My fairly inexperienced take on it is that the trash can you're looking at is too deep for the worms. They are diggers, but shallow ones at that. I currently use the Worm Factory's migrating worm bin that I got off of craigslist but you can buy additional trays as needed for that. It seems to be working really well & is lightweight and portable. The portability of dual trashcans seems like a headache to me if there are any stairs involved. If you're in the market to make your own b/c of costs, why not use multiple rubbermaid bins or those sterilite ones (they seem more shallow)? You could probably 'black out' the clear containers with duct tape or even contact paper from the outside & drill your holes along the bottom for each migration tray. Just some thoughts...

yes, those are waaay too deep for the surface area - the rubbermaid 17 gal tubs most folks use will take care of a lot of food waste and if managed well, produce a lot of worms, but you won't make any money on that scale, you need a very large permanent bin, which will do fine in winter in all but the very coldest areas

Bill

thanks Bill. I was wondering about the depth part. I had thought of it for a few days, but after posting it, I started to wonder about the surface. I used to work at a store and am wanting to get some of their waste, and there is a lot of it everyday, and it just didn't seem like the trash can would work, unless I had a few of them. Was also worried about their livily hood as they went up the bin.

Maybe when the time comes, I'll figure out something else.

You can use the trash can for a bed as long as you realize that it is just a deep storage can for your casting and start out with just a ft. or so of bedding and when it is reduced about 1/2 add some more back up to a ft. after about three times you will notice that the bottom 1/2 of the bed is all finished castings then you just take the bedding to the next level of about 2 ft. Do this about 3 times and you will have a trash can full of great castings. Your wormbed is always just the top 10 in. or so of the can. Depending on how many worms you have this process may take 6 months to a year. When the finished casting get near the top take off the top part of the bed and start another one. Put some fresh bedding in the old can to let the new worms that will be hatching have a place to go so you can capture them. You will find that the castings are a lot more finished as the worms will process them over and over. I think that most of the time people process casting out of the little bins that are not nearly "finished" out of impatience. Of course the little rubbermaid bins might be easier but I like the bigger beds.