Is spending $300 on a backyard composter actually worth it? I'm torn.

I dropped $300 on a fancy tumbling composter last spring thinking it would save me money on soil and reduce my waste, but after 6 months I've only gotten a few buckets of usable compost and the thing jams up constantly. Meanwhile my neighbor uses a $50 open bin pile that produces way more material with less hassle. Has anyone else found that expensive gear actually backfired for their climate goals, or am I just doing something wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

brookethomas24d ago

I live in a neighborhood where half the people bought those spinning composters and all of them are sitting unused in backyards while the old school pile guys are laughing. It's like the whole "buy your way into being green" trap... we see it with fancy water bottles, solar chargers that barely work, bamboo everything. You spent good money trying to do the right thing and now you're stuck with a jammed machine that makes you feel worse about waste than when you started. The simpler solution almost always wins with this stuff, it's annoying but true.

roberts.troy24d agoMost Upvoted

Eh, is it really that big of a deal? People just change their minds.