Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My husband and I have been composting for several years now, starting shortly after we bought a house and planted our first vegetable garden. And in the several years we have been gardening, this is my 3rd pail. The first pail I bought from Amazon. It was one the typical round cannisters with a lid that had holes and a filter. The lid didn't fit straight out of the box. You had to fight to get it off and then nearly pound it with a hammer to get it back on. Wasn't worth the trouble. We tried using it without the lid, but didn't care for it and eventually it was repurposed to collecting my plant scraps when I tidied up all 25 of my house plants. Works great for that. I think we tossed the lid. Second pail I bought from gardener's on recommendation from a friend. We bought a nice large oval-shaped galvanized steal pail. Lid fit great, came off easily, no filters to deal with or buy, no bags to worry about. Worked great for 2 years. The only real issue we had is, since there is just the two of use, and despiste lots of tea drinking and lots of fresh vegetables and fruit consumption, it took us around 2 weeks to fill the pail. And as I later learned, due to the lack of holes and the lid fitting snuggly, it was a perfect environment for anaerobic breakdown, which smells terrible - think rotting vomit, and is bad for compost. The terrible stench had to be dealt with every time it was emptied. Well one Sunday morning, we woke up and the contents of the pail had eaten a hole through the steal bottom and leaked brown, viscous fluid all over the cupboard under the sink. It took cleaning it up, cleaning the area twice, and spraying a tea tree oil/water mixture over the area several times for the smell to eventually disappate. It was very much "What an incredible smell you've discovered" scenario. So, not wanting to have to deal with having to replace a pail again after a few years, I did some research, found a wonderful site that listed 10 features/qualities that should be considered before purchasing a compost pail. This one easily qualified for all of them except the handle - but with using bags - isn't an issue. My husband was first opposed to the thought of having to deal with bags as it was another consumable we would have to purchase, would end up costing more than just using a pail with air holes that didn't need bags, but once I pointed out that I would be able to finally empty the compost, he was suddenly on board with the purchase. Out house is built into the side of a steep hill, so everything in the yard needs to be leveled with concrete blocks - which places the top of our Aerobin over my head - making it impossible for me to lift the lid and turn a bucket upside down while trying to keep from wearing any of the contents. With a bag I can just swing it up and in - no problems. I liked that the pail is made from recylced materials. I like the simple design. I like the simple, mild colors. I bout theh green slate one and while we keep ours under the sink as I hate things on my counter, I think it would look fine on a counter if you have the space and prefer to store one there. I LOVE the push button that opens the lid. No more having to pull off a lid, place it somewhere, and hope there is nothing on it to grunge up the counter. The design is straightforward and simple. One reviewer was correct, it is essentialy a glorified compost bag holder, but it does its job perfectly. There is a steal bar that holds the bag securely so you don't have to worry about trying to tie knots to hold the bag in place. There are air vents on the sides inside and along the bottom and and small holes peppering the top. The lid opens with a quick push of the button and closes with a reassuring click. The bags that came with the pail are very nice and a little thicker than the BioBag 3 Gallon bags I bought along with it. The company recommends changing the bags every 3-5 days due to breakdown of the bags and so I just set a reminder on my phone to take care of the compost every 5 days to keep any accidents from happening. The bag is usually full enough by then to warrant tossing. No smell. No leaks. No bugs, though it is winter and with a newer house, I rarely see a bug anyway. But the lack of smell is a delightful change. And with using a bag, everything is nicely contained and hands stay clean as well as the pail. An added bonus is that the whole thing is dishwasher safe. So when it eventually becomes grungy or a bag somehow breaks, just take the pail apart and toss in the dishwasher. I would highly recommend this pail to anyone looking for one. Ease of use and design far outweigh the miniscule hassle of having to buy compost bags and the small cost that goes with them. And with the 4 pack of the BioBag Compost Bags that Amazon sells, you only need to buy bags once a year to every 18 months depending on how often you change bags.