Solutions For Making Compost
By disposing of organic waste immediately you avoid food waste building up in your kitchen. However it means that there may be a lot of trips outside after every meal and during cooking or even after an apple. To increase the amount of waste being recycled it is recommended to make it easier (less effort) for you and the household.
Ensuring there is a dedicated container or bin in the kitchen means that the household does not need to change its patterns too much. Instead of disposing of organic waste in the general rubbish bin, it simply gets diverted to a container nearby. When the container is full it can be emptied into your compost bin or worm farm.
The container can be any bowl, old dish, empty ice cream bucket, etc. There are products designed for this function (go to products). These products could have simple features like a lid and a handle and get more complicated like a locking mechanism or suitable compostable liners which are made from vegetables and go directly into you compost bin to strat breaking down in days.
A container for keeping organic waste is a convenient and simple solution which will ensure maximum recycling. However they are generally small size (6L-12L). This is due to the fact that if it took more than a few days to fill and empty the waste would start to rot and smell.
A very popular solution to this, is a bucket which is designed to work with micro organisms to start the waste breakdown process. Using an additive called Bokashi the waste undergoes a fermentation process which enables the waste to stay in your kitchen for months without rotting.
This system will allow you to only empty the bucket after a few weeks or more. The contents of the bucket will not appear very different to the original waste however due to fermentation once the waste is buried in soil or added to a compost heap it will breakdown into the soil much faster.
The most cost effective solution for your composting pile (besides an open pile) is a standard free standing compost bin. The ones on the market will generally range in size from 130L to 600L. They will have features like an access hatch to gather the ready compost at the bottom of the bin. They may also include large lids, extra aeration and add-on like ground bases to prevent vermin infestation or add assist aeration.
As aeration is a vital part of composting and as the level of aeration will have a dramatic effect of the speed of the composting process it is only natural then to try to maximise aeration in any compost bin.
Compost tumbler are the easiest way to maximise the level of aeration of total compost heap. By turning the drum the waste inside is moved and tumbled so that air can entre to ever crevice of the waste.
Furthermore the mixing of the waste will also ensure that the dry and wet components are well mixed and allow for a better balance in the drum. This will also mean that you can put in a higher ratio of green waste as the compost in a tumbler will tend to not be as soggy as you might find in a static bin.