Compost Bin Buyer's Guide

So, you're thinking about buying a composter.

Congratulations! Composting is an easy and fun activity for gardeners of all skill levels. By composting, you're also going to help the environment by keeping your kitchen scraps and lawn and garden waste out of a landfill, while dramatically improving the quality of your soil at the same time. It's a win for your yard or garden, and a win for the environment.

There are basically two different types of composters or compost bins. Stationary (or static) composters sit in one place, and compost tumblers spin or flip to keep the composting materials mixed and aerated.

Stationary Compost Bins



The advantage of stationary compost bins is that they are extremely simple and they can typically hold a larger amount of materials than a tumbler. Most compost tumbler models hold around 50 to 80 gallons of material, which is a respectable amount. But a stationary compost bin can hold anywhere from 100 to 800 gallons worth of material. This bigger size will give you more room if you are composting a lot of leaves and grass clippings, which can take up a lot of space fast.

Stationary, non-tumbling composters come in many different shapes and sizes and are made from several different materials.

Round or cylindrical compost bins have the advantage of no corners, so there are no spots for materials to dry out or not get mixed up because they are hard to get to. Rectangular shaped compost bins work very effectively too though, and are easy to put right up against a wall or a fence line, since they have flat sides.

Most of the compost bins at Clean Air Gardening are made from plastic or recycled plastic, but we also have composters made of metal and wood. Metal is a good choice if you are worried about animals, but plastic and wood are also effective at keeping all but the most persistent pets or squirrels out of your compost.

Another secret to keeping pests out of the compost is to bury any fresh kitchen scraps deep into the pile so that they are covered up by materials that have already begun to break down.

Tumbling Composters



Compost tumblers are our best selling type of composters, probably because they are so convenient and easy to use.

Although they don't hold as much as some of the larger stationary compost bins, they often make compost faster, because it is so easy to keep the materials mixed up and aerated with just a simple tumble of the bin. This means that you can actually put a lot of materials through a tumbler, even though it might not necessarily all fit in at once.

Some people have the idea that compost tumblers are hard to turn when they are full of material. In most cases, all they require is just a hard push with one or sometimes two hands, depending on the model. Typically, one person can tumble the bin very easily by themselves. However, depending on if you have back trouble, etc, you may want a second person to help you.

Another solution is to simply fill your tumbling compost bin with less material. Given that organic material in these compost bins breaks down very quickly, you’ll be able to empty it and refill it at a rapid rate.

Composting Accessories

After you have chosen whether you prefer a compost tumbler or a non-tumbling compost bin, you should consider which composting accessories you might need to go along with your bin.

Compost starter and compost accelerator are great ways to get your compost going quickly, and they work well with both tumblers and stationary compost bins. You don't necessarily need a compost starter or a compost activator for composting, but a lot of people like it so that they can get their compost a little "hotter" a little faster.

And speaking of heat, how do you know how quickly and effectively your compost is coming along? You can often feel the heat coming off a compost pile with your hand when things are going well. But if you want something more precise than that, you might consider a compost thermometer. A compost thermometer gives you great insight into how well your compost is proceeding, and if you need to adjust the conditions at all.

If you have a stationary compost bin, you might consider a compost turning tool. Unlike a pitchfork, which requires a lot of hard work, a compost turning tool takes less effort and does an excellent job of keeping your compost pile mixed up and aerated. You just shove the tool down into the pile, and pull it back out with the T shaped handle. The wings at the end of the tool do all the work for you and mix everything as you pull up.

No matter which type of compost bin you purchase, you should consider buying our instructional composting book. The book is a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about composting, but it is less than 50 pages, so it's a fast read. You can flip through right to the section that you might have questions about. It is written by garden and compost education professionals with over 50 years combined experience, so it has some great tips that you won’t find anywhere else.