I don't have an inside container, and I don't have a compost heap. In the winter I just put my scraps to the side as I make dinner. After dinner, I take a walk in the yard and toss them onto one of the garden beds. Anything that doesn't get nibbled by adventurous rabbits breaks down over the winter. The only thing recognizable in the spring are pumpkin stems from our halloween jack-o-lanterns! Funny though, the "skins" of the pumpkins remained from a few this year, complete with the cut out faces LOL. But the pulp was completely gone. They have been dug under for the spring now, but the time I plant I won't find a trace of them. In the spring and summer, after dinner I take a walk outside to look at the garden and grab a small spade. Make a hole in one of the beds, toss the scraps in, then cover. Or you can make a shallow trench along the side of a bed, and as you fill it cover it. I have raised beds so it is easier to do the hole thing - I find an empty spot between tomato plants or whatever. Nothing sits in the house to gather fruit flies. But then again, I only do this for fruit and veggie scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, that sort of thing. No meat, no milk, no fats, and no breadstuffs (although cooked grains might make their way there).

I had the Lee Valley green compost container for years. It was ok but it holds so much compost by the time it got emptied it was all pretty gross and then washing out the container was yucky.. Then there are the fruit flies. They drove me crazy in the summer. Now we use the disposable compost friendly paper bags and have a dedicated space in the freezer for the bag. Perfect solution all around. Nothing gets mushy and gross and absolutely no fruit flies. Love this solution!!

I think it depends on how you prep & what all goes into your compost bucket. For me, a lidded bucket under the sink works because I do a lot of prep in my sink--peel carrots, potatoes, onions in the sink. When I'm baking, I toss the egg shells over into the sink. Then just scoop the stuff up & into the bucket it goes. We have a couple of parrots--the bottom of the cage newspapers go into the compost. I usually gather up the corners of the newspapers & carry them to the compost--sometimes compost goes to the cages if there is a lot of debris that has escaped the newpaper. And I tear those fiber egg cartons into chunks & chuck them into the compost, too. So, long story short--I wouldn't sink a compost container into my countertop because it wouldn't improve on the somewhat primitive system I'm already using. Another consideration is the am't of countertop real estate that you have. Being seriously deprived, I wouldn't be willing to give any of it. Another thing is that countertop next to the sink is prime real estate. To be very useful, compost containers need to be near the sink & would end up being an obstruction to how you use that area. And just one last word! :) Lay those bread heels out to dry! I dry mine, save them until I have the food processor out & grind them up into bread crumbs. Besides using them for breading, I like to sprinkle some into chili & soups that need to be thickened up a bit.

Okay, you twisted my arm. I've bought a new card reader for my camera and I'm posting some temp photos which will be deleted soon. I'm making supper here--chicken to work over (fat globs and other scraps go into trash), sad looking salad greens and peas (too hot outdoors and the lettuce has bolted), herbs to chop, veg and onion ready to be cut up. I usually sit at stool but DH stands here. Compost tray runs along side of blue drawer organizer (repurposed container we got with Alaskan shrimp in it). Remember--our top drawers were made shallow because of pull-out board. If I had it to do over, I'd make them just a big deeper by shortening the drawers and bins below--to prevent items from jamming drawers. I am grateful for 90 degree countertop edge because I can brush things into the trash or the pan so reliably and it cuts down the cleanup. If I did not have the pull-out board, I'd put the pan parallel to the countertop, as suggested above. Makes good sense. We used to put a big bowl or dishpan on a stool below the edge of our chopping surface when we needed to work over lots of veg or apples for freezing--same idea. I can put this pan into my top drawer under baking area pullout board also--can receive excess flour sprinkled on the countertop or the breadboard or dough scraps. You could do the same in any drawer next to a baking surface. I've extended the drawer far enough for you to see the pan within; usually we don't pull it out very far unless the front of the pan is already full or unless we're working with sloppy things like tomatoes. I put my eggshells into the pan when making breakfast--the drawer glides out so easily! I try to remember to crush them in my fist as I do this so the composting begins sooner and the shells get mixed with other items sooner. The compost bin is an Ikea item which I think has been discontinued; you buy taller ones now with the same footprint. This one has built-in handles. The boot below it allows me to roll it out with one hand. Lid is not tight and can be opened with one hand. The long compost tray is a bit awkward to handle when it's full and needs to be emptied--in an earlier moment in the evolution of the kitchen I used a different skinny pan and it was perfect to sling around, but it held a lot less. I'm used to this one now so it doesn't matter but at first I dumped it on the floor a few times when using one hand, aargh! The lesson is...don't put off emptying it when you're cleaning up the kitchen.