In a nutshell, a kitchen compost crock is just a glorified name for a food scraps bin. They come in all shapes and sizes - ceramic, stainless steel, plastic and even bamboo - and can even colour co-ordinate with your kitchen.

If left too long sitting on your kitchen bench, a scraps bucket will begin to produce odours not too dissimilar to your compost heap as the waste starts to decompose. No matter how much you wash it out after emptying, the smell seems to linger and increase with use.

And this is where the beauty, and ingenuity, of the compost crock comes into its own. Inside the lid is stored a replaceable charcoal filter that screens out any odours that may emanate from the crock. It allows the crock to sit on your counter-top for longer while you store your kitchen waste, meaning that trips to the worm bins or compost heap are reduced to a weekly affair rather than daily.

What happens to the carbon filter once it's useful life is complete? In effect, these filters are just as biodegradable as the kitchen waste that the compost crock holds. So after 2-3 months, when they don't seem to be screening as much of the odour, they can simply be disposed of in your compost heap to break down further. Cleaning them with your refuse washup water will extend their life and keep your crock working at its best.

It seems we've come a long way since grandma stored the chook scraps in a pail off to the side of the kitchen. Nowadays these designer kitchen compost crocks are all the rage but if that's what it takes for people to begin recycling their food scraps then I, for one, am keen to champion the idea.