EnviroCycle Compost Bin Review & Giveaway!

Confession:  After Penelope was born, I gave my compost bin the middle finger. I just couldn’t do it anymore. Something had to give and composting was one of those things that got pushed to the back burner, along with showering, and wearing anything other than yoga pants. Sorry, I take that back: other than sweat pants. It was a fancy day if I put on yoga pants.

I have been composting since I was 20 years old (if you’re new around here, I just turned 30). My first compost bin was a DIY version with chicken coop wire. I really wish I had  a picture to show you! And I wish I had a picture to show you of my now husband’s face when he came over to my house for the first time and asked “What the hell is that?!” My second composter is one I got from God knows where, and it was this huge stackable contraption thing. Hated it. Third composter is one I got from the city they were selling for a good price one Earth day a couple of years ago. And it was ok, just hard to mix up.

Meet my fourth composter. I think fourth time’s the charm. I luh-uv this thing. I got the mini version because with our move to Jupiter, FL, next summer and downsizing our house and yard size, I wanted to have a smaller composter. Even if you only have a porch and do container gardening, this composter would be perfect. Envirocycle is made with post-consumer BPA-free plastic and the packaging is minimized and printed on recycled stock with water-based inks.

To mix it up, all you have to do is give it a whirl. Then when your compost is ready, you just wheel it on over to your jardin. So freaking easy.

And it also makes a compost tea at the bottom, it’s genius I tell ya. You find Envirocycle on Facebook and Twitter.

If you have never composted before, it is pretty easy. Don’t let my postpartum freak out moment scare you off. Just get yourself some sort of kitchen counter compost bin. You can get a fancy one with carbon filters or you can just get a metal bucket with a lid like the picture below, I got it from World Market for less than $20. And then fill her up.

Here’s a list of things you can compost:

Green (wet)

• fruit and vegetables peels
• coffee grinds and filters
• tea bags
• egg shells
• garden waste (but not weeds!)
• plant trimmings (but not stuff that has pests on them)
• table waste

Brown (dry)

• leaves
• dry grass
• straw
• sawdust (just make sure it’s not from wood with arsenic in it)
• newspaper (I don’t do this though because of the ink on the paper)
• paper and egg cartons

DO NOT PUT IN COMPOST:

• meat and fish
• dairy
• sauces
• oil and fat
• pet waste
• diseased plants
• weeds
• bones

Dump your scraps in your EnviroCycle compost bin. When I added my first scraps, I added a shovel full of dirt from my garden to activate and help the composting cycle go faster.

Some other composting tips:

• roll your drum at least three times a week
• keep material moist. If it is too wet, just add some dry leaves to balance it out
• smaller pieces of scraps compost faster
• always maintain a 50/50 ratio of green and brown material

Now for the giveaway! EnviroCycle is giving their fabulous compost bin to one lucky winner.

To enter, all you have to do is subscribe to my YouTube channel, then come back here and leave one comment saying you have done so.

For 3 additional entries, you can do any of the following and leave a separate comment for each one you have done. Remember, you must subscribe to my YouTube channel before you can qualify for additional entries.

• Like my Facebook page
• Share this post on Facebook or Pinterest, and tag @MamaAndBabyLove
• Sign up for my newsletter

Entries will be closed on December 1, 2012 at 12pm EST. Winners will be selected via Random.org and emailed. Please refer to the policies page for full giveaway details.