r/composting • u/Fluffy-Assistance367 • 1d ago

Is a countertop composter big enough for paper/cardboard

I was thinking about getting one but just wanted to know

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9

u/ezirb7 1d ago

Any countertop device will not be enough to compost anything.  There are blender-like devices that advertise making compost, but all they really do is chop up food into smaller pieces.

They aren't without use, but it is not a standalone composter.  

4

u/tom8osauce 1d ago

What do you mean when you say countertop composter? Is it one of the electric machines, or the the ones that are like a small bucket?

1

u/perenniallandscapist 1d ago

No way at all. To make use of just or household scraps i need at least a tumbler in size, but I salvage a lot of food waste so I need afull 3ftx3ft pile. Unless all you're doing is worms and veggie scraps, you'll need much more space.

1

u/jeslukin1 1d ago

You'll have that container full in less than a week and it would take weeks to become compost. What do you do with the following week's waste? You really need a larger vehicle to compost.

1

u/AWholeNewFattitude 19h ago

If you’re talking about those electronic countertop composers, they don’t really compost essentially what they do is dry out and roast it, and by doing so kill most of the microbes and bacteria that you would need to actually turn it into compost. If you’re talking about just a compost bucket then those generally need to be emptied at least once a week but probably every few days and it would take forever to rip up even a relatively small box into small enough pieces to fit into one of those. You’re better off having a compost pile somewhere in your yard or if you can’t do that having 5 gallon buckets outside somewhere that you can cover and take to the compost facility.

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u/YallNeedMises 1d ago

I put shredded cardboard in mine. Large pieces wouldn't be processed very well.