If everyone in the world began composting we could make such a huge dent in our waste and the quality of the soil worldwide!!
Some estimates say that up to 50% of our trash is food- that makes me so sad. We are working to drastically reduce our waste and really try to never throw food away. We do end up composting a lot of scraps, peels and pits (although I try to find uses for as much as I can!)
We had been using a gallon jar on our counter for compost but found we were emptying it daily and sometimes even multiple times a day during the busy CSA season. I would just dump it all into a plastic bin for hubby to haul off to work (we’re in a 3rd floor apartment but my husband’s work has a compost dumpster.) We got bugs- lots and lots of bugs (who somehow found their way into my kombucha too), it stank and wasn’t pretty to look at.
Clearly our solution was not working for us. During the height of CSA season I spend a lot of time preparing lactofermented foods, dehydrating and freezing the bounty so we’ll have plenty to use during the off season as well. Unfortunately this season has been off to a rough start due to all the rains and late frosts but we’re getting there. So I was THRILLED to get a Compo Keeper for our composting needs! We got the red one and it’s so pretty!
Not only is CompoKeeper a local brand (and made in the USA!), they are also under the same company as BOULDER cleaners and we’ve been using their dish soap, hand soap, window cleaner, and stainless steel cleaner for years (they’ve got lots of other products too- check them out here– for those of you who are local you can even refill their products at Alfalfa’s in Boulder!)
This compost bin is exactly what we needed. It’s roomy- 6 gallons!! Opens with a foot pedal so I can bring my cutting board right over to it and pop it open. My son can operate it (and loves to!) and it’s classy looking. It looks much nicer than a glass jar on the counter. It also comes with a great little composting style flow chart and handy list of what you can and cannot compost.
It has a little bag tote that goes inside the bin so when you’re ready to empty it you just grab the bag tote by the handles and it pulls out the whole bag so you can carry it without worrying about the bag tearing (which is a common problem among compostable bags). My hubby just sticks it in the bed of the truck, washes out the little bag tote at work and brings the whole thing home.
Plus it has little arms that hold the bag in place and a carbon filter as double bug protection. It gets really HOT in our apartment which totally attracted all the bugs last summer. This summer we’ve only had one bug issue and that was because my son didn’t get the lid closed all the way.
Overall we love it- we empty it every 5-7 days and that works great for us. Unfortunately, our floor is a little bit crooked so that kind of throws off the bag sometimes but it’s not a big deal. Really the only way this thing could be better would be if it emptied itself.
I love this thing. I think it would work awesome for diapers as well and totally would have used one as a holder for our cloth diapers. It would also work great as a trash can to help keep out the stink (we’ve are downgrading our trash can to a small bin under the kitchen sink).
Check out CompoKeeper at http://compokeeper.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CompoKeeper
Note- I received this product at a discount in exchange for my honest review. The opinions in this post are my own.
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