How to Make a Compost Bin out of a Garbage Can
Since compost is mostly decomposing plant material, along with a few other materials, you don’t have to go out and purchase a compost bin. It’s rather simple to build a homemade compost bin using only a few materials that are easy to find. Compost bins make the garden area neater, and many gardeners prefer to use a bin instead of letting the compost decompose on the ground.
Materials Needed
First off, you’ll need the following items before getting started:
- Bricks or wood to build a base
- Garbage can
- Material to put in a compost bin
- Water
Homemade Compost Bin Instructions
Alright, let’s actually turn the garbage can into a compost bin.
Step 1: Punch holes in the lid and throughout the garbage can. Oxygen is part of the process needed to decompose the material.
Step 2: Chop up all the debris and materials you’re putting into the compost bin. The makeup should be about 50% green materials (grass clippings, manure, etc) and the other 50% should be brown materials (newspapers, saw dust, etc). You don’t have to fill the garbage can all at once; you can add material in whenever it becomes available.
Learn how to make compost.
Step 3: Spray water on the material until it’s damp. Don’t spray too much though; you don’t want it all the way soggy.
Step 4: Put the lid back on the garbage can and sit the garbage can on some bricks or a platform of lumbar. You don’t want the garbage can to get rusty or rot.
Step 5: Mix up the materials on the garbage can by shaking it daily, or at least once or twice a week. You can add more plant material whenever you get it.
Step 6: Make sure the material is always slightly damp, like as dry as a rung out sponge.
Step 7: In about a month you can harvest your compost material to be put on your crops.