apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This is very cool. It's Like a little Wall-E

I wonder how much electricity it uses per month?

NatureMill uses 5 kwh / month of energy - or about $0.50/month

Reading Rules!

ohhhh... I wonder if I organized my undersink area if i could fit one in?

I have *heard* that these are not COMPLETELY odorless, so you may want to make sure you do have some ventilated or secondary outdoor space to house it. But this issue with scent is not from a reliable source, I would love to get someone else's experience with these and odor.

Personally, I don't care if it's not 100 odor free, but I am lucky enough to have a garage where it can live. But for other's who may not, again, I am curious if anyone can comment.

why not use worms?

I was sad to read that you're not supposed to compost citrus or tomatoes. In the summer that's pretty much what I eat.

I would love love love one of these, but $300 is still a lot to spend for me. I have tried worms, but it was more complicated than I expected and like Martha, a lot of what I eat is not good for them or makes it too moist or too acidic, etc. I just wish I had garden space for a regular bin, but if I don't have a yard by the time these get a little less pricey, I'll be all over it!

I saw on their site they have one that handles both food waste and PET WASTE! I'm forever wondering what the heck to do with the dog poop so that it doesn't stink up the trash until trash day. I have a covered spot outside where it can sit. I'm totally getting one. Thanks so much for the post!!!

It's "weatherproof" as well which means it could sit on your patio or balcony.

This is so awesome! Now my indoor-air-pollution-reducing house plants can get their dirt from my food instead of bags of miracle gro! How tidy. And spares me having to shove all that food into the water supply.

"reading rules" ROFL

bummer, I think the earlier versions had a much nicer look. these look like a painted black igloo cooler.

My friend has one and loves it!

She does say it has some odour but .... so does your garbage when you lift up the lid.

We should do a group buy to get the group discount if enough people are interested.

@lisetiffner,

is there such a thing?

if so, I'm in.

Hi folks,

I do graphics for NatureMill and have had my unit for a few months now. I love love love it. I've never composted before, I am just amazed at how a full chamber of food basically disappears into thin air after a few days. And as a city dweller, I also appreciate a stronger connection to earth, as I become more aware of what I put in my mouth relates to what I'm putting back into the earth.

As for the concern for the odor, the seal on the lid works wonders. When the lid is opened to deposit food, there can be an earthy odor, which is normal. If there is a stronger odor, that relates to my not putting in a proper ratio of "brown" and "green" items. Hope that helps and let me know if you have any more questions.

-Showing
p.s.
Oh, and the concern over the money, @lisetiffner is right. if you get a group of 3 friends to buy [we are a community here! :-) ], you get a 15% discount.

It's an interesting concept, but reading the full instructions shows that -- like all composting -- it is fairly complicated. Composting has to be managed, especially when you're doing it on such a small scale.

Composting slows down in the cold in this unit; I'd bet that if you keep it outside, it totally stops in our frigid winters. If it doesn't, then they're using a lot of energy to keep it warm. Big composting piles retain heat in colder weather, but this one doesn't have enough thermal mass for that.

According to a hard-core greenie friend who, until recently, worked in solid waste in Illinois, food is not the biggest problem in landfills. Many landfills want food because they capture the methane that's produced when food breaks down (not sure how many of those there are in Illinois, though). The biggest problem for landfills is paper. NatureMill's marketing materials obscure this by combining the statistics for food and paper -- clever marketing, but annoying and misleading.

So, if you're doing this for the planet, worms seem like a much better choice. They don't need electricity and are just as much work as this thing. Plus, they're way cheaper, have no ongoing costs, don't smell, and you can make their box look as cool as your budget allows. I've seen neat ones made from Ikea boxes.

Of course, if you're doing it for other reasons, then this may be just the consumer gadget for you!

I was going to buy one of these until I read the user manual and learned that the compost couldn't be used as-is for indoor plants:

Fresh compost is ready for outdoor use, but not for indoor use. For indoor use and for easier handling, first cure and dry your compost:
• OPTIONAL: Cure and dry outdoors for several weeks or months, in a warm, breezy corner of your backyard. Leave uncovered, so compost receives oxygen and dries out. You can even add to a compost pile. To cure on a roof or balcony, place on a tarp or wide tray. Cold, freezing, rain, or snow will slow curing but will not harm the cultures.

If folks are interested in a group buy, I'm in too - I just ordered mine yesterday and I have 90 days to count that purchase toward a group buy.

Hi,
I am ordering mine tomorrow. Do we have enough people to do a group buy?

I have been using the naturemill for 5 months now and no longer use the disposal. all of our food waste can now be composted and our garden is loving us!!! I am an owner of A Cooler Planet in Chicago and we carry the composter. It is so exciting to see how many city dwellers are making the leap to composting. It truly works.

Heidi Bailey,