Simple and inexpensive compost bin

We have been composting a proportion of our organic kitchen scraps and garden waste for quite some time now, but since moving to a new home in East London we decided that the time had come to build a better compost bin based on the lessons we've learned thus far. Although plastic open-based compost bins are now readily available in various nurseries and hardware shops, we found these to be extremely expensive. Apart from this, we also had quite a bit of green netting and shadecloth on hand thanks to the previous occupants of our home - so we put our heads together and came up with the following simple and inexpensive design. Much to our delight we now even get contributions from our neighbours as well! :) Social composting...now there's an idea...


	We cleared a circle in the grass where the new compost bin was to go. From experience we've learned that grass (especially the octopus-like tendrils of Kikuyu grass) growing into the bin can make it nearly impossible to retrieve your compost at a later stage. Aside from this, it generally seems to be a good idea to keep grass from growing into the bin or the resultant grass-contaminated compost will end up sprouting wherever you apply it at a later stage - not really our idea of fun.		We took some green plastic netting that we had on hand and looped it into a slightly overlapping cylinder (open at both ends). We tied the overlapping ends together using small portions of green gardening ties but any non-decaying ties will do.

	We cut a circular green netting "lid" to fit on top of the bin. The lid keeps moisture in and large animals out.		The lid was attached to one side of the cylinder using cable ties. The remaining portions were subsequently trimmed with a pair of scissors.

	We covered the lid with remnant pieces of green shadecloth and fixed the cloth to the underlying netting using small portions of green gardening ties.		Tigger soon hopped in to inspect the interior and after pointing out some remaining grass in the base, gave us the go-ahead.

	Next we tied shadecloth around perimeter of the bin and fixed the upper portion. Over the years we have generally tended to live in areas with a great deal of sun and wind and have consequently found that some sort of aerated fabric is necessary in order to keep the compost from drying out.		The shadecloth was additionally fixed to the netting along the overlapping join, as well as around the lower portion of the bin.

	We hammered several tent pegs through the netting and into the ground to prevent the bin from falling over or flying away. We had additional tent pegs lying around in a cupboard, but any sort of bent piece of metal or other durable material will do just as well.		In order to keep the bin lid from flapping around we decided to make use of a few medium-sized pebble "weights".

	We wrapped the weights into the trailing ends of long strips of shadecloth.		The parcels were secured with cable ties...

	We suspended the weights from three sides of the bin lid via cable ties.		Once again Tigger appeared on the scene to check whether the lid was stable.

Image of compost bin in use

"Feed me, Seymour!" - Making our first contributions.

Image of the final compost bin

The completed bin in action - containing some garden and kitchen refuse. The bricks placed on a cleared ring around the base provide additional stability, protect the bin during lawn-mowing and edge-clipping and assist in preventing grass from growing into the bin. We subsequently additionally fixed a simple ring of plastic netting around the middle of the bin. We tuck the suspended weights into the ring when the wind is truly howling.

The final bin containing already some garden refuse.

Share your questions, experiences, helpful advice, information and links (6 posts)

MaryAnn

Simple and inexpensive compost bin
31 Jan 2010 11:52

Hello,

As I am currently renting property, I do not want to make unnecessary holes in the ground, as such I was wondering if I can use an old plastic dustbin to create a compost container?
Any suggestions will gladly be appreciated, ultimately something that is inexpensive. Of course, I would love to have a wormery!
I would also like to know if I can put vegetable peelings straight into flower beds/pots etc.?
Look forward to hearing from you soonest.

Kind regards
MaryAnn

#82

Eunete + Simon

Re: Simple and inexpensive compost bin
08 Feb 2010 06:11

Hello MaryAnn - The advantage of a compost heap is usually that it is in contact with the ground and all the critters that do the actual composting can just enter it from there. In principle there should be no reason why you can't use an old plastic dustbin. It may, however, be more tricky to get the balance right between how wet or dry the content is. You can drill or cut holes into the sides to ensure ventilation. If you look in the shops (e.g. Builder's Express) you will see that some of the commercial bins don't look much different to an upside down bin with holes in the sides (those ones are obviously in contact with the soil).

The importance of controlling the water balance in your system better is because the critters cannot escape somewhere else if things go wrong and come back later. In order to get going you could get hold of some worms (either from some friends or you can find some suppliers in the directory and some compost activator (you might have to call a couple DIY shops to find this) or something called effective microorganism (EM), which you can also find in the directory.

As you mention, this is actually quite close to to a wormery, anyway. We have actually been experimenting with DIY wormeries for a while and are probably at system number 6 by now. You could absolutely try using your dustbin for that. There are quite a few descriptions how to build different kinds of wormeries available on the Internet and we will also be writing about our experiences on our website in the future. You could have a look what would work for you. You certainly don't need several levels or to even catch the worm tea (depending what you want to do) for a basic system that takes care of your kitchen scraps.

Any closed system will, however, need more attention and monitoring. It is somewhat like farming and the learning curve is similar.

You could certainly put your vegetable peelings straight into flower bed/pots. Just search for "trench gardening" and you should be able to find some examples of how people do this. We will also write about this on our website in the future. We have read somewhere that similarly to adding fresh compost this may actually use some Nitrogen in the beginning while it breaks down, reducing its availability for the plants, but we have often done this for all sorts of plants and it has always worked well without any problems.

Another alternative could obviously be to ask the owners what they think about putting in a compost bin/heap permanently.

What we found is that despite this or that problem popping up along the way that it is actually very gratifying and we have certainly enjoyed the journey.

Good luck!

#83

Dani N

Simple and inexpensive compost bin
13 Feb 2010 05:31

Loved the idea of your compost bin - but will have to modify it as we are in a really windy area. Where can I get EM?
Thanks
Kind regards

Dani

#84

Eunete + Simon

Re: Simple and inexpensive compost bin
15 Feb 2010 04:17

Hello Dani - We are actually living in a very windy area as well - right at the coast. The double layer of plastic netting and tent pegs driven into the base seem to hold it in place extremely well - and that despite a couple of howling storms we've had so far. As for the lid - initially we used stones that were too light but have subsequently replaced them with heavier ones which work very well. We do, however, encourage you do be creative and come up with improved solutions - ones which are ideally suited to the conditions where you live. You are very welcome to post your new ideas here - that way we can all learn from each other

You can find suppliers of EM in the Composting category of the Going Green Directory. Just look for BoermetEM, Green Cleaning Solutions and Lindros.

Enjoy the tinkering!

#85

kathy naylor

Simple and inexpensive compost bin
03 Apr 2010 09:37

Hi, I am looking for a supplier in east London for BOKASHI bran, or if not, then a recipe to make it myself?

Many thanks kathy

#86

Eunete + Simon

Re: Simple and inexpensive compost bin
07 Apr 2010 10:46

Hello Kathy - we don't know of a supplier in East London. But you can get hold of compost activator at Mica.

#87

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