Hi
I have just had the satisfying task of emptying my compost bin and depositing my lovely home made compost on the garden.

I only have the big black plastic compost bin and it took me a while to get going. At first I had too much greens (kitchin waste) so it was rather too wet and slimy until I balanced it with more of the 'browns' (shredded paper, eggboxes etc). Use a long metal pole to aerate it every now and then but I still think despite the lid, the bin needs a warm cover - e.g. old carpet.
My Tip: I had a bundle of wood shavings which I netted and keep as my compost 'topper' - just pull out the net each time I want to add anything. I noticed this soon accelerated the rate of decomposition