On the under sink container It is all in you and your family's nose. They make some nice ones that take a carbon filter if someone is sensitive to smells. I have seen them in ceramic and stainless steel. Me, I could walk by a dead horse, so I have a used plastic food bucket with no lid. I do empty every day weather permitting. And it did not permit all winter long. So close to the house in a place with some weather protection would be my recommendation for the composer. I do remember a lot of snow when I was visiting Pittsburgh.

Curt :)

I use the green plastic pail from Gardener's Supply with the replaceable carbon filters, which last a LONG time and do keep down any smell. I just scrape out the scraps with a spatula or wooden spoon, but I know people who use the biodegradeable plastic bags. Note that they start to disintegrate after some weeks so if you don't empty your pail regularly, they fall apart!
The only bug problem I have had was in the full heat of summer, when I got some fruit flies in my compost pail. This could have been avoided by emptying it sooner, or using a fruit fly trap nearby.
Most experts recommend placing your compost bin somewhere where it will get some sun. It should be readily accessible to a water supply. Unless you want to view your compost bin all the time, I'd put it in an out-of-the-way spot by your trash cans. Just don't let your garbage-pick up people confuse it and haul it away!! That happened to me one time and I almost cried.

I went to HD and picked up a painter's bucket. They come with lids that have seals on them. Blocks the smell completely, only cost a few bucks, and are super durable.

Unfortunately, they're a tacky color of orange with a cartoon character on them. Oh well...

Kim

I just use gallon ZipLoc Baggies, when I have time,I empty them into the bin....
No smell and if you are so inclined ,they can be rinsed out and re-used ;-)
BTW..I have them sitting right out on the counter-top, and yesterday my daughter came by for a visit and asked my wife if we had the supplies to make a salad... I said the tossed salad was already made,it is right in the baggie on the counter....she got out a bowl and was just about to pour, when she saw the wadded up paper towels in the baggie and said "Gross Dad...That's not funny" ....I thought it was hilarious ;-)

Hello, Lilyfinch.

As a fellow newbie, thought my set-up for collecting kitchen scraps would be of interest: Purchased a small, step-on trash can of enamel-coated steel, containing a plastic bucket with handle inside. It's kept in a lower kitchen cabinet, which is fitted with a pull-out drawer. I can pry open the cabinet with my toes (of course, my toes are amazingly agile -- don't know anything about the tricks you can do with yours), pull out the drawer using said agile toes, then step on the opening thingy, drop in the scraps, slide back the drawer and close the door. Look ma, no hands! The lid isn't sealed tight, but fits well enough that little or no odor escapes (unlike Curt, I don't think I could walk past a dead horse -- or at least, not without delicately and adorably wrinking my nose). The filled bucket gets dumped and a quick rinse (and/or light scrubbing, depending on how lazy -- I mean, how cold it was between trips) and you are back in business!

Love the salad gag, Jonhughes. Hmm, April Fool's Day is coming up and you've given me some ideas....

Rain

Thanks everyone! I built my beautiful composter this afternoon, and put it along side the house near the trash. Luckily the garbage men dont come to the house, just the curb so no worries about losing it! It fit perfectly in a spot near a rose of sharon and a shrub. Its much bigger than i imagined! I cant wait to fill it up!
I think ill use an old coffee can for scraps to start, i dont think we use much in the house but i know we get a little. Thanks for the advice! And the salad story was cute!! :)

I located my composter near my garden for easy access to the black gold. I've been using a coffee can in the refrigerator for my scraps, set them out about 2 hours before dumping them in the composter. I have no smells or bugs doing it this way. However, I am new, so I'm not sure how well it will work out in the long run. I'm beginning to think that the composter would be better between the house and garden....

We use an empty gallon milk jug. The material you accumulate should not be held in the house long enough to start to smell bad. Sometimes I empty the jug sooner than every other day because some strong onions were placed in but usually, with the two of us, I take it out every 3 days or so and there is no offensive smell coming from that.

I use an empty ice cream bucket.(reduce, reuse, recycle) I rarely use a lid. I empty it almost daily.

The key to eliminating smells and bugs is to empty the bucket frequently.

@Jonhughes - funny!

Ice cream bucket on the counter fills up daily and emptied daily during trips to the garden in warm months. Rarely on hot days it might get slight odor if fruit peeling or tuna can juice sat in there. In winter I keep cardboard box on back porch near door and empty ice cream bucket daily into that (I skip saving liquidy stuff like tuna juice in winter) and when weather permits I take the box over to the compost. Cardboard box breaks down and gets added too when soggy. I get new boxes from grocery store since they would be throwing them out.

No lid on the ice cream bucket on my counter. Friend gave me her kitchen scraps once in bucket with lid and it was stinky to empty that one.

I think using a lid is going to make the stuff more stinky.

Sometimes, I will take a handful of shredded paper and toss that into the ice cream bucket, if I don't feel like taking it outside.

We used plastic ice cream buckets for years with the lid on. Doesn't smell if emptied in the compost daily. When the last bucket cracked we were "between house guests" and only buy ice cream then so had to buy a plastic container at the dollar store. Occasionally run thru DW.

Kitchen veggie scraps will begin to decompose immediately and odors indicate bacterial action. IMO bacteria are a good thing outdoors in the compost but not in my kitchen which is why we dump it daily. If I found that too much work then I'd also find the other tasks of making compost too much work.

As far as where to place the compost bin I'm still thinking on that. I now have 4 bins and a pile which will need to be moved this year as we are re-landscaping and they are in the wrong place. Everyone's yard and climate is different. Here in the north I want the compost bins in the sun but perhaps in the south they would dry out too fast. Lattice, vines, or other plants can hide the compost area.

As for placement, I've put my compost bin fairly close to the back door so its convenient for daily additions.

If its too far away from the door, I am less likely to want to make a quick trip out to the pile, especially if the weather is bad.

I use a stainless steel sugar container that has a good seal around the lid. It is nice enough to keep on the counter. Every couple of days I empty this into the HD paint bucket, when this is full I empty into the composter. I also put my composter near the garden so I wasn't doing a bunch of moving around when it was finished. I have two paint buckets, one for solid kitchen scraps that is mixed with the leaves for compost and the second one for liquid kitchen waste like old coffee, juice, and rain water which I use to add moisture to the compost when turning.

We use an old margarita bucket with a lid...it does sometimes get a little smelly if it takes too long to fill or I am too lazy to dump it. I usually empty it once a week.