Recycle builders bag for compost container?

X-posting. Yes, I know I am a bad person :-)

I was just about to order a couple of plastic compost bins from the council (or at least, the firm that does a discount deal via the council) when my eyes alighted on a white plastic 1cu metre bag which was used to deliver sand. I have another one somewhere as well.

Now, with a stout post driven down through each inside corner, a few drainage holes in the bottom, and the plastic stapled to the stakes, I should have two nice (well glaring mucky white) containers in which to pile lawn mowings, prunings, weeds, old container compost etc.

AFAIKT these should be significantly larger than the 330l bins at £16 a pop (plus £4 delivery in total which makes the bins effectivley £18 delivered to me).

Not as pretty, and would need a decent cover to keep moist/dry but perhaps an effecient use of resources?

These bag things are supposed to bio-degrade, so only a solution for a year or so.

The challenge now is to get 4 stout stakes which will not rot quickly for under £4 each (which may not be as easy as it first seems, having seen the prices they charge in the sheds).

So:

(1) any drawbacks to this cunning plan apart from the hideous whiteness? I do plan to make holes to allow drainage and ingress of earthworms.

(2) suggestions for the best place to obtain 4 * (at least 4' high) 2*2 rot resistant posts for under £16? Or will just filling the bags (which will not result in such a neat shape) be an acceptable solution?

TIA Dave R

Reply to
David W.E. Roberts
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Really? Mine don't - they're polypropylene, and will stick around for a looong time.

We get our 5 foot, 4" diameter pressure treated fence posts, complete with one pointy end from a local timber yard at around £2.50 each.

Reply to
Grunff

If the bags are bio-degradeable anyway, why bother with such stout posts? I would go and get the same poles I use for bean sticks; hazel poles from a friendly local hedge. I should think poles of an inch in diameter would hold a builders bag open and would last as long as the bag itself. And even if you replace them once a year, it's hardly more than ten minutes work.

Reply to
bigboard

I think you'll fin they'll last longer than you think, but nowadays there's no deposit on them, so you can easily get more.

As for supports, I would just get two uprights of the relevant height with horizontal pieces on the ground like a couple of mini gallows, and a crosspiece across both of these and threaded through the handles. that will hold it up and you can throw a bit of old carpet over the top. Pallets are also not deposit payable nowadays, and therefore easily obtained, and a bit of carpet from a skip and there you go. Cost = Zero, if you discount your time and petrol to the local industrial estate. If you come across good stuff in the skips, you may even make a profit. :-))

Steve

Reply to
shazzbat

We use these for:

  1. collecting & storing horse muck until it matures.
  2. Storing conifer chippings for a year before using as mulch
  3. Storing leaves till they break down.

Haven't used 'em for compost yet - the compost heaps are made of stacked turves (brilliant!) and old pallets (easier to turn over)

Reply to
Sue da Nimm

In article , David W.E. Roberts writes

I would have thought that would be acceptable. Or you could line it with cardboard boxes which will keep their shape long enough while the plant material pads down and then will rot to form part of the compost.

Put the bags bang up hard against each other so they support each other.

Reply to
Kay Easton

LB Croydon do them for £5 delivered.

The best thing would be top get some pallets, the "Gypsum" used for delivering Breese Blocks ones are best as they some apart easier. There is loads of them in skips.

Use the Board as the sides of your compost bin and the Bearer as the uprights. Then just paint with preservative. I have some plans for the commpost bin and coldframe I made. If you want I will email them to you.

Reply to
Dogger

David W.E. Roberts19/4/04 1:47 snipped-for-privacy@talk21.comcho$6c3c8$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-122774.news.uni-berlin.de

We offer all our old compost bags to any customer and request only a donation, of the customer's choice, to a local charity. They can be used as you suggest or to bag up and dispose of rubbish or turned black side out, to line tubs and containers to retain moisture.

Reply to
Sacha

"..........These bag things are supposed to bio-degrade, so only a solution for a year or so ............"

They are not Bio degradable, it's the Ultra Violet (UV) light that breaks down the white plastic they are made of. If the sunlight is kept off them they will last 5 or 6 years.

For your stakes I would get the heavy grade of Roof batons, they have the advantage of being tanalised as well and should last 3 or 4 years.

