It’s important to choose the right compost setup for you. Every household is different. Everyone eats different food, different amounts of food waste, family members, housemates, home sizes, budgets, and more! So it’s important to take all these factors into consideration when choosing the right compost setup for your household and get the full benefits of your compost.
Consider what you’re going to compost, what you will do with your compost, and where you plan to compost. As every household is different, these are important factors as you may compost differently.
For example, I use a lot of garlic, chillies, and onions in my cooking and these things can’t go in my worm farm. I realised a traditional compost bin is better for me because I can compost things my worm farm can’t! So I decided to buy an ‘Urban Composter’ to compost those items and then put them into the worm farm once it’s ready! I can keep my worm farm (that I love) And compost more! Win, Win!
So let’s go through all the different composters and find the right one for you!
First, we need to answer the three main questions before you start composting.
1. What do you want to compost?
This is the number one question for a reason. What on earth are you going to put in your compost? If you’re not a huge home cook and don’t have much food waste but love scrapbooking, a Bokashi or worm farm would be great for you. Are you a pro-gardener with a collection of grass clippings, wood chips and leaves? You might need a bigger composter. But we’ll go into the finer details as you read on.
2. What will you do with your compost?
Are you going to use your compost for your garden to cut down fertiliser costs? Or are you trying to reduce the food waste that goes into your bin? Some people even use compost tea to clean their drains! The benefits of compost are endless. Whatever the case, if you’re wanting to start composting you’re already on the right track.
3. Where do you plan to compost?
This is an important one. You’ll need somewhere to put your compost! So, is that your backyard? Garden? Balcony? Or even inside your home? These are the big questions we’re asking here! There are outdoor and indoor composters you can choose from. Don’t worry! We’ll run through them, we’re getting there!
Compost Bin
The first composter we’re going to talk about is the traditional compost bin.
These compost bins come in various sizes and vary in price. Smaller bins are within $50 and larger bins can get more expensive, but this allows you to compost to your hearts full desire!
If you have a large household, you should definitely be considering this one. More people in your household means more waste! So having a size selection is a bonus when shopping for a compost bin. This composter is suitable for a home with a yard or garden as it is an outdoor composter. So definitely not a good purchase for an apartment with a little or no balcony!
It is also perfect for a household who does a lot of cooking or gardening. This is because you can actually compost most things in a compost bin. So if you’re a seasoned home chef following recipes that have garlic, onion, or chillies, this compost bin will be great for you. These composters just allow you to compost almost anything! Did you know pencil shavings are compostable? Well they are! So this is absolutely a fantastic composter for the scrapbookers out there!
Household size: 2-7 people
Home type: Home with yard or garden
Compostable items: Fruit and veg scraps including garlic, onion and chillies, some cooked food, small amounts of meat and dairy, tissues, paper, dried leaves and branches
Composter size: Medium - Large
Price range: $40-200
Suitable for: Gardeners, homes with a lot of food waste, or crafty people!
Bokashi
Have you been dreaming of composting but don’t have the space for it? If you live in a house with no yard or a balcony-less apartment, a Bokashi compost system is perfect for you!
These come in various sizes and are one of the most compact composters out there. Don’t let the size fool you though! Bokashi composters are very unique and efficient way to compost. The 8L or 18L Bokashi composter features an airtight lid to promote an anaerobic fermentation environment that simultaneously controls odours and pests from your compost. A grate placed inside the bucket filters out ‘compost tea’ from the food waste and gets drained through the tap attached to the outside.
Compost tea is fantastic for your garden, indoor plants, or even cleaning your drains! Convenient and cost effective! What a design! Another awesome thing about the Bokashi is that the composting process is accelerated with either the Bokashi One Mix or spray that is added to your bucket to aid in eliminating odours.
These composters are small and compact so they’re perfect for smaller households or ones with little food waste. This is also a perfect way to try composting before you commit to a larger setup. Store your bokashi in the kitchen, under your sink or in your garage, whatever suits you!
When your bokashi is full or the composting process is nearing completion, you can add what’s left to your worm farm, they’ll love it. This is exactly what I’m doing with my own compost.
