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I keep a Ziploc bag on my kitchen counter. As I clean vegetables, or empty the coffee maker, everything goes in there, and the bag is zipped. In a few days, I take it out to my compost pile. I don't have a problem with smell at all.
Where I live I can take kitchen waste out to the compost bin every day--in the SUMMER.
But in the winter with the snow and ice I can't get the scraps out for weeks at a time or longer. Therefore a compost container is essential. I wish I had my old one--it was flat so it could sit up against the wall, it had a wire handle and hinged cover AND it had a spout for pouring. The cover was shaped so it covered the spout part. I never needed filters and they seem wasteful anyway.
There are some containers for sale that are pretty good but not as good as the one I used to have. I always kept mine in the kitchen on the floor because to keep garbage on the counter didn't seem sanitary.
Use a small open bucket. That way, you won't forget to take it out.
There is almost nothing for the compost bin that comes out of my kitchen. If it is food, someone will eat it. Most veggie scraps go to the poultry and it goes out every day when I feed the birds. About the only thing they won't eat is is onion skins.
If it is meat, carbs, dairy, or fruit, it goes to the dogs. I throw out bones (after making broth with them) but those don't go into the compost, anyway. Nothing remains long enough in my fridge to spoil, so there is no spoiled food to go out.
Egg shells, onion skins, and the paper bits from the paper shredder are about all that goes to the compost bin from the house.
I keep mine in the refrigerator so the ants can't get to it, and it doesn't smell that way.
I use a clear plastic container a little longer than a shoe box with a top attached by hinge so all I have to do is open refer, lift lid, and put in scraps. I keep it against the inside wall of the refer so it takes up less refer space.
The plastic is food-safe, and I got it at one of the big hardware stores about four years ago. You really want a hinge top, so you don't have to take it out of refer to dump scraps in - so convenient and we find we use it more than the counter top ones which got smelly and ant attractive.
I just re-use the 1-gallon plastic coffee cans for compostable kitchen waste. In the summer, I have to empty it every 1-2 days; and in the winter, I line them with used ziploc gallon bags, which I pull out and set on the porch to freeze until I can get them into the compost pile (usually in spring after it thaws out).
Anything with a lid should work. I keep a large plastic bowl with a lid on the counter. It fills up in about 2 days but all that goes into it are plant matter, egg shells and coffee grounds. As long as I empty it every 2 - 3 days there is no odor. I find lemon peels mixed with coffee grounds are the biggest odor offender.
Cardboard can like coffee comes in, a plastic bag liner and empty it every other day or so. Keep meats out. In the morning put the previous day's coffee grounds on top, no bad smell ever.
You are reusing then recycling the plastic bag, the cardboard container lasts weeks and goes out into the garden cut up and layed flat with mulch on top.
you just gave me a great idea. i'm going to use the Trader Joe's coffee can when I'm done with the next can. It's got that thin aluminum-like lining inside, and has a lid. this way, if i'm too lazy to take it out one evening after dinner, popping it under the sink overnight is no big deal. it's a bit small, but should do the trick. and it can be rinsed out if i needed to. thanks! that's my solution for now.
Think end to end (favorite saying of mine). When you buy something like that, now you are adding to the waste instead of reducing it. It takes a lot of energy to manufacture those carbon filters. Then I bet that composter is made from some type of plastic or other material that eventually ends up in a landfill.
Before you buy something ask what did it take to make it, how long will it last and what happens to it when it is no longer needed?
oh yeah, i didn't intend on buying one AND using the filters. it's just when i searched online, those seemed to be the most logical containers for the job. i also realized the irony of the oxo plastic compost container.
that's why i came here though! i wanted suggestions. for now, i like the coffee can idea the best!
So, I've kicked my composting into high gear, but don't always make it out to the composter (and guests never do). so i want to get a container that i can empty, but one that wouldn't smell too badly if i waited 1-2 days before i did.
As a kid I used my dog for composting, now my wife won't let me, even though the dog and I are often in agreement about the best way to recycle.
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