Where should kitchen scraps be collected before going to the bin?

February 27, 2008 2:57 PM

What should keep my kitchen scraps in before taking them to the yard waste bin?

Up until this last week, I've had a simple, happy system for kitchen scraps: they went in a rinsed-out juice or milk carton, which could then be chucked into the yard waste bin. But now my city's changing garbage companies, and I can no longer put waxed paper in with the yard waste.

What system should I switch to? Relevant information:
- I have a strong sense of smell
- We generate a lot of composty stuff
- I'm not looking for information about composting or worm bins
- I hate fruit flies
- I rarely have used paper bags, to-go cartons, or paper cups lying around (but they're allowed in the bin)
- Paper towels can go in the yard waste bin
- I really really hate fruit flies
- I don't want to have to wash out the yard waste bin

Suggestions?

posted by The corpse in the library to Home & Garden (15 answers total)

A Compost Pail naturally, like this one. Inside your pail, you can use biodegradable compost bags like these (these are sometimes available at supermarkets depending on where you live and shop) to keep everything neat and tidy with no need for washing the bin. Alternatively, skip the bags and wash out the when it gets yucky.
posted by zachlipton at 3:00 PM on February 27, 2008

How about coffee filters?
posted by Sassyfras at 3:01 PM on February 27, 2008

I have a large bowl in the freezer: I toss all the vegetable scraps in it. Of course it goes in my compost bin, adding both organic matter and water. You could put it in your yard waste. If it is frozen, it will not smell.
posted by francesca too at 3:06 PM on February 27, 2008

A diaper pail works really well. It's built to keep odor from escaping. Skip the bags and just hose it out after dumping the compost.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 3:07 PM on February 27, 2008

We use large-size empty yogurt containers. With the lids on, no flies, rarely any smell. If they get stinky, though, put them in the freezer. On garbage day (or the night before), take them out of the freezer for a bit and then just toss the contents into one of those bio-bags zachlipton mentioned.
posted by rtha at 3:07 PM on February 27, 2008

Depending on the size of your freezer and how often the compost goes out, you might consider keeping a large container in the freezer into which you add compost food scraps. The food will freeze, making removal pretty easy and relatively odorless, although you will need to wash the container out every couple of weeks for the gross factor.
posted by dreamphone at 3:08 PM on February 27, 2008

I use plastic grocery bags exactly for this (among other uses). I already have them (I always save them), so I'm not generating waste per se, and my compost pile is next to my dumpster.

I just keep one around, and the day's worth of scraps go into it (I loosely tie the handles to keep things in/out) and take with me when I let the dog out at night. I just empty its contents into the compost and chuck the bag into the dumpster.


It's like getting a little second life out of something that is given to me as trash anyway.
posted by sourwookie at 3:10 PM on February 27, 2008

We use a 1 gallon ice cream pail. The lid keeps the smell in and all you need to do is rinse it out when you empty it.
posted by comiddle at 3:30 PM on February 27, 2008

We use a stainless steel garbage pail (about 12 inches high with a hinged lid) with a removable plastic bucket inside. We line the bucket with 2-3 sheets of newsprint. Every night we remove the newsprint bundle and drop it in our yard waste bin.
posted by smcniven at 3:39 PM on February 27, 2008

I used to use quart yogurt containers, which worked ok but would eventually break from the opening and closing. So a couple of years ago I went to one of those kitchen and junk kind of stores (Bed Bath & Beyond? Walmart? who knows?) and bought a medium-large plastic container that is dishwasher-safe, and makes a hermetic seal when closed. No smell, easy to clean, so far environmentally good in that it has lasted two or three years.
posted by Forktine at 4:07 PM on February 27, 2008

We use a large stainless steel canister from Costco with a rubber seal. It smells when you open it, but no odor escapes when the lid is on. If you rinse it when you empty it, the odor is greatly reduced as well.
posted by lemonade at 4:40 PM on February 27, 2008

I'm going to buck the trend here and recommend an open bowl or pail. I tried several closed systems and they always got slimy and disgusting really fast.

Things seem to rot less quickly with good ventilation. So now I just have a stainless steel bowl on my counter into which I toss the (many, many) veg scraps, and every few days I take it out to the compost. It's also easier to use than my various pails or snap-on lid systems--all I have to do is toss scraps into the bowl while I chop.

I haven't noticed fruit flies, but I don't eat bananas, which seem to me to be the real fruit-fly magnets.
posted by PatoPata at 4:48 PM on February 27, 2008

The best system I was involved in was a stainless steel bowl, about the size you'd use for a bowl of popcorn for three people. There was a salad plate resting on top of it. You have to empty it once or twice a day, and you either spray it with the hose on your way back in or wipe it out with a little newspaper. Nothing has time to get grody inside. It's just banana and onion peels and this morning's coffee grounds, and then it's out back. It's easy to open and close so it is always closed (meaning there are never any fruit flies).
posted by salvia at 9:18 PM on February 27, 2008

you can easily get rid of fruit flies with a mixture of part water, part apple cider vinegar, and just a dash or two of regular dish soap. the vinegar brings them in, the dish soap coats their wings and they drown. works fast, make sure you make a fresh batch every other day.
posted by kuppajava at 10:53 PM on February 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

Seconding keeping your container open. I've used both open and closed pails and the closed ones seem to get nasty much quicker. An open container is easier to throw stuff into as well. You can line the bottom of the pail with newspaper, which will soak up any liquids and further reduce smells (of course, the newspaper just goes right into the compost too), but I'm not too picky, so I don't bother.
posted by ssg at 12:09 PM on February 28, 2008