Lazy man's composter.

Transcript and Links:
I think I've built a cheap, no-sweat, composter that'll break down your leaves with impressive speed.

I hate turning compost! I won't do it, no way, no how! I know that if I have enough patience or the right equipment I can avoid the backbreaking drudgery of turning the pile.

We've all seen the fancy plastic composters you can get at the garden center. I'm sure most of them work great, but I'm a skinflint with a grandiose imagination. Spending around fifty dollars on something that will process a few hundred pounds of compost per year isn't too bad, but I wanted to go BIG. What if I want to process tons and tons of leaves imported and stolen from my friends and neighbors?

I see these forlorn bags of yard waste sitting in driveways and backyards and it just galls me that such an awesome resource is going to waste.

Since turning compost is against my religion (Dudeism), and buying a dozen plastic composters is out of my price range I was stuck. Building a humongous pile and then letting nature take its course is also unworkable because my lot isn't big enough to accommodate a compost pile the size of a CAR sitting there for ten years.

http://dudeism.com/whatisdudeism.html

Two bits of information helped me come up with a possible solution.

I read that somebody went to the trouble of actually measuring the oxygen levels in a compost pile. What they found was that turning the pile DOES bring in oxygen, but this oxygen is depleted in about fifteen minutes. Most of the old-timers will tell you that "you have to turn the compost" But their only explanation as to why is some vague business about oxygenating the pile, but the measurements show that unless you're out there turning the pile every fifteen minutes the average level of oxygen in the center of your pile is near zero. It's commonly observed that turning the pile once a day or once a week or once a month is highly effective at increasing the decomposition rate but I don't think that this is just because of the oxygen. I think it's because turning the pile brings immobile bacteria and funguses into contact with fresh material that was out of their reach. Simply put, your pitchfork and your throbbing back are the transportation system for your little workers.

http://www.envirolet.com/compostmyths.html

Then I read about my local landfill and how they were using a leachate recirculation system to reduce costs. One positive side effect of recirculating their leachate was an increase in the rate of biological decomposition in the landfill.

http://wasteage.com/mag/waste_lay_leachate_lay/
http://www.terrapass.com/projects/details/crow-wing-county-landfill-gas.html

So I built a miniature landfill. Complete with liner to collect the leachate and a bucket for it to drain into. I water it generously and when I have a few gallons of leachate in the bucket I simply lift it out of the hole and pour it on top. In theory this transports nutrients, bacteria and fungal spores throughout the pile. It also keeps nutrients from trickling uselessly into the soil under the pile. Excess leachate can be applied directly to the lawn, garden or around your trees. I have had no problems with it burning any plants that I've given it to, there's no need to dilute it.

This one was constructed with old chicken wire and three garbage bags. The second one was even cheaper, using an old shower curtain as a liner. Once this baby is totally full I think it will hold at least one thousand pounds of shredded leaves.

The results I got from the first unit were pretty impressive. I built it in the fall, it was probably frozen solid for about five months during the winter and by the following spring I had leaf bits that were brown and very fragile. Not exactly what you would call compost, but the worms sure made short work of it and since the pile was only together for a few months I would call that a good result.

history channel landfill bioreactor video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--fiEnVKXRA

Category:

Education

Tags:

• compost
• leachate
• bioreactor
• bacteria
• decompose
• decay
• worm
• vermicompost
• tea
• gardening
• oxygen
• areation
• decomposers
• anaerobic
• aerobic
• lazy

[alex12ray]

What kind of temperatures does this system generate?

[Aimrehtopyh]

@alex12ray My temperature probe is pretty short, so I don't know how warm the core gets. I don't think it gets very warm, I've only measured temperatures that were ten or fifteen degrees above ambient.

[TheDuke176]

holy fuck sum1 who talks almost as fast i think

[Aimrehtopyh]

@TheDuke176 Nice! That's kinda what I was shooting for. Don't give them time to think or get bored.

[esidrdave]

Your hypothesis is brilliant and the video is tops. I'm posting on my facebook page (Off The Grid Ecosystems) now. Keep up the great work!!!

[Aimrehtopyh]

@esidrdave Wow, thanks Dave.

[diogeneslaertius666]

That rug really tied the room together, did it not?

[Leiflton]

nice

[MrSchmallz]

great idea. and thank you for speaking as quickly as you do.

[chickenruler]

I was never told you had to turn compost!

[Simpspark1]

MY BRAIN IS FULL OF FUCK

[TheDuke176]

@Aimrehtopyh mission accomplished lol

[GlycerinZ]

@Donkamandic That's what she said