Do you compost? Why or why not?

I wish I had one of these when I was living in the city. My window veggies would have been thrilled.

It's especially interesting that you can compost meat products. Who knew?

I have one of those compost buckets and a compost heap in the yard. Put in everything but meat scraps and am getting a few wheel barrows of beautiful soil every year. Bonus is the avocados, potatoes and pumpkins that grew from the seeds and pits thrown in.

digitsis wrote:I have one of those compost buckets and a compost heap in the yard. Put in everything but meat scraps and am getting a few wheel barrows of beautiful soil every year. Bonus is the avocados, potatoes and pumpkins that grew from the seeds and pits thrown in.

Just a hint, while they can be seen as a bonus, some might consider this a nuisance. I personally would be thrilled to find avocados in my garden, but I also have an uncle whose entire garden was overrun with squash because of this same "problem".

The cause, typically, is not enough heat in your compost pile. That is why most composters are dark/black, to absorb heat. Although quite a bit of heat is also generated by the organisms working in your pile. In addition to de-naturing the seeds, heat also stimulates bacteria and micro-organism growth (unless its too much heat), which is good for compost.

Also, don't forget to turn your pile occasionally. This ensures every part of the pile gets a chance to be at the warm, organically-active, center of the mix.

DISCLAIMER: I am no expert, purely folk-knowledge...

countdown wrote:Also, don't forget to turn your pile occasionally. This ensures every part of the pile gets a chance to be at the warm, organically-active, center of the mix.

Turning also keeps it from spontaneously combusting.


Wouldn't the scrap compost bucket on the counter stink and attract bugs?

thumperchick wrote:Turning also keeps it from spontaneously combusting.


Wouldn't the scrap compost bucket on the counter stink and attract bugs?

They usually have filters in the lid so they don't stink.

I have a NatureMill Composter, because of the supplemented heat and automatic turning, they compost _a_lot_ faster than traditional outdoor compost piles.

That being said, they also produce some odor.... enough for me to stop using it.

I've since moved to a compost pail (which I empty every 5 or so days) and an outdoor tumbler - I'm much more satisfied with this option.

If you live in the city I'd still recommend the NatureMill Composters, otherwise I'd recommend a pail and outside pile/tumbler/whatever.

I'm not expert, but I'm an avid gardener for many years

These countertop ones sell at my local Ace for $24.99.

hrossvt wrote:I have a NatureMill Composter, because of the supplemented heat and automatic turning, they compost _a_lot_ faster than traditional outdoor compost piles.

That being said, they also produce some odor.... enough for me to stop using it.

I've since moved to a compost pail (which I empty every 5 or so days) and an outdoor tumbler - I'm much more satisfied with this option.

If you live in the city I'd still recommend the NatureMill Composters, otherwise I'd recommend a pail and outside pile/tumbler/whatever.

I'm not expert, but I'm an avid gardener for many years

If you don't live in a city, I recommend chickens. They can turn scraps into nitrogen manure far faster than anything else.

And they lay eggs as well. Win-win

The countertop bins look like the one I had. You WILL end up dropping it and the lid will crack. Plus, there are tons of nooks and crannies that get dirty/nasty.

I recommend the OXO plastic one for $20 on amazon or a stainless steel one if you are into that kind of thing.

The 2 gallon composter on NatureMill website is $249 . . . hmmmm

Char3g wrote:The 2 gallon composter on NatureMill website is $249 . . . hmmmm

Yep, making this an even better deal. Great offering a 4-gallon model that's even cheaper.

The only thing holding me back is odor concerns. Oh well.

novastarj wrote:Yep, making this an even better deal. Great offering a 4-gallon model that's even cheaper.

The only thing holding me back is odor concerns. Oh well.

I have one of these. Wish I got this good of a deal on it though. With a little baking soda and the recommended amount of sawdust, there is basically no smell

Because, you know, I definitely want the smell of rotting food emanating from an appliance (if you can call it that) in my house. And I want this device in my kitchen. As a permanent fixture. So I can smell this thing while I eat.

Seriously, I get the whole "people in apartments want to be green too!" thing, and I think that's great, but why the insane price for what basically amounts to an electronic hippie trash can?

Havoc737903 wrote:Because, you know, I definitely want the smell of rotting food emanating from an appliance (if you can call it that) in my house. And I want this device in my kitchen. As a permanent fixture. So I can smell this thing while I eat.

Seriously, I get the whole "people in apartments want to be green too!" thing, and I think that's great, but why the insane price for what basically amounts to an electronic hippie trash can?

I'm as right wing, anti-hippy, as a person can possibly be... But I compost, and I turn gallons of waste, into fertile soil for my lawn...

It cuts my landfill contribution in half. Way greener than recycling.

weatherkit wrote:These countertop ones sell at my local Ace for $24.99.

I've seen them at Big Lots for $20 -- in white only. I just fill a stainless steel bowl with my veggie and fruit scraps and throw the scraps into my garden composter about 2-3 times a week.

I keep this in my apartment kitchen. It doesn't smell at all, until I open it. Dang, what a foul beast smell that takes an hour to go away. So, I end up keeping scraps on the counter until I can make it worth my while.

