Reply #8: Botany gave you the expert advice, so I'll add only a few things.

[Gormy Cuss]

For aesthetic reasons a totally enclosed plastic composter would probably be better with close neighhors. This can be as simply as a plastic trash can with a few ventilation holes. The advantage to the trash can method is as long as you buy one with a lockable lid you can turn the pile by rolling the can on its side. A closed plastic container in a dark color will retain heat well and cook the compost faster.

Our waste management authority sells composters for about half of retail price. From the waste mgmt company I bought a Smith & Hawken biostack, which is a 3' cube of plastic stacks and turning involves moving one stack, forking over the material, then adding the next stack and forking over more. It works well for us because we have the room. Our pile cooks quickly. We have wire enclosures for woody branches and other material that composts slowly.

Botany is right about lawn clippings. Tossing a little into the pile is usually okay but a larger amount will soon have that pile smelling like ammonia. I learned that the hard way!


how to on trash can composting:
http://www.ehow.com/how_16876_make-compost-bin.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art