Compost Bin Size Calculator

A rough estimate for food scraps alone is 0.5-1 gallon per person per week for a household that cooks most meals at home. Yard waste varies enormously by season and lawn/garden size, so it is better to measure a typical week's volume directly than to guess a per-person rate for it.

Use 6-8 weeks if you plan to actively turn the pile every few days and it will reach hot-composting temperatures. Use 6-12 months for a passive pile you rarely turn. If you are not sure which you will actually do, size for the longer retention time - an oversized bin just means finished compost sits a little longer, while an undersized bin overflows and forces you to start a second pile anyway.

A small household with modest food scraps and no yard waste may only produce a few cubic feet of material per cycle. That is fine for a cold, passive compost approach - it will still break down, just more slowly and without reliably killing weed seeds or pathogens. If you want hot composting, either extend your retention time so more material accumulates before you start, or supplement with extra browns (leaves, cardboard) to bulk up the pile toward the 3x3x3 minimum.

No - most home systems mix both into one pile, since yard waste (browns) and food scraps (greens) is exactly the carbon-to-nitrogen balance a compost pile needs. Separate them only if you are troubleshooting a specific problem, such as isolating a batch that smells bad to diagnose whether it is too wet or too nitrogen-heavy.