Building Compost Bins

If you want to build a compost bin, you must first have a bin to collect all the wastes. The bin is where the waste materials will decompose. The compost bin does it all by keeping the waste intact and letting everything rot and ferment. A lot of compost bins are available out there but it wouldn't be such a bad idea if you can build your own compost bins to be more cost efficient.

The cheapest way is to scavenge for wooden pallets. These wooden pallets will serve as the walls of your compost bin. If you cannot find wooden pallets, then just buy them from scrap yards.

These pallets usually cost no more than a couple of dollars. You will need to treat them with a protective coating to prevent rotting. Wooden pallets that are not treated will easily decompose along with the compost materials.

Building a compost bin yourself is really cost efficient. You can make it according to the way you think it should hold the waste materials properly. The only issues are how it should look like and how big the compost bin is. If you build a compost bin that is too big, you will only end up tiring yourself. Instead of feeling pleased that the wastes are being turned into something productive, it will become more of a chore than a practical hobby.

Other materials that can hold compost wastes that you can use to build compost bins are plastic drums that may be lying idly around your backyard. Just don't forget to punch holes all around the drum to promote air passage into the mixture. This will allow the compost to decompose faster.

A plastic drum as a compost bin is most useful in places where there is a very limited space. You can even improve it by mounting it on a stand and attach a crank to it so you can turn the contents without having to pick the drum and turn it upside down manually.

You can also build a compost bin using chicken wire and using metal or galvanized iron posts to run the wire around so it creates an enclosure. The wire holds the compost together so it does not scatter. This is a simple open-air compost bin. When the items in your compost pile has decomposed enough, you can take out the wire and move it to a different location and start another compost pile.