keep it on the counter because it's easier for everybody to use there. It could just as well be in the cabinet under the sink.

[RosieL]

The tidy cats solution sounds lovely! For some silly reason I never thought of a two-stage method, collecting scraps with a regular bowl during cooking and then transferring to a lidded bucket under the counter each night. Makes lots of sense.

[Daffodil]

We keep one of these under our sink.  Our solid waste management district sells them for $10.  It holds enough that we don't have to take it out every day, maybe more like once a week, but I sometimes think it would actually be better to use something smaller that we had to empty every day; then it wouldn't get so disgusting inside.

[choli]

Plastic bag in freezer emptied into my friends compost once a week (I live in an apartment). Scraps break down more quickly after freezing.

[RosieL]

Hm, I didn't know there would be any difference in composting times. Thanks for the tip!

[MonarchMom]

I take an empty OJ container (the waxed cardboard 1/2 gal size) and cut off the gabled top.  Hubby made a wood lid that fits snugly with a slight overhang for the top, painted white.  I keep that on my counter where I cut up all the produce and everything goes in - along with coffee grounds, egg shells and tea bags. It usually gets filled once a day in winter, at least twice in summer.

If I have extra plastic bags from the grocer or produce purchases, we use them as liners.  If not, I just rinse it well and let it air dry before re-filling.  In the summer I keep 2 of them so one can be drying while the other is in use.  When it gets too soiled (no pun) just start out with a fresh carton.

I compost all year long here in N.J.  I keep a few bags of leaves to add to the bin, and mix in my kitchen scraps everyday. The worms seem to be active all year and I need to keep them fed!

[rhianna813]

We use a plastic container made to store cereal that has a pop open top, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-5161-RD-Cereal-Keeper/dp/B0014CX8ZW/ref=pd_sim_k_13

Sits on the counter near the sink (or you can keep it below the sink), easy to open, holds a bunch and keeps smells down, easy to clean and easy to carry out to the compost pile.

[Lovesong]

We just have an ordinary, big plastic bucket under the sink with a handle, so it is easy to carry when needed. Works well enough for us. It is also super easy to rinse out with the garden hose, or in the sink to keep the stench at bay.

[Masel]

My DH drinks regular grocery store cow milk in the plastic container. I cut the top half off of a empty bottle (keeping the handle intact). This is where kitchen scraps go. After I put the contents in the compost heap I toss the old bottle in the recycling bin. There's generally a new empty bottle waiting for me to cut up. My container never get too old or stinky. 

[Chicky2]

I just use a bowl.  The kids take it out once a day to the chickens, goats, rabbits, or pigs, depending on who needs it (or some goes to the guinea pigs).  They rinse it before bringing it back in, but if it's nasty I'll just get out another bowl and stick that one in the dishwasher.

[RosieL]

I *should* just walk out and empty a bowl daily. I know this. But for some reason, it doesn't end up happening, I end up with counter space taken, and I then go a week or more not collecting scraps. I vow to myself that scrap-collecting will be consistent from here on out, with some combo of bowl on counter and container under sink! Thanks ladies!

[little birds]

We have a 5 gallon plastic bucket with a lid from the paint section at the hardware store, I think it was around $3. I keep a stainless steel bowl on the counter and use it during the day emptying the scraps into the bucket once or twice a day (under the sink). Bucket gets emptied in the bin every 2 days or so.

[ollyoxenfree]

I guess I have a "frou-frou" stainless steel bin with a lid that sits on the counter near the sink (the sink is in the corner, which I don't like BTW, and it sits behind in the unused space there).

I never thought of it as "frou-frou" (and it's from a hardware store, not Williams Sonoma or any other kitchen shop). It's absolutely plain and looks like an old-fashioned garbage bin. I wanted to avoid plastic (trying to de-plasticize, if that's a word), but I do think it's more attractive on the counter than other containers. I wanted something on the countertop because when I'm scraping plates or cutting boards etc., I don't want to be bending down and navigating doors and lids etc. Hauling something out and onto the counter every time I need it seems like extra work. I guess I'm a little on the lazy side - I prefer to think of it as energy conserving! 

[Chicky2]

Originally Posted by RosieL 

I *should* just walk out and empty a bowl daily. I know this. But for some reason, it doesn't end up happening, I end up with counter space taken, and I then go a week or more not collecting scraps. I vow to myself that scrap-collecting will be consistent from here on out, with some combo of bowl on counter and container under sink! Thanks ladies!

LOL, this is why this job goes to one of my kids.  I believe I'm a bit ahead of you on that one, though.  Otherwise I might not get done, 'cause I'm always busy filling the bowl!  If I could just keep my silly dog from eating the compost, we'd be golden.  I think I'll get a worm bin going soon, though.  I have garden beds that cannot be gotten to naturally by earthworms.  When we have pigs, NOTHING goes to waste, including many things the chickens, guineas, goats, rabbits, or guinea pigs will not eat.
 

[cristeen]

I use a bowl or cutting board or plate or something to gather the scraps while I'm cooking.  Then I have a metal garbage can I picked up at Ikea - I think it's about 4 gallons, and I have a spot on a shelf near the garbage can where it lives.  I line it with newspaper or a bakery bag, dump whatever I've collected in there, and when it gets full (or starts smelling) it goes out, usually twice a week.  If it's gross inside, we rinse it with the diaper sprayer.  If it really needs it, I'll give it a scrub with soap and hot water.  Put a new "liner" in it, and start again. 

[mattemma04]

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Edited by mattemma04 - 4/21/12 at 2:28pm

[I Fly]

Well, I love the solution we designed into our kitchen.  I have a huge drawer next to the sink.  (It is the size of a dishwasher front.)  When you open it, there are two trash containers.  On the right, lined with a bag, is the "trash."  In the left one, we put all food scraps.  We dump the scraps to the compost/chickens/pigs once per day, hose out the container, then (hopefully!) put it back in the drawer.  At the top of the huge drawer space is another pull-out drawer-within-a-drawer that holds kitchen towels and rags.  I got this idea at IKEA, where many of the showroom kitchens used these cabinet-drawers for trash receptacles.  They even sell the perfect fit trashcans.  I also have two of the same cabinet-drawers by my washing machine, where I store large baskets of whites and darks, with tool drawer-within-a-drawer above.