Composting is made easier with this DIY compost bin!
Thanks to Terminix for sponsoring this post. As always, opinions are my own.
One of the first things we did after buying a house almost 9 years ago was purchase a compost bin. We used it often, but over time (sometime in the past 18 months), we let it go. We stopped composting as much and this year we didn’t even pull the dirt out to use in the garden. Chalk it up to laziness – and the fact that our bin was quite literally coming apart at the seams. At the beginning of the summer, my husband declared the compost bin as one of the projects he and our son would take on. I just didn’t realize they were going to make one! Well, guess what? This DIY compost bin takes very little time and you may have all of the materials in your house to pull it together.
(Personally I love the label on the container lid – don’t put your kid in these containers, ok?)
What you need for a DIY Compost Bin:
- A large plastic bin (we ended up using a medium sized bin. We’ll probably make a second bin.)
- Shredded newspaper
- Small rocks (for drainage on the bottom of the bin)
- A drill
In the bottom of your container, drill 12 holes. Drill 12 holes in the top of your container (as seen in the photos.) Place shredded newspaper along the bottom, and top it with a layer of stones. We actually had rocks leftover from installing our mailbox 2 years ago. Good to finally use them again!
Add more shredded newspaper, and a layer of dirt. We took composted dirt from our old bin and transferred it to this one. Then we started tossing old food in! Since we did this over a weekend, there was a lot of food prep happening. Oh and we cleared out the refrigerator and tossed a lot of food into the container.
This container is now in the top corner of our yard – just above the garden. It’ll be super easy next year to transfer the dirt right into the garden. For now, I am adding to the container and will stir it up as needed.
I’m anxious to see how this is doing for us in another month, or into the fall. We’ll add leaves to it when they fall and keep stirring it. I love having it so close to the garden. Our old compost is on the opposite side of the yard, and wasn’t always the easiest to get dirt out of and into the garden. This is definitely easy access.
We’ve already cut down on SO much trash! I forgot how much we can actually compost versus throwing in the trash. Coffee grounds are the easiest thing to use, but all of the vegetables that go bad before we can eat them and egg shells (after washing, of course.) Next time I consider ditching the compost, remind me of this, ok?
Do you compost? What’s your favorite composting tip?
That is a great idea. My husband mentioned to me recently that he was thinking about composting, but had no idea where to start. He will appreciate this!
We have never composted anything. I know of one or two people that do, this tutorial is nice and simple and useful for them.
We do a lot of recycling, but have never really ventured into the world of composting due to living in such a dry, desert climate. Since our family is committed to helping the environment as much as possible, I would love to give this simple project a try.
I need to start a compost bin! It’s such a great use of old veggies and such!
What a great idea for making a compost bin! I usually run my scraps out to my compose pile whenever I have scraps.
Our neighbor does this and my husband has looked into it a few times. Glad to know there is an easy DIY to do it!
It’s cool that this has been helping you cut down on trash. I wouldn’t mind starting a compost bin and seeing how it goes.
I need to compost more often. It’s so easy just to throw it in the garbage disposal. I am sure a compost bin is better for the enviroment.
I would love to make our own. I had no idea it was so easy to make one. How long does it take to break down?