I had five of these NatureMills. The longst lasting one went four months. I will say NatureMill was quite patient and generous about sending new ones every time they broke but I was appalled at the waste of it and the low build-quality. I'm shocked they're still in business. I loved my composter every time until it BROKE. Huge disappointment. And I can say with assurance that it drips foul moisture into the drip pan that rots and stinks worse than any substance known to man. We kept ours in the garage for this reason. However, when the thing ran, it made compost like nobody's business. Faster than any compost pile could.

I have a NatureMill, too.

Does the scrap bucket in the kitchen attract (fruit)flies?
Not necessarily. We use an open bowl in the kitchen that most food scraps go in to (except meat or fish or dairy). It gets emptied into the NatureMill on the patio every three or four days. If you live in hot climate though, things may be different.

Does it smell?
Sometimes. Apart from the general information about items to be avoided as described in the manual (RTFM, really), the two things I found that cause smell are too much acidity (e.g. citrus fruit) and too much moisture.

Saw Dust Pellets?
Using a lot of fresh ingredients that contain water naturally, I end up needing way more sawdust pellets than I expected I'd need, to the point where I wonder how much compost I could buy in the store for the amount of money that one pack of pellets costs, and put that in relation to how much compost one pack of pellets yields. As I only use the device for pre-curing in an apartment (I collect the output in a home depot bucket, and then take that to a real compost pile to continue its process for another year) - i found that dry rice is a cheap and available alternative to sawdust pellets. However, they also come out on the other end, undigested if you will. it remains to be seen how well they decompose in the real compost pile.


Noise?
A bit. Having the composter near your bedroom window definitely won't help with a good night sleep, but it isn't too bad, either.


Would I buy the composter again?
I don't think so. But as long as I have it, i enjoy using it. However, there are some serious environmental and financial concerns, namely the sawdust pellets (shipping, production, packaging, cost) and the recyclability of the device itself (it's pretty much completely styrofoam, a lot of people reported defective units that can't be repaired, and folks who realize after purchase that it isn't for them).


Anything else?
One day I'll have my own yard and a normal compost pile. I'm looking forward to that day.

Yeah, bought one on WOOT a couple years ago. It worked well for four or five months but then the mechanism became prone to jam even after cleaning (an icky job for sure). NatureMill tech support was near nonexistent as when I called their toll-free number I could NEVER get a live person on the line. Had to leave a message, wait for a call back —always a day or more later— and invariably led to phone tag. Finally gave up on it. They won't take them back for service and I had no success getting it replaced. Sadly, a waste of time and money.

taking them back-
Yeah, pretty much no way on earth I'd have my company take one of these 'back for service'. Talk about a disgusting set of new problems you'd just create for a whole chain of people. That they apparently offer to replace them for people is all I would expect from them.

smell of composting-
When my roommate wanted to do all sort of composting a few years ago using worms etc, I was not happy. That ended quickly.

Now I'm living in Portland,or, where composting is a mandatory part of garbage service (You don't have to do it, but you do have to pay for it as part of garbage service).

smell-
If it smells aweful.. you're doing it wrong. It tells you something about your diet as well. Some things like chicken may need to be taken directly outside to whatever bin you have, or composting setup. Other then that there should be very little.

For what smell there is, from fruit etc, put it in a sealed container and its gone. Wash that container after each emptying, a process made much more pleasant by using compost bags, and you reduce it even more.

I suggest snapware. They seal airtight, are made in the USA, and come in whatever size you need. 0 smell, 0 bugs.

In fact doing this right your normal garbage turns into basically pieces of plastic. Your compost takes all the potentially smelly stuff. So your garbage not only shrinks but becomes MUCH more pleasant to deal with.

whataworld wrote:I keep this in my apartment kitchen. It doesn't smell at all, until I open it. Dang, what a foul beast smell that takes an hour to go away. So, I end up keeping scraps on the counter until I can make it worth my while.

I do the same thing! It doesn't stink unless I open it. Then i spray some orange oil around to cover up the stink, but I wait until I have enough scraps to "make it worth my while" before I open that lid.

I think this composter is worth it. I bought one on woot about 4 years ago, an older model, and it still works great. I recently bought this "ultra" version for my boyfriend and it has more bells and whistles but also started having moisture problems within 2 months which caused the back section to peel away from the unit. I returned it to amazon and I am still waiting for the refund. In the mean time we are both using my older one.

snitily wrote:I had five of these NatureMills. The longst lasting one went four months. I will say NatureMill was quite patient and generous about sending new ones every time they broke but I was appalled at the waste of it and the low build-quality. I'm shocked they're still in business. I loved my composter every time until it BROKE. Huge disappointment. And I can say with assurance that it drips foul moisture into the drip pan that rots and stinks worse than any substance known to man. We kept ours in the garage for this reason. However, when the thing ran, it made compost like nobody's business. Faster than any compost pile could.

Ditto could not have said it better myself...when it worked worked great...and yea from a post before...Onerous Massive Family Gathering stunk when you open to add...also i find an old coffe can with a plastic lid works great as a pre compost holder inside..i switched to just a hold in the flower bed outside but breaks down way to much...

Those sawdust pellets are no deal. These are the same pellets that I burn in a pellet stove. You can get a 40lb bag at Home Depot or Lowes for about $5.50.

yank2399 wrote:Those sawdust pellets are no deal. These are the same pellets that I burn in a pellet stove. You can get a 40lb bag at Home Depot or Lowes for about $5.50.

Was just about to post this. People also get ripped off on wood pellets when buying them for animal litter. Same material, just ina fancier package at the pet store.