By April Streeter | Tue May 19, 2009 12:21
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Buy Green: Outdoor Composters
From cone systems to bins tapping solar power, these five outdoor composters will turn your biodegradables into vitamin-rich garden soil.
Composting is good for so many reasons: It reduces waste, can lower the cost of your garbage service, and creates crumbly earth to nourish the grass, a budding container garden, or even a community garden.
And you don't have to build your own compost tumbler to get the job done: With the help of this handy guide, you can find the outdoor compost container that suits your budget and your schedule. No compost is completely care-free, but whether you've got a green or a black thumb, there are systems that require little maintenance or are even designed to produce a minimum of earth. These five outdoor composters are some of the best on the market.
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Green Cone System From Solar Cone
Why We Like It: The relatively compact Green Cone System From Solar Cone is a completely covered composter, which can help keep odors and rodents—as well as your labor—to a minimum. A basket at the bottom of the cone is embedded in the ground, and the above ground chamber is designed to efficiently cook the meat and veggie scraps below.
Eco Factor: Constructed of mostly recycled plastic, this composter takes about 11 pounds of scraps per week and taps solar energy to speed up the process. It's best used in sunny climes, and not designed to takes leaves and grass clippings.
Elbow Grease: No mixing or turning required makes the Solar Cone a great setup for the lazy environmentalist—you'll reduce your household waste by 20 percent while never lifting a finger...except to install the cone, take out your scraps, sprinkle on a bit of Accelerator Powder (bacteria in a cereal base), and remove the residue left in the cone after around five years.
Where: Solar Cone
How Much: $185 free shipping; Accelerator Powder $25 for three packets
Image courtesy of Green Cone
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ECOmposter From STC
Why We Like It: The patented ECOmposter definitely looks a little strange, but it's designed to overcome some of the challenges inherent in creating great compost. The spherical shape and the funny holes are part of an internal airflow system, which helps the decomposing waste get the oxygen it needs. You can roll or tumble the composter in any direction to help break up the material.
Eco Factor: The ECOmposter is the result of five years of research by Israeli company STC and is made from recycled plastic.
Elbow Grease: While rotation is necessary, the shape and stand make it relatively easy, and you don't need to turn the compost with extra tools. As an added bonus, removal of finished compost is a bit easier with the turning design.
Where: Wheatgrasskits
How Much: $300 for the 70-gallon capacity tank
Image courtesy of Wheatgrasskits
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Garden Compost Bin From Bosmere
Why We Like It: Bosmere's Garden Compost Bin is one of the many 'black box' composters out there. It's your basic backyard unit, yet sturdy with a slideable bottom door for easy access to the seasoned earth. It also has a reasonable footprint at 23 inches square and 40 inches high.
Eco Factor: This bin is made of recycled polypropelene.
Elbow Grease: The Garden Compost Bin is the no-frills version of the outdoor composter, so you'll have to invest a little time aerating and turning the soil, balancing proper ratio of brown matter to green matter. Emptying the entire unit will also be required every so often.
Where: Amazon
How Much: $140 for the 11-Cubic Foot version
Image courtesy of Courtesy of Bosmere
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Envirocycle From Envirocycle Systems
Why We Like It: The cheapest choice on this list, Envirocycle is a two-in-one system with a 5-gallon reservoir at the bottom that collects the 'compost tea' that might otherwise stay in your tumbler or keep your compost too wet.
Eco Factor: At around 50 gallons, this tumbler is smaller than some, but plenty big enough for small backyards or a balcony. Small rollers underneath the tumbler help with the turning.
Elbow Grease: The small size makes it fairly easy to turn and aerate (when not full).
Where: Envirocycle
How Much: $140 plus shipping
Image courtesy of Envirocycle Systems
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Urban Compost Tumbler 9 From D&P Industries
Why We Like It: The Urban Compost Tumbler 9 is one of many tumbler-style composters. What sets it apart is the sturdiness of the base, and the central aeration system. The closed design discourages critters.
Eco Factor: The UTC 9 is made from 100 percent recycled plastic.
Elbow Grease: A fully-loaded tumbler style composter requires some muscle to turn, but it's still easier by far than sticking your pitchfork into an open pile or trying to turn compost black box-style. It's not really faster than the black box, however, and may need draining if the compost becomes too wet.
Where: Organic Compost Tumbler
How Much: Around $285 (free shipping) for a 71-gallon capacity tumbler
Image courtesy of Urban Garden Center
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