Trials and Tribulations...

It's been a couple of years since I had first decided to look into setting up a compost bin at my home. I had heard of composting and knew what it meant, but not how to carry out the process effectively so off to the web I went in search of information. The first handful of sites that I found provided good information along with bins available for purchase - anywhere from $90.00 to over $200.00 (plus shipping) in all shapes and sizes utilizing various methods. I continued to do more research and discovered the Daily Dump project based in India. The first thing that caught my eye was how beautiful their terra cotta urns were! The next thing that I discovered was how easy the method that Daily Dump was using appeared to be (and is). Their model was both functional and pleasing to the eye. I immediately researched the Daily Dump website further and found out that it is an open-source project that encourages others to expand on the Daily Dump model in pursuit of the greater good of the environment. I contacted Daily Dump and they were very willing to share their knowledge. I was however, a little disappointed that the reality of importing the terra cotta urns from India was not a feasible, cost-effective option. The people at Daily Dump did however, encourage me to develop my own container design here in the U.S.

I'm pretty handy, so I first tried to make a replica of the terra cotta urns which proved to be too challenging for the average person especially without the proper equipment, kilns, etc. I next approached a plastics manufacturer to see about having the design produced in plastic form. This proved to be a costly approach and would've placed the product to the end-user in the $175-$200 price range before shipping costs. I decided I would reserve that approach for a future possibly and pursue something more affordable and accessible to larger numbers of people. What this led me to was creating my own bin design while still using the basic functionality of the Daily Dump Method. For the current design (shown) you can either purchase plans to build it yourself or contct me about availaility of completed bins.