What To Look For in a Compost Bin
Composting garden and kitchen waste is a great way to do your bit for the environment. Not only does the composting process help reduce your ecological footprint, it’s also the best possible gift you can give to your garden.
If you only want to compost leaves, choose a compost bin with mesh sides. As an added bonus – they’re a really affordable choice. Composting food scraps requires a little more thought. For composting food items, you’ll need an enclosed bin so that it doesn’t attract pests.
In terms of bin size, if you’re a reasonably small family, predominantly composting waste from the kitchen, consider a bin with a capacity of 150 L. If you’re a larger family, or you want to compost organic waste from garden tidy-ups, you’ll need a bin of 220 L or more.
The size of bin can also affect how easy (or not!) the compost is to turn. Conical compost bins should have a top opening of at least 20 cm, otherwise you’ll struggle to get a fork in to turn it. Square compost bins are easier to access, and also oscillate better into corners.
After all our testing, I recommend the Garden Point Tumbling Composter as a great option for anyone specifically looking to compost their kitchen waste. It dramatically helps with the composting process because it has an built-in mechanism for turning the compost. It’s also completely sealed as well.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a super sturdy, wind-proof option, we can report that the budget-friendly 4smile Compost Bin was the only bin left standing after Storm Arwen’s 65 mph winds hit our poor farm in Scotland! For more information about the compost bins mentioned above, as well as some other great alternatives, see the following reviews.