Compost Trials: 5-Gallon Bucket

A word of advice to anyone who wants to try using a 5-gallon bucket for compost: it doesn’t work all that well.

My compost journey started early this summer with a free 5-gallon bucket from work. We’re going through a couple of buckets a month at work, so rather than throwing them away we’re finding other uses for them. I though the bucket would be a perfect small compost bin since the lid already had a large hole where a pour spout had been and it would be easy to turn the compost by rolling the bucket. Unfortunately, the lid had to be sawed off in order to open and clean out the bucket. Buying a new lid kind of defeats the whole purpose of trying a free compost bin. I tried laying cardboard over the top but it didn’t help keep moisture in, so I tried using a scrap of translucent plastic that used to be in the kitchen light. That works to keep moisture in the bucket, but there’s still no way to roll the bucket around on its side to turn the compost.

With a plastic scrap covering the top of the bucket, there’s no way for the compost to aerate. The bucket also needed drain holes. So I got a nail and hammer and started punching little holes along the base for drain holes. That went well. But when I tried to punch aeration holes along the bucket sides, I ran into difficulty. It’s hard to punch holes in a 5 gallon bucket! At least part of the problem is that the plastic flexes. In any case, I gave up and resorted to manually aerating the compost with a long-handled trowel on a “daily” basis. (Um, maybe every-few-days-basis would be more accurate.)

As a result, the bucket compost is dry on the top and saturated on the bottom because I can’t effectively mix the compost. Don’t get me wrong, the compost is definitely composing. There’s still lots of activity in the bucket. But it is smelly, and it is small (1 bucket holds about 2 weeks of organic matter for us, and it is too small to heat up.)

So far, I would not recommend this strategy to anyone. It might be different with a lid, but without it is definitely not ideal. I’m going to see it out as an experiment, though. What I do recommend 5-gallon buckets for are holding bins. Don’t have time to take care of your compost during the week? Use a bucket outside to get it out of the house where the bugs can start working at it in the meantime. Gardening? Drag a bucket along behind you to collect your trimmings.

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