Does anyone know what to do with a compost bucket? I need some tips.

United States
July 3, 2008 12:28pm CST
I just recently started using a old coffee can to start a compost bucket. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right or not. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. My first question is am I supposed to use soil or just old vegatable. Question number 2, am I able to use any meat products. Any tips?
5 responses
• United States
3 Jul 08
We need to know more about your vessel. Does it have holes in it? How big is it? If your bucket is big enough, you could do meat products, but you should probably wait on that until you see how hot your vegetarian compost is going to get. I wouldn't add soil to the mix. Check online. There's a ton of information on composting and how to do it 'right'. There's a balance to the amount of wet/dry and nitrogen/carbon that you need to achieve or you could end up with a nasty, stinky, wet mess.
• United States
3 Jul 08
Ah, I just reread your original post, and I'd say find something bigger than a coffee can. Try a 50 gallon drum or a fenced off area in the yard, if you're looking to do it easily. Something that small won't get hot enough or be able to handle enough 'ingredients' to do much.
1 person likes this
• United States
3 Jul 08
Thanks, I could probably do a large drum outside. I live in an apartment so I can't do anything huge just yet.
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
4 Jul 08
check out www.journeytoforever.org -they have some good tips on composting and other eco-friendly ideas!
• United States
4 Jul 08
Thanks a lot, I'll check that site out.
@sweetdesign (5142)
• United States
3 Jul 08
composting is wonderful and can be done on any scale wherever you live. We are starting ours in a plastic clothes hamper, no kidding it is perfect. We are also starting another compost bin in a plastic storage bin the medium size one. We are starting these while we make our big wooden compost bin. if you put egg shells in be sure tocook them first in the oven on the lowest setting for like 15 minutes then crush them up. You don't want to introduce salmanella to you compost.
1 person likes this
• United States
4 Jul 08
Thanks for the tip about the eggshells, I'll have to do that. As of yet I haven't put any shells in.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
3 Jul 08
There's lots of information on composting out there on the internet, but for starters, no meat or dairy products, nor any animal waste. If you're using a coffee can, you're not going to get very much of a compost. I would suggest using that for collecting the fruit and vegetable scraps before turning it out into a larger container or pile outside. For a good compost, you need a combination of green and brown matter (again, you can find this information by searching), combined with moisture. Introducing worms to your compost is great also, if they're not already there. You can make a form of compost indoors by using a worm bed that you can make or buy, but I don't know if you'd want to go that far in your kitchen.
1 person likes this
• United States
3 Jul 08
Good stuff. I'm going to utilize the net at some point but I wanted to get some advice from the knowledgeable folks at Mylot first.
• United States
3 Jul 08
In ours, I use vegatables, egg shells, leaves. You don't want to use meat. It will rot and get moldy. You don't want mold, just decomposition. You will also want to get a compost container outside to put all your indoor compost in.
1 person likes this
• United States
3 Jul 08
Thanks for the wonderful tips. What do you use outside for a compost container? I'm in an apartment so it has to be something small.