Compost in a Can

My wife runs an organic farm and is an avid gardener; I am an enthusiastic cook when not woodworking. This combination of interests produces a lot of compost. When designing our kitchen, I knew a functional, easily accessed compost bucket was going to be essential. The Häfele bucket we chose ended up being the ideal unit. It is solidly constructed, with a heavy black-plastic bin, a high-quality rubber gasket, and a thick stainless-steel lid. With a capacity of 3 gal., it can hold many meals’ worth of compost, and the well-sealed lid traps in odors. The unit could also be mounted irectly into a countertop, with the stainless flange mortised flush for a clean look. I built a maple rollout, running on undermount Blum Tandem slides, to hold the compost bin and our 35-qt. trash bin.

To improve accessibility to the trash and compost bins, I incorporated a Servo-Drive mechanism manufactured by Blum. Like a touch-latch on steroids, this device throws open the rollout with the slightest nudge of the knee, allowing full access to the bins. It sounds like a gimmick, but it has proved to be a favorite feature of the kitchen, improving efficiency and cleanliness.

Waste bin (part #502.94.000); www.hafele.com; wholesale price: $104
Blum Servo-Drive kit for waste/recycle bin; www.blum.com; list price: $641