How to Make Your Own Bucket Composting System
Composting is a great way to recycle organic plant matter, and the compost that is created is a nutritious addition to your backyard garden. Since so many items from the kitchen can be composted, it makes perfect sense to have a small compost bucket in the corner of your kitchen. The convenience of your kitchen compost bucket system will ensure that you remember to properly dispose of compostable materials. Building a compost bucket is a simple task, even for first-time builders and composters. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Two 5-gallon buckets with lids
- Drill
- Charcoal filter
- Pen
- Super glue
- Newspaper (black and white print only)
- Kitchen scraps
- Spade
Instructions
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Drill six holes in the bottom of one bucket. Space the holes about 2 inches apart. These holes will allow for drainage and aeration.
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2
Place the charcoal filter on the bucket lid and draw around it with a pen. Drill several holes in the outlined area. Glue the filter to the inside of the lid so it covers the holes. This will allow filtration of any odors.
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3
Place the drilled bucket in the other bucket so they fit together.
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Shred newspaper into one-quarter-inch strips. Line the bottom of the bucket with the shredded paper.
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5
Add kitchen waste as it accumulates from everyday tasks. Acceptable materials include coffee grounds, tea bags and fruit and vegetable peels.
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Put the lid on the top bucket. Place the stacked buckets in a location where they will be out of the way, such as in a corner or under the sink.
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Add additional kitchen waste as it is created. Add more shredded newspaper to keep the ratio of green to brown materials about one to two.
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Bring the bucket system outside when the kitchen bucket is full and dump the contents of the top bucket into a compost heap. Dump any liquid present in the bottom bucket on top of the heap. Rinse the buckets, replace the buckets and lid and return to their normal location.
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Tips & Warnings
For composting purposes, kitchen scraps are "green" materials and newspaper is considered a "brown" material. Other brown materials include pet hair, dead leaves, stale cereals and grains and other paper products. Crushed egg shells can be composted, and add calcium to the mixture.
Lack of oxygen and carbon cause odors. If odor is a problem, add more "brown" materials and mix the compost thoroughly.
Use compost in indoor and outdoor gardens as a soil fertilizer or steep compost in water to create a liquid fertilizer.
Purchase charcoal filters at any home improvement store. Replace filters every six months.
Do not add meat or dairy products to compost. Although they will eventually decompose, they will smell bad and attract pests.
References
- Photo Credit Indeed/Digital Vision/Getty Images
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Comments
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Wont the 2nd bucket if its the same size as the first, act like a seal. Or is aeration done thro the paper and kitchen scraps, and the 2nd bucket is just to catch the liquid and keep the smell in. I like your idea just havent tried it yet.
