@ Broken Robot: all is revealed! That is very helpfull, thanks very much! It makes a lot of sense now and i am sure to make a pair before next summer as i was planning a bike tour. I really dig them, great job. Did you ever you use them for (extensive) touring?
As for packing in Beer and Soda. If i haven't been able to crack that last one myself. I did do Atkins for 10 weeks and lost 10 Kilos. I would love to try the Splenda lemonade, maybe i will order some of that stuff.
You seem to have your compost thing sussed. But just in case you ever did want to compost at home, i think there are ways of doing the vermi thing without fruitflies (i Hate! fruit flies) i think it is a matter of adding sawdust as covering/in between the layers and having a good bin. I hear with the worms the pile shrinks so remarkably fast that it is no problem, the compost that is left is not much of it but really high grade. But this is all hearsay.
Too bad it was so hard to find somebody to take your compost, the world really would be a better/cleaner place if composting was more prevalent. Just a suggestion but maybe there is an enthousiastic gardener living close by, many of them pay a lot of cash for good compost and the can always use some. Maybe you could even work out a fruit/veg for compost trade with one. Of course if you like making the trip it is all moot.