Looking to buy a composter?
Here are some highly rated compost bins and compost tumblers available on Amazon that we like. Any of these bins are a good way to get started composting at home and should serve you well.
The Spin Bin compost tumbler is a great, vertical compost tumbler that tumbles end over end. With a double mixer bar in the center, the gravity of the tumbling mixes up your materials so that they break down quickly. It holds a respectable 60 gallons of material, which will take care of all of your kitchen scraps and a decent amount of yard waste like grass clippings or leaves. It has a lid on both sides, so either way you have it, you can always just take off the lid and throw something inside. It costs around $129. See it at Amazon or here.
The biggest selling point of the Yimby compost tumbler is that it is cheap. It typically runs anywhere from $85 to $100 on Amazon. The Yimby has a small capacity of just 37 gallons, split into two separate chambers. You are supposed to fill up one half and then let it break down as you fill up the other half. When the other half is full, you have been composting correctly, you should be able to empty out the first half and start the whole process over again. With more than 600 reviews and a 4 1/2 star rating, buyers like it. This is a good bin for smaller loads like kitchen scraps, but would not be able to keep up with large amounts of leaves or grass clippings because of the limited capacity. The horizontal tumbling action makes it a little bit easier to turn as you fill it up. See it at Amazon.
If you are looking for a straightforward and extremely sturdy standard compost bin that really works, the Soil Saver is a terrific choice. It’s made of 100 percent recycled plastic that is extremely thick and well built. At under $100, it is a very good value. It is black, so it absorbs sunlight and helps heat up the contents. It holds a respectable 11.5 cubic feet of materials, which is almost 90 gallons. That means you can add more yard waste than with a smaller tumbler. The locking lid keeps pests away. It has an open bottom, which means that it is best suited to place on the ground and not on a deck or on concrete. There is a sliding door on two sides of the composter, which means that you can simply keep adding materials to the top of the bin and let them break down, and retrieve finished compost from the bottom with a shovel. This method works great because it doesn’t require a lot of work. Perfect for the lazy composter who wants to just throw stuff in and forget about it. See it at Amazon.
An open, wire compost bin is a great choice if you are mostly composting yard waste. This bin is 36 inches by 36 inches by 30 inches, which means that it holds a very large 22 cubic feet of materials, which is approximately 165 gallons. That is as much as three 50 gallon composters! It is very inexpensive too, at around $39. I recommend buying two or three for a hidden corner of your yard, so that you can compost all of your yard waste. The open design keeps it wet when it rains. The large capacity gives you a bigger pile, which heats up better than a small pile. If you mix a lot of leaves and grass with this compost bin, you are going to get some good compost over time. You don’t want to add a lot of kitchen scraps to a wire bin like this, because it can attract squirrels, pets and other pests. See it at Amazon.