What are the Best Outdoor Composters

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Why We Like It: The relatively compact Green Cone System From Solar Cone is a completely covered composter, which can help keep odors and rodents as well as your labor to a minimum.

A basket at the bottom of the cone is embedded in the ground, and the above-ground chamber is designed to efficiently cook the meat and veggie scraps below.

Eco Factor: Constructed of mostly recycled plastic, this composter takes about 11 pounds of scraps per week and taps solar energy to speed up the process. It's best used in sunny climes, and not designed to take leaves and grass clippings.

Elbow Grease: No mixing or turning required makes the Solar Cone a great setup for the lazy environmentalist you'll reduce your household waste by 20 percent while never lifting a finger...except to install the cone, take out your scraps, sprinkle on a bit of Accelerator Powder (bacteria in a cereal base), and remove the residue left in the cone after around five years.

ECOmposter From STC

Why We Like It: The patented ECOmposter definitely looks a little strange, but it's designed to overcome some of the challenges inherent in creating great compost.

The spherical shape and the funny holes are part of an internal airflow system, which helps the decomposing waste get the oxygen it needs. You can roll or tumble the composter in any direction to help break up the material.

Eco Factor: The ECOmposter is the result of five years of research by Israeli company STC and is made from recycled plastic.

Elbow Grease: While rotation is necessary, the shape and stand make it relatively easy, and you don't need to turn the compost with extra tools. As an added bonus, the removal of finished compost is a bit easier with the turning design.

Garden Compost Bin From Bosmere

Why We Like It: Bosmere's Garden Compost Bin is one of the many 'black box' composters out there. It's your basic backyard unit, yet sturdy with a slideable bottom door for easy access to the seasoned earth. It also has a reasonable footprint at 23 inches square and 40 inches high.

Eco Factor: This bin is made of recycled polypropylene.

Elbow Grease: The Garden Compost Bin is the no-frills version of the outdoor composter, so you'll have to invest a little time aerating and turning the soil, balancing the proper ratio of brown matter to green matter. Emptying the entire unit will also be required every so often.

Envirocycle From Envirocycle Systems

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Why We Like It: The cheapest choice on this list, Envirocycle is a two-in-one system with a 5-gallon reservoir at the bottom that collects the 'compost tea' that might otherwise stay in your tumbler or keep your compost too wet.

Eco Factor: At around 50 gallons, this tumbler is smaller than some, but plenty big enough for small backyards or a balcony. Small rollers underneath the tumbler help with the turning.

Elbow Grease: The small size makes it fairly easy to turn and aerate (when not full).

Urban Compost Tumbler 9 From D&P Industries

Why We Like It: The Urban Compost Tumbler 9 is one of many tumbler-style composters. What sets it apart is the sturdiness of the base and the central aeration system. The closed design discourages critters.

Eco Factor: The UTC 9 is made from 100 percent recycled plastic.

Elbow Grease: A fully loaded tumbler tumbler-style composter requires some muscle to turn, but it's still easier by far than sticking your pitchfork into an open pile or trying to turn compost black box-style. It's not really faster than the black box, however, and may need draining if the compost becomes too wet.

Related Post: Best Automatic Compost Bin For Indoor Composting Any Time