Composting programs vary widely by municipality, so the simplest approach is to figure out where your compost will end up and work back from there
Photo: Retailer “Composting is the human version of recreating what mother nature does out in the wild: Mixing together various organic materials” to facilitate healthy decomposition, says Rebecca Louie, founder of the Compostess website and author of Compost City. Those materials are a combination of carbon-based “browns” , nitrogen-rich “greens” , water, and air.
What we’re looking for Material: Compost bins are, ideally, low-maintenance items and don’t need to be made from expensive or specially engineered materials. Still, there are a few principles to follow: They should be lightweight, durable, easy to clean, and shouldn’t take on the odors of their contents. Stainless steel and heavy-duty plastic work well — they’re hardy enough to handle getting banged around but lightweight enough to carry a few blocks to a drop-off spot.
The OXO compost bin is a great, versatile bin — it comes in two sizes, works as both a freezer and countertop bin, has a non-airtight, removable lid, and is made of easy-to-clean plastic. It was first recommended to us by Tonne Goodman, sustainability editor at Vogue, who keeps it in her fridge and uses it to tote scraps to New York’s Union Square compost center.
In the freezer, where vegetable scraps will not be actively decomposing, you don’t need to get much more complicated than a hardware-store plastic pail. I’ve used this Leaktite plastic bin for the past year and a half; it sits in the back of my freezer and gets emptied about once a month. I leave the lid sitting on top but don’t lock it into place, so it’s easy to toss a scrap in one-handed — and I haven’t noticed any weird compost smells leaking into my ice.
The Vermihut bin doesn’t come with worms, which you’ll have to buy separately. Louie and George Pisegna, deputy director and chief of horticulture at the New York Horticultural Society, recommend stocking up on red wigglers, which you can buy from her preferred supplier, Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm. Pisegna suggests ordering them online — one thing to note is that most retailers won’t ship during very cold parts of the year to avoid freezing the worms.