Since renovating the kitchen, our old crusty compost holder just didn't seem pretty enough anymore. Being urban composters, we need something small and sleek enough to fit into our new motif. Those funky country crocks just wouldn't cut it.
Browsing the aisles at Sur La Table, trying to spend a gift certificate, I came across these Stainless Steel Canisters (Sur La Table, $24.95 - $34.95), surely meant for dry goods like pasta and flour, but perfect for my composting needs. I picked up the 2.5-quart size, which fits perfectly on the countertop, yet holds enough so that we don't have to schlep it out to the bin every day.
That night, I joyfully filled it with garlic skins and butternut squash seeds and felt back on track with my kitchen composting.
We have this stainless steel compost pail from lee valley. I love it (and compost)!
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=10025&cat=2,33140&ap=1
How classy! To think I've been using empty 1L yoghurt containers for all these years. And that Lee Valley pail looks like it could double as a wine cooler too...
I'm really inspired. I've just been using tupperware containers.
I'm interested to hear how others are composting in their urban spaces/apartments/etc. I vermicompost, so in the winter my bin is in the basement and I hope my landlord doesn't notice. It's my first winter composting and it seems to be going really well. But if you don't have a basement, or if you're not vermicomposting, then how are you making it work? Also-- do people have more attractive bins? Mine's just a rubbermade contained with holes drilled in.
What do you do with compost when you live in an apartment?
Most of the time I mix the vermicompost (aka humus, aka worm poop) with water and let it sit for a day or two to make liquid fertilizer, which gets poured on my house plants. I also have a little tiny side yard, so I dump compost and humus on plants out there periodically. I had a thriving herb garden out there before winter came and everything more or less went to hell.
I know here in NYC, apartment dwellers can drop off their compostable waste at the Union Square Greenmarket's compost table: http://www.satyamag.com/jun01/datz-romero.html
Another option for apartment dwellers is to look into local community gardens. I belong to one in Brooklyn (6/15) that has a very active compost program and welcomes household donations as long as composters follow a few guidelines.