Household size: 2-4 people
Home type: Small homes, apartments, no yard or balcony
Compostable items: Fruit and veg scraps, some cooked food, small amounts of meat and dairy, tissues, paper
Composter size: Small - Medium
Price range: $40 - $100
Suitable for: People who don’t cook often, less food waste than a larger household
Worm farm
A worm farm is a fantastic starting point for composting. If you have kids, they’ll love their squiggly invertebrate friends! However, like I said earlier in this blog, it is important to note that worms can’t have ALL compostable things. Again, worm farms cannot have onions, garlic, chilli peppers, and citrus fruits. Their little tummies don’t like it!
Worm composters are amazing as they have the ability to turn your food waste into a nutrient-rich fertiliser. Although most composts may have worms in there over time, worm composters are filled with them. Meaning that it has a higher concentration of worms to eat up your food scraps.
There are various types of worm composters. Some have tiers that separate all the levels or some are continuous flow composters. Whichever one you choose, you’ll have the same final result, a nutrient-rich fertiliser which is not ‘compost tea’ but ‘worm tea’. Think of it like an amped up version of compost tea. So imagine all the great results you’ll get from a worm farm!
Maintaining a worm farm is fairly simple and straightforward. Buy the worm farm of your choice and your compost worms, then set it up! However, this may get expensive as worms can cost $40 and the worm farm can cost $75. If you live within the Brisbane City Council, we have a hack for you! You can get a rebate of $70 for purchasing composting equipment - not including worms. So you couldget a worm farm for less if it’s your first time composting.
Worm farms aren’t actually as messy as you think. A worm farm can be an indoor or outdoor system. So it’s suitable for smaller homes and apartments. They are also great to pair with a secondary composter like a Bokashi. Double the compost!
Household size: 2-4 people
Home type: Small - Large
Compostable items: Most compostable things except onions, garlic, chilli peppers, and citrus fruits. Note: non-food or plant items may take longer to break down
Composter size: Medium - Large
Price range: $70 - $150
Suitable for: Families with children, slower composters
Tumbler
Compost tumblers are one of the larger composters out there. Much like its name, a compost tumbler requires it to be ‘tumbled’ by cranking the handle or the unit to aerate and mix the compost up to aid the composting process. Because of this process, it outpaces stationary composters which aren’t turned as often. This means a tumbler composts your waste faster than other composting methods.
This is why it is important to turn your compost to allow oxygen to flow through - even if you don’t have a tumbler.
A compost tumbler can be a pricey purchase. However, it is a fantastic investment if your house has a large garden, grass, and trees. It is important to note that bindis, toxic and diseased plants are not compostable if you are wanting to compost for a gardening purpose. Because it composts faster than stationary composters this is a perfect purchase if your household continuously has something to compost.
Household size: 3-7 people
Home type: Large home with large yard
Compostable items: Fruit and veg scraps including garlic, onion and chillies, some cooked food, small amounts of meat and dairy, tissues, paper, dried leaves and branches
Composter size: Large - Extra large
Price range: $150-300
Suitable for: Homes with a lot of plant or food waste, big garden and yard
Are you someone who always has something to compost but you’re worried your compost won’t decompose as quickly as you’d like? Are you needing a fast working composter but don’t want to buy a giant one? You don’t have to! Lots of food waste or garden waste doesn’t mean you need to have to buy a tumbler!
For food waste, you can freeze it until your smaller or stationary composter frees up space. With garden waste you can put it aside until you can compost it. If you have a large lawn to mow and don’t know how you’re going to fit it in the compost, it doesn’t have to fit! Grass clippings are a natural fertiliser and provide nitrogen to your lawn.
You can do this with any composter! There’s no right or wrong way to compost (usually). There are so many fantastic composters out in the market to consider. Did you know you can even pair your compost with smart technology? Yes, you read that right.
If you download the Monty Mobile app, you can keep track of the progress of your compost and monitor the water, carbon and nitrogen levels, and oxygen! Simply log what you’ve composted into your device and have the healthiest compost environment.
You can even monitor your compost in real time through bluetooth with a Monty Monitor! Who knew compost could be so smart?
Click here to buy now!
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