Update on compost bins – we have 2 of ‘em now!

To date, Joe and I have made 2 compost bins and placed them just outside our apartment near my dad’s row of plants. The first bin (with the green lid) is almost 3 weeks old now, while the second bin (usually without its pink lid) is only about 5 days old.

Our 2 compost bins outside our apartment

Both bins are made in slightly different ways:

1) The green bin’s bottom layer consists of a few pieces of newspapers followed by an inch of soil (click here for more information), while the bottom layer of the pink bin consists of plenty of browns (fallen leaves) up to about 5 inches. We decided to try the latter method of using more fallen leaves this time to see if the fallen leaves would break down faster as compared to the earlier method of using newspapers.

Note: The fallen leaves (usually dry and brown in colour) could be easily collected from anywhere in the neighbourhood as Singapore has NUMEROUS trees

2) We also used more soil in the pink bin as the bottom layer this time, as we wanted to provide more microorganisms for the breaking down of food scraps, and also a thicker ‘sponge’ to soak up excess liquids. Moreover, the combination of fallen leaves and soil (as compared to the green bin’s method of using whole pieces of newspapers and soil) would allow excess fluids to drain out more easily through the holes at the bottom of the bin.

Note: A waterlogged bin would cause the composting process to be anaerobic, leading to bad odours.

3) For the pink bin, we decided to do without the lid and purposely leave the bin unattended. This is to simulate a completely fuss-free process, while the bin is able to freely enjoy aeration from its surroundings. It had rained these couple of days as well, and we simply allowed rainwater to freely fall into the bin, and subsequently allow it to naturally evaporate when the weather gets warmer.

The compost in the pink bin is about 5 days old now (since 11 April 2010), and the bin seems to show signs of an active compost – when you put your hand into the bin, you could feel lukewarm steam coming out of the compost pile. There is only a slight odour when you take a close sniff at the pile, otherwise the smell is negligible.

One of the ways to see if the compost is active: if the pile emits some warmth, it's a good sign

The green bin, however, emits a very strong odour when the lid is removed. As such, we decided to leave the lid on the bin, and not remove it till much later. We only remove the lid occasionally to observe/check on the pile, and the odour is really strong. It smelled like a rotting forest, and Joe actually thought about his army days! To prevent neighbours from complaining, the bin is covered with the lid most of the time.

To date, the compost in the green bin is almost 3 weeks old. There are no noticeable bugs or pests around the bin, likewise for the pink bin. On another note, both bin remain steamy, and you can see actual water droplets condensing on the inner surface of the bin and dripping down back into the compost.

A lot of condensed water droplets on the inside surfaces of both bins

Lastly, the material in both bins have shrunk significantly. For example, the green bin was completely filled till near the brim, but now the compost material only takes up approximately half of the space in the container. The pink bin, on the other hand, had material that originally reached up to about half the container’s height, but it now seems to have shrunk to about 1/3 of the container.

The height of the material in the green bin on 29 May 2010...

...versus the height of the material in the green bin on 16 April 2010 (the compost shrunk!)

This is good news! A shrinking compost pile means that the compost material is gradually breaking down (decomposting), thus decreasing in its size and volume. Some moisture would have been lost as well.

To learn more about creating your own compost bin, click here.

Do check back for more updates on our compost pile! It has been an exciting learning process so far, and there is truly something new to discover everyday

Happy composting!