Composters

However, the choice of the composter is not so crucial as often thought. To the quality of the compost and the speed of the process it is just as important how the compost is taken care of.

Some tips for picking your composter model in the following:

Garden composter should be large

As the amount of garden waste is usually large, the composter should be large enough as well, preferably over 400 liters. The composter bin or frame can be open from the bottom and top.

If you are a “handyman” a garden composter can be done quite easily from eg. wooden pallets. It may be necessary to have several bins and practice batch composting; ie. have one composter in active use and another which is decomposing.

Kitchen waste requires a closed composter

All kitchen waste should be composted in a closed bin which is rodent-safe. If you are using the composter all year round, it is best to choose an insulated composter. To get the composter work through winter, it will require regular maintenance: adding waste, mixing and using biodegraders. It is quite common that the composter freezes, but usually you can get the process going at spring and no harm is done.

There are special requirements for toilet waste

There can be special requirements for toilet waste handling. Usually, the composter should be a closed system where the leachate can not leak to the nature. A good example of such a system is Green Toilet Waste Composter.

Whether you need to have several different composters depends on many factors. In principle, all bio waste could go into the same composter, but usually already the volume of the waste in one household becomes too large. The only thing that we here at Pikkuvihreä do not recommend, is to put kitchen waste to a composting toilet in use. This is because kitchen waste attracts flies and insects and usually the user does not want them to the toilet.