I have been wanting to try composting, since I eat a lot of vegetables and therefore have a lot of trimmings. Is there really not an odor problem? Also, I am afraid it could attract mice (and worse) -- is that a valid concern?

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Susmita -- I have two vermicompost bins in my kitchen. I love them! If you're composting indoors, this is the method to use. I cook from scratch and so having compost bins has significantly reduced the amount of waste that my apartment produces.

There are no bad smells, though sometimes a subtle earthy smell emanates from the bins -- it literally smells like moist earth (and reminds me of summer. sigh.).

I have absolutely no mouse problems and the bins do not attract any vermin. I do occasionally have fruit fly infestations, but I hear that freezing the fruit trimmings goes a long way in controlling fruit flies. I'll have to try that. I also have the bad habit of keeping my trimmings in a bowl on the counter fore a few days before I dump them into the bin. This is where most of the fruit flies proliferate. I've been looking for a covered compost crock. I wish that these guys shipped to Canada. Boo.

I highly suggest that you Google "vermicomposting". You'll have to find someone in your area who sells red wriggler worms, as not just any type of worm will do.

We use a compost bin the size of a garbage bin which has a flap on the top for putting in new scraps and a door on the bottom for removing the compost. It's pretty much foolproof. If it draws fruit flies or gets smelly, add a layer of dead leaves or even green leaves on top. If it dries out, add some water. If it gets too squishy, dead leaves are again the solution. It is not as efficient as a true compost pile that gets tended, flipped, layered properly and watered regularly, but it is perfectly good at turning all of our fruit and vegetable scraps into compost. It's not handling all of our green waste: we have a green waste bin as well, which handles the bulk of the leaf litter/weeds in our yard and gets hauled off by the city and made into compost. If we had more space I'd process all of our green waste, but we don't. We do take what green waste we like to make the mix of the kitchen scraps compost better and keep our personal compost bin topped off. (The city doesn't take food waste, so the stay-at-home compost bin is a good solution for that.) Also since it's not a very hot compost bin, any really pernicious weeds go into the green waste; city compost is hot enough to kill the weeds, whereas our own bin would possibly let them sprout again.

A mini-bin for the kitchen should be easy to clean and have a lid if you aren't emptying it after every meal prep. I like the look of the bamboo bin but it's definitely harder to keep odor- and stain-free than stainless steel. I guess if you hit it with white vinegar or bleach periodically it'll be fine. My aunt just uses an open glass bowl, but she empties it after preparing each meal.

Yes, I second everything lillies said! I use a NatureMill indoor composter (I will review it one of these days) and you will need something like this or vermicomposting bins in order to compost inside. If you have outdoor space you can put a simple compost bin outside, too.

The countertop pail is just an in-between storage spot; it doesn't actually compost anything. I used to use a bowl, too, and it was rather unsightly plus, yes, it attracted flies. A covered pail is much better.

Just put your compost in a reused plastic bag and store it in the freezer. I suspect that anything above and beyond that is unnecessary consumption.

Yes, the bowl on the countertop is quite unsightly. I've started to keep it in the fridge until I can find a proper crock.

I use Rubbermaid bins from which I've cut windows on the top of the bin (not the lid). I've covered these holes with screens so that flies can't escape.

At first, I was concerned about drainage. However, I've found that my bin doesn't get excessively wet. If it tends to the wetter side, I add newspaper bedding.

Love my compost crock (from Gardeners as well) - has a charcoal filter & is impervious to staining, etc.

We're considering a Green Cone composter. No turning, no animal issues and empty about once a year. Sounds perfect to me since I only need compost that often.

I was really wanting a countertop bin for scraps, but didn't want to spend $40 on one. I found a small stainless ice bucket with tight-fitting lid at Ross for about $15 which works fine. I need to empty it about every 2 days.

I found a stainless steel counter top pail at Marshall's for $15. We also re-use yogurt containers for this purpose (we put eggshells in the yogurt container and crush them for the garden later, scraps go in the bucket). We live in an apartment and compost on the balcony in a 20-gallon storage tub that cost $6 at Target.

General question about countertop compost pails: I've seen ones that advertise airflow to avoid odors. That seems counterintuitive to me because then the smell can get out. Do those airflow bins work, or should I look for ones without holes?

The Biobag on the counter is wearing out its welcome :)