[happamaki]

I've been searching through old posts about trash and recycling, but haven't seen much about what people use for keeping kitchen scraps before taking them to the compost bin (or in our case, the worm composting system in the basement).

We don't have space for a separate pull-out, so I want to be able to fit a trash can, a compost container, and cleaning supplies under our sink. (Oh yeah, and a garbage disposal.)

I think I saw one of these door-mounted 3 gallon bins in a recent catalog with a picture of veggies on it. Seems like it's sort of made for kitchen scraps - anybody use this for this purpose? If so, how do you like it?

Would I be able to fit a pull-out tray with fairly normal size trash can on one side of the 24" sink base, and then the 3 gallon bin on the other door and then stick cleaning stuff in the back of that side? Any other suggestions?

[Tigratrus]

We've tried several things for compost, and honestly the only thing that has worked out well for us (we get side tracked and leave it in the house too long at times) is a Vacuum packaging container that you're supposed to hook up to a Food Saver for vacuum sealing large dry goods etc. The lid is easy to take on and off and has a perfect airtight seal, so it keeps the fruit flies out and the methane in .

I understand that keeping stuff in a zip lock in the fridge or freezer is also a good solution though. None of the other containers we tried were what I'd call ideal, they always got kinda fragrant and were *major* fruit fly hives.

James

[NBeth]

When it comes to compost, I think you want to stick to a small container you empty frequently. 3 gallons is too big. We have a (too expensive) 1 gallon pail and that's the outer limit: RSVP International Compost Pail (11x7.25-in.) (Stainless Steel) at Cooking.com

This pail sits under our sink along with an intentionally small Ikea Fibbe can for trash and the Rationell Variera pullout for cleaning supplies (my least favorite Ikea element but I guess it gets the job done). We also have a disposal and plenty of spare room, so I'm guessing it would all fit in your smaller sink cab. Eventually we plan to put the cans in a pullout, but we're not there yet and may never get around to that project at the rate we're going...

[happamaki]

Thanks. That makes sense. We used to have one of those ceramic ones with the charcoal filter, but we broke it. The stainless might be a better way to go. And the fridge/freezer idea isn't a bad one.

[GardenOfDarwin]

We broke ours too! It was a nice one - octagonal, ivory colored...very attractive. Lid broke. Container works well, and doesn't spring a leak like a ziploc bag can - and that always sucks! Yuck!

Susan

[Tigratrus]

::nods::

That's the thing I don't like about the ziplock, you always end up with a mess, and you don't want to re-use them cause they get *really icky. If you let them sit long enough the compost will actually eat it's way though the plastic too. So you end up throwing away zip locks, which kinda defeats part of the green intend behind composting The vacuum canister is easy to clean and *never* leaks odors or liquid.

NBeth's right about the best solution is just to empty it like everyday though... Kinda like a diaper pail!

James

[kirsty]

We too broke down and bought the expensive stainless bucket (used 20% off coupon at BB&B at least)

We use large yogurt containers (+an old green tupperware lettuce crisper) as overflow sometimes-- you can recycle when they get too gross. (IMO anything plastic will eventually get yucky)

[c99]

I'm using a KNODD bin w/ lid. It sits under my kitchen sink and seems to do OK w/ flies, etc.

[fisheggs]

We have a big old ceramic carafe (about 1' high, 8" diameter) with a loose-fitting lid that sits on the counter - it's one of those blue/cream ones and is an antique that hubby got from his grandmother. We bought a hard clear plastic tupperware-like bin from Target with a tight-fitting lid, and it's been working well. Whenever we cook, we take out the liner and leave it out til we're done, then put it back in the carafe. I wish that it had a handle like the Ikea ones have, but I can't complain too much. We empty it about twice a week, unless we have corn and fill it up.

As a side note, we just emptied the compost bin today, for the first time! Some of what was in there was from the previous owners, but most was three years of our waste. It's one of these big elongate plastic bins on a stand that you're supposed to spin. It's almost impossible to move the dumb thing. Ours spins around the long-direction, so you have to basically lift all the material in the bin at once and dump it over. I can't do it on my own.

Even without us ever turning it, the stuff in there was pretty good! Corn cobs hadn't really decomposed at all, but most everything else had turned into good, dark, homogeneous compost. Pretty cool!

[carybrevard]

Worm composting also underway here and I have finally started keeping the compostable items in the refrigerator in a Rubbermaid container designed for cereal storage.

With non-worm composting I didn't care so much if the stuff had started to turn to gunk but I confine the worm snacks to fresher material. Devoting a bit of refrigerator space to storage worked well for me--I don't forget it because it is visible plus it accommodates the fact that I am now a one-person household and travel frequently for work. Might not be so workable with a large family and a packed refrigerator.

In the late-90s I was in the process of building a house and found a company that sold a drawer that could be incorporated into a kitchen for worm composting. As I recall, it was designed to be installed against an outside wall so it also could be opened from the outside. My family voted against it!

However, for those of you who have not tried worm composting, it's a great process, not at all yukky and kids love it. Great science fair project. Also very doable in urban areas.

Susan