Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been using this compost bin for three months. There's a lot to like about it. At the same time, it has some less appealing features that can be extra-frustrating, depending on the type of composting you're doing. Before buying it, think realistically about what kind of composting you'll be doing. First, it's definitely worth it for the price and easy set-up. There are more expensive ones that work better. There's no doubt that those $100-$200, rotating bins will enable you to make compost more easily. You can also build a cheaper one yourself. I mean, you can literally just make a pile in your yard, and it will break down. (I've also read about someone who tied four wood pallets together. Worked great, and the only cost was labor.) But among the less expensive compost bins, this one is definitely the most user-friendly. A few, basic tips: 1. You need a lot of stuff to compost. The material you put in will hold the bin open. Keep in mind that it's been all rolled up in storage, so it wants to return to that rolled state. Make sure you have enough compost material. Use cardboard! It's easy to find, and free. Again, adding it only requires your labor. 2. Consider staking it with a pole or attaching it to a fence. It will make your life easier in the future. 3. Get someone to hold the ends together when you're setting it up. If you're doing it alone, unroll the bin around your body, so that you're inside of it. From there, you'll be able to put in at least the top two locks. Then you can lift it off and put in the other ones. Now comes the difficult part. What kind of composting are you going to be doing? Hot composting? Cold composting? The first one requires you to turn the pile at couple of times a week. With this bin, turning won't be difficult at first. You won't even have to open it. Simply use your shovel (I prefer a spade) to lift stuff out and move it around. As the compost becomes more dense, however, you'll find that it's a lot harder to turn without opening up the bin. And once the bin is open, you have to re-make the pile in a new place, because the bin can't be closed again. Plus, over time, this bin tends to slide up and expose the bottom part of the pile. The structure of the bin also changes when compost gets dense. It becomes less circular and more oval, and the long sides of the oval fold in on one another. About six weeks into my first hot compost pile, I stopped using this bin altogether, since I kept scraping my knuckles on the long edges, which had folded in toward the center. In short, this bin is better for people who are *NOT* going to be turning their compost very often. It's better for cold composting (a longer process, but one that doesn't require turning the pile). If you just want to throw stuff in there and not think about it again, then this is your bin. And unless you're a carpenter, it's probably more attractive than whatever free thing you can whip up on your own.