What we love: In a crowd of imperfect siblings, this compost caddy offered the best user experience out of the caddies designed for bags. While not without its flaws, it did a great job minimizing mess and odor when tasked with transporting a full bag from the kitchen to the outdoor compost bin (or city collection bin).
The unique feature of this caddy is a removable internal bin with its own handle in addition to the exterior handle for the entire caddy. That means you can bring the whole caddy outside, pop out the inner bin, dump your scraps, and return the caddy to the kitchen without risk of leaks.
Why does this matter? When we surveyed compost caddy users, minimizing smell was the most important issue for people. There are two ways odors seep out of these bins: passively as they sit on the counter, and in stronger bursts each time you open the bin. The latter is more responsible for unpleasant smells, especially because your face is close to it each time you open it.
This caddy limits that by letting you do the whole disposal process outdoors. Similar caddies, which secure the bag with a ring attached to the outer lid, require two hands to remove before you can remove the bag. Doing this inside means a longer amount of time spent with the compost caddy open to the air, and doing this outside was more cumbersome and tedious to do. As for passive smells, this caddy did better than average at keeping them contained.
Overall, if you don’t like dealing with odors of rotting food, this caddy will spare you from having to do so to a greater degree than others out there, and will look nice as well.
What we’d leave: The dual-bin setup that makes this caddy so great is also what makes it a touch annoying. Putting the bag in the internal bin is a bit fussy. You’ll need to lift the internal handle to attach a new bag, and when you set it back into the outer bin, the edges of the bag can bunch up. This is especially true if you’re using a generic bag instead of the custom bags Joseph Joseph designed for this caddy. Usually, I’m against bags with bespoke dimensions for trash cans, but since compost caddy bags aren’t as easy to find in stores, you’re probably going to have to order them online anyway, so you might as well get the ones designed for the caddy. Overall, if you’re sensitive to smells, this is a small trade-off worth making.
Best bagless compost caddy: Epica Stainless-Steel Bin
Epica Countertop Compost Bin
Pros:
- Simple, durable design
- Affordable
- All-metal construction is easy to clean and doesn’t absorb odors
Cons:
- No way to secure a bag (and looks awkward if you try)
- Requires regular washing if used bagless
- Material: Stainless Steel
- Capacity: 1.3 Gallons
- Product Dimensions: 7.16″L x 7.16″W x 11″H
