Building a Compost Bin
From LoveToKnow GreenLiving
Building a compost bin is a great way to recycle your used kitchen and garden scraps -- turning them into rich organic soil amendments for your garden or yard.
What is Compost
Compost is the leftover material you get when organic waste items decompose. Bacteria is the main reason that compost happens; tiny bacterial organisms eat up all the waste products for energy and cause the waste to decompose into a fine soil amendment called compost.
If you use this compost in your garden, the bacterial organisms are of course mixed in with the compost and can stop soil disease-based organisms.
Building a compost bin is also good for the planet. If you look at United States recycling statistics alone you can see that far too much garbage is tossed. Compost bins help because instead of throwing waste products into a landfill where they will take longer to decompose, you can collect them in the bin and help them to decompose faster while recycling.
Turn Garbage Into Compost
A variety of items can go into a compost bin -- egg shells, old veggies and fruits, paper, manure, tea bags, wool, ashes from your fireplace, coffee filters, sawdust, leaves, grass clippings, dead houseplants, and more. Some people swear that coffee grounds make compost amazing and others add pet hair.
You do not want to add fatty dead items like meat, bacon fat, milk made items, grease, oils, or other items that are factory made like bits of soap. Infected plants, weeds, or bark from trees shouldn’t go in either. If you add all this stuff, the smell won’t be pretty and it doesn’t produce good nutrient rich soil.
Keep any compost bin in the shade. A compost pile needs to be about as wet as a wet sponge at all times to actually turn into compost. If it sits in the sun it will dry out and require far too much water. If you are worried about the watering requirements of a compost bin, read How to Build a Rain Barrel.
To make your compost, all you do is add it to the bin and turn every once in a while and water it. Simple! You actually don’t even need to turn it – it’ll just take longer to become usable. Compost bins have become so easy that there are even compost kitchen bins you can purchase to collect kitchen scraps.
Build a Two-Bin Composting System
This bin is made out of wood and can even be made to do double duty as a cold frame to protect plants from cold weather. When you see the directions for making the two-bin compost, you can add the cold frame properties to the top which saves on land use. You can also build it on a platform with wheels so it’s mobile.
A two-bin compost system is nice because you can have two different bins going at once, which means as one compost is prepared for use the other may be ready to use. So you cycle use between the two sides -- one gets low and you add to it; the other gets low add to it.
Building a Compost Bin Out of Wire Mesh
Building a compost bin out of wire mesh is very simple but far less attractive than a nice wooden bin. Plus it can be harder to keep the surrounding area tidy and if you want to move it, good luck. It’s still a better choice than throwing garbage in a landfill.
Instructions for a wire mesh compost bin.
More Information
Green Culture Composters has the most amazing array of compost bins ever. If building one sounds out of your league (it’s really simple though) or you’re just short on time, check there to see the goods.
The Environmental Protection Agency also has a handy compost guide you can read. You can learn more about building a bin, filling it, and eco-safety tips about composting.
No matter what kind of compost bin you build or purchase, it’s great to know that garbage can save the earth and your garden at the same time.
Learn More
This page has been accessed 5,913 times. This page was last modified 12:04, 30 August 2007.
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