Make It Yourself: Inexpensive Composting Bin Using a Trash Can

Happy Earth Day!

In honor of Earth Day, I thought I would post about the newest addition to our backyard -- a composter!

I have been wanting to buy a composter for a while now, but everywhere that I looked was so expensive, plus I couldn't seem to find one locally, so I would have had to pay shipping as well. I was none too pleased about that, and so then I started thinking about us making/building our own composter. That's when I happened upon this link about making your own composter with a standard large trash can with lid.

We went ahead and popped over to our local big box Mart and bought a $10 trash can with a lock on lid. I also spent another $5.00 for a little platform which I thought we would set it on so that it wasn't sitting directly on the ground. Eric is so darn handy that while he was drilling holes in the trash can, he went ahead and just attached the wooden platform onto the bottom of the trash can. Also, at my urging, he did add more than 12 holes (what the link above calls for) to the trash can.

We have only had it set up for around two weeks, but things seem to be going well. We finally cleaned out our garden, since it will be time to start planting vegetables again before we know it, and got to add that all to the composter. Plus, we put in some leaves from around the yard that were, um, well, still on the ground. Sad, isn't it? Plus, that first day we added in some vegetables that were past their prime. To finish off that first day of putting it all in there, we then started up the garden hose and watered it just a bit. Just enough to get it damp.

Then over the last two weeks, I have added in things like banana peels, clementine peels, and cantaloupe rinds. I have also frequently gone out to roll the can around the yard, in lieu of using a tool to mix things around inside, though I may get one sometime.

Of course, I don't have any real results to give yet, but it seems to be going well. Things are starting to rot inside the can, but it isn't stinky. Sure, it is kind of a surprising smell to open it and put something in, but not really horrible. I told my Mom, "It's just like hot, rotting fruit." She then said to me, "And that's not a bad smell?" But, seriously -- not really. And, we only smell that when we actually open it.

If you have been thinking of composting, but just couldn't bring yourself to spend $100+ on a composter, maybe the trash can composter would be a great option for your backyard too!