Homemade Compost Pail

Overview

A compost pail keeps your kitchen scraps in an easily accessible place until you are ready to add them to your outdoor compost pile. Making your own compost pail for use in your kitchen is a relatively simple task, requiring only basic carpentry skills. If made correctly, the decomposing waste in the pail should not give off unpleasant odors for many weeks until it's time to change the filter.

Prepare the Pail

Step 1

Wash the pail thoroughly, removing any residue, particularly inorganic material. Leave no traces of its previous contents within.

Step 2

Affix the drill bit to the drill. Draw a circle with a pencil on the outside of the lid about half the distance from center. Drill eight to 10 holes along the circle.

Step 3

Place a glue stick into the glue gun. Plug the glue gun into an electrical receptacle and allow to heat up for several minutes.

Step 4

Turn the lid upside down to expose its underside. Lay the carbon filter on top and trace its circumference with the pencil. Remove the carbon filter and set aside.

Step 5

Place several dots of hot glue inside the the drawing of the filter. Keep all glue dots away from the holes previously drilled. Quickly position the carbon filter back inside the perimeter drawing and hold for a few seconds until glues cools and dries. Snap lid on bucket.