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6 Easy Ways to Make Your Own Compost Bins
Submitted by: Tip Hero 04/05/2010 5:10 PM Composting is a great way to recycle your food waste into a nutrient-rich soil for your yard and garden. Instead of going out and spending $100 or more on a store-bought compost barrel, you can make your own with a few tools and a few everyday items for a lot less.
The first “how-to” compost bin we found was on About.com and describes How to Make a Compost Bin from a Garbage Can in 30 minutes or less. All you will need to complete this project is a plastic trash can with a lid, a drill, a 1/2-inch wood bit, 3 bricks and a bungee cord. This option is great if you don’t have a lot of yard space and need your compost contained to protect it from unwanted rodents.
Make-Stuff.com shares five easy ways to make your own compost bin for those with a little more outdoor space. Check out their article titled How to Make Your Own Compost Bin. All five of them can be made cheaply and made out of materials that you might already have lying around the house. Here’s an example from their article:
Dresser Drawers
No, really. Take an old dresser / bureau. Knock out the bottom of each drawer. With a few 2×4’s you can attach the drawers together to make a small compost bin. Detach the top of the dresser and attach to the top of your bin with hinges at the back for easy accessibility.
And for the more ambitious do-it-yourselfers out there, be sure to check out the more complex compost bins, worm composters, and turning composters that you can make on your own, as described in the article How to Build a Compost Bin on Missouri.edu.
Link to this page
I've got an even easier one. When I'm cutting wood (it falls from the sky and needs to be cut for firewood anyway) I cut the straighter 3-4" branches about as long as I am tall and pile them up like Lincoln Logs in a square. The bin grows as it fills – I just add another 4 branches occasionally. Filling it gives it stability and it automatically has good ventilation because of the Lincoln log style. Ain't pretty, but it's not in the middle of the front yard either.
Very cool – very creative – very inexpensive! Thanks for sharing, MaryBelle! Maybe one day we can have a post of new Lincoln Log Compost Bins – I like. 🙂