David W.E. Roberts wrote:
X-posting. Yes, I know I am a bad person :-)

I was just about to order a couple of plastic compost bins from the council
(or at least, the firm that does a discount deal via the council) when my
eyes alighted on a white plastic 1cu metre bag which was used to deliver
sand. I have another one somewhere as well.

Now, with a stout post driven down through each inside corner, a few
drainage holes in the bottom, and the plastic stapled to the stakes, I
should have two nice (well glaring mucky white) containers in which to pile
lawn mowings, prunings, weeds, old container compost etc.

AFAIKT these should be significantly larger than the 330l bins at £16 a pop
(plus £4 delivery in total which makes the bins effectivley £18 delivered to
me).

Not as pretty, and would need a decent cover to keep moist/dry but perhaps
an effecient use of resources?

These bag things are supposed to bio-degrade, so only a solution for a year
or so.

The challenge now is to get 4 stout stakes which will not rot quickly for
under £4 each (which may not be as easy as it first seems, having seen the
prices they charge in the sheds).

So:

(1) any drawbacks to this cunning plan apart from the hideous whiteness? I
do plan to make holes to allow drainage and ingress of earthworms.

(2) suggestions for the best place to obtain 4 * (at least 4' high) 2*2 rot
resistant posts for under £16? Or will just filling the bags (which will not
result in such a neat shape) be an acceptable solution?

If the bags are bio-degradeable anyway, why bother with such stout
posts? I would go and get the same poles I use for bean sticks; hazel
poles from a friendly local hedge. I should think poles of an inch in
diameter would hold a builders bag open and would last as long as the
bag itself. And even if you replace them once a year, it's hardly more
than ten minutes work.