Deciding which compost method is best for you can be confusing, intimidating and downright complicated. In this post, I outline the pros and cons of every type of at-home composting!

Multi-Bin Composting

Likely, multi-bin compost systems are what you imagine when you think about composting. These are typically large piles of compost enclosed with wooden boards, chicken wire or plastic buckets. If you have a large outdoor space, a two- or three-bin composting system might be the ticket for you.

In a multi-bin compost system, you add fresh food and yard scraps to one compartment, turning the pile with a rake or pitchfork every time you add to it. Once the scraps start to break down (usually in a few weeks), move the contents of that pile to the second compartment. Continue adding your leftovers to the first compartment and turning that pile every time you add more. Turn the second bin less frequently.

If you have a two-bin system, continue occasionally turning until the second bin's contents become completely broken down and resemble fresh soil. Then, transfer that compost to your garden, move the first pile to the second compartment and repeat the process.

If you have a three-bin system, transfer the second compartment's contents to the third bin and the first compartment's contents to the second once the first pile is full. Turn the third bin occasionally, the second bin frequently and the first bin every time you add scraps. Use the third bin's compost in your garden once broken down and then repeat the process.

Although multi-bin compost can attract animals and takes more physical effort than some composters, it is very efficient and allows for a relatively high volume of compost. If you produce a lot of food scraps, have a large yard and aren't afraid to get your hands a little dirty, this is the perfect compost solution for you!

Tumbler Composting

Compost tumblers are large, rotating containers suspended above the ground. One end of the compost tumbler has a small opening where you can add food and yard scraps. Some tumblers are divided into sections, imitating a multi-bin compost system.

Compost tumblers are super easy to use. You just place your food scraps inside and rotate the bin with each addition. If your tumbler is divided, add scraps to one side until it is full and then begin adding to the next side. The first side will finish breaking down as you add leftovers to the second side.

After a few weeks or months, your compost will be ready to use! Transfer the fresh compost from your tumbler to your garden to make the most of the compost.

Compost tumblers cannot hold as many scraps as most multi-bin systems, and removing the compost from compost tumblers can be a little tricky because the opening is pretty small. However, compost tumblers are easy to use, don't usually attract pests or create smells, and fit in small backyard spaces. If you have a small outdoor space, compost tumblers are a great composting option.

Bokashi composting

Bokashi composters are small, anaerobic (air-tight) systems that ferment food to create usable compost. Bokashi compost systems rely on "bokashi bran," which is filled with billions of living microbes that eat away and ferment your scraps.

To create a bokashi composting system, all you need is a large sealable bucket with a spigot at the bottom and some bokashi bran, which you can buy online. As you create food scraps, place them in the bucket and cover them with a layer of bokashi bran. Continue this process until the bucket is full. Notice that you don't need to, and shouldn't, turn your bokashi compost. Instead, the microbes in the bran prefer to break down the compost without air.

Once the bucket is full, seal it and set it aside for about two weeks. In this time, your food will quickly ferment and break down. After your scraps are fermented, don't put them on your plants just yet. The finished bokashi compost is very acidic, so you need to transfer it to a compost tumbler, compost pile or an empty spot in your garden before putting it near your plants. Then, after the bokashi compost sits in your garden or aerobic compost pile for a few weeks, you can introduce it to your plants.

Although bokashi composting requires bokashi bran and an additional compost pile, it breaks down food much more quickly than other methods. It also does not need turning, welcomes meat, bones and dairy, and can be stored inside until the fermentation process is complete. If you want to make compost quickly, want indoor and outdoor compost systems, and eat a lot of meat and dairy, bokashi composting is the one for you!

Worm composting

Like bokashi composting, vermicomposting (worm composting) relies on living organisms to break down your food. While bokashi composting uses microbes, vermicomposting uses worms.

You can vermicompost in a single shallow container, but most worm composting systems consist of several aerated bins stacked on top of each other.

In a multi-bin worm system, you layer yard and food scraps with red worms or wigglers in the bottom bin until it is full. Then, stack the next bin on top, gradually filling it with yard waste and food scraps. As the worms eat through the bottom bin's waste, they will slowly move into the next bin. Once all the worms have left the bottom container, you can use the leftover contents as compost in your garden and start the process again.

Because worm composting uses living organisms, you need to monitor your bins' conditions carefully. Worms need darkness, moisture, food and air to survive, so your containers should always have a combination of these elements.

To keep your worms happy, always maintain a combination of dry "brown" materials, like newspaper scraps, dead leaves and shredded cardboard, and moist "green" materials, like fruit and vegetable scraps. Keeping a proper balance of brown and green materials will ensure that your worms have enough air, moisture and food to survive.

Although worm composting requires more monitoring than other compost systems, you can do it entirely indoors, it does not smell and it breaks down food quickly. Worm composting is perfect if you want an indoor-only compost solution and you're not afraid of some experimenting and worm-touching!

Compost collecting

The most common types of small-space "composters" on the market are not actually composters. Instead, they are small sealable bins where you can collect compost, which you'll need to transfer to an outdoor, bokashi, worm, or electronic composter once the container is full.

If you're in the market for a small-space composter, don't fall for these imposter compost bins! Your food will not break down in these containers — they are only meant to collect food for future composting.

These compost collectors are handy if you'll be cooking throughout the day and don't want to take multiple trips to your backyard composter or if you live in an area with community compost collections. However, if you don't have another location to compost your food waste, these compost collectors are pretty much useless.

Electronic composting

Okay, so this is another type of composting that many don't consider actual composting. Electronic composters dehydrate and grind food to create a dry, sterile (no bacteria here) fertilizer.

Although you can sprinkle this dry compost powder onto your garden for some extra nutrients, it does not have the same moisture and bacteria benefits as traditional compost. Some reviewers even claim that these dry scraps made their garden smell bad as the scraps rehydrated. Electronic composters also use energy, which is quite unsustainable in itself.

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to break down all your food, which you will then add to a traditional composter, this might be a good solution. However, I struggle to see the value of using energy to break down food when some fresh air, worms, or microbes can do this with no extra power required!

Every Type of At-Home Composting