I use these bags for the debris from the shredder and leave it in the bags for 6 months or so to start breaking down, works well, and you don't need to make drainage holes as the water gets out of the woven fabric quite easily, and if you have any doubts, try putting a hose into an empty bag and see if you can fill it with water.

Reply to
David Hill

Had a couple full of gravel at the bottom of the garden for a few years. Both have gone very brittle - the one I attempted to empty and move just crumbled.

I *think* they were from Travis Perkins originally - can't tell now as the logos are long gone!

Darren

Reply to
dmc

That's not biodegrading. The UV in the sunlight has destroyed them.

Reply to
Huge

O.K. non-bio degradeable :-) What happens to all the crumbly bits of UV degraded plastic? Do they work their way into the soil and pollute for evermore?

Main point being - limlited lifespan in planned deployment.

Cheers Dave R

Reply to
David W.E. Roberts

I would almost suggest cutting a large hole in the bottom of them. We had to put our (open bottomed) composter on a slabbed path and whilst it did decompose, it was nowhere near as fast as when it was on soil before which is expected. I'm not sure whether the holes would be sufficient (though I don't know the size of the holes you're planning) - cutting a large hole in the base of it (ie. practically the whole bottom) would allow better drainage and worm migration. Also, we had a right pain emptying our composter and in the end just lifted it up and it all fell out. Much easier to deal with then.

David

Reply to
David Hearn

Hmm. Good point. They had turned to dust though. Nasty poisonous dust maybe :)

What actually has to happen to something in order for it to have "biodegraded"? Break down into component chemicals?

Darren

Reply to
dmc

In article , snipped-for-privacy@ukc.ac.uk (dmc) writes: |> In article , Huge wrote: |> > snipped-for-privacy@ukc.ac.uk (dmc) writes: |> |> >>Had a couple full of gravel at the bottom of the garden for a few years. |> >>Both have gone very brittle - the one I attempted to empty and move just |> >>crumbled. |> |> >That's not biodegrading. The UV in the sunlight has destroyed them. |> |> Hmm. Good point. They had turned to dust though. Nasty poisonous dust |> maybe :)

No. Polythene and polypropylene break down into harmless chemicals, and I believe that the other ingredients aren't particularly toxic or permanent.

|> What actually has to happen to something in order for it to have "biodegraded"? |> Break down into component chemicals?

To have broken down as result of biological action.

Regards, Nick Maclaren.

Reply to
Nick Maclaren

Indeed. So something that is biodegradeable may break down to harmful chemicals, whilst something that is inert (and thus not biodegradable), for example glass, may have no effect on the environment (after its manufacture).

Usually (always?) there is an implicit 'its a good thing' associated with the word biodegradeable, for no good reason AFAICS.

Reply to
Tumbleweed

Biodegradation is being eaten by bugs, worms fungi etc. It is not breaking down into harmful chemicals. Although I've never seen a chemical analysis of worm dung. :-))

Steve

Reply to
shazzbat

While some results of biodegradation can be harmful (e.g. "red tide"), it isn't all that common. There are actually very good reasons to regard biodegradability as "a good thing".

Regards, Nick Maclaren.

Reply to
Nick Maclaren

What about biodegradation leading to over-fertilisation and resulting problems such as eutrophication? Isnt that what can happen with biodegradation of detergents for example? However, the core point is that any biodegradation involves an interaction with the environment; whether you regard that interaction as positive or negative probably depends on your individual POV rather than any objective criteria.

Reply to
Tumbleweed

I unded up just shaping the bag with four garden canes - the stuff going in kept the bag in shape.

Now full (but compacting) and steaming in the middle.

I managed to virtually fill it with two mowings from the lawn, but I mixed in some old potting compost from last year and the whole thing seems to be working at the moment.

I am putting in a layer of veggie matter then a layer of spent compost; this seems to work O.K.

The spent compost contributes worms, but the centre of the heap is really cooking - won't this cook the worms as well?

[Mmmm....steamed worms...mmmm]

Last layer to go in was excess weed from the pond - a surprising amount.

I think we are due to remove some sediment from the bottom of the pond as well - I assume that if I bucket it out carefully then the pond will settle out again fairly soon.

Now looking for a place to put a second bag, but I have run out of hidden corners.

Cheers Dave R

Reply to
David W.E. Roberts

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