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PHOTO: F. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Jordan G. Teicher

How Composting Has Gone High-Tech

HUMANS HAVE composted food for about as long as they have grown it. But in a world increasingly obsessed with tidy convenience, many view the chore of converting food waste into fertilizer for plants and gardens much as they do tending to kombucha scoby or committing to cloth diapers for their infants: too time-consuming, too “granola” and too plain icky.

Composting has “been perceived as this very stinky project that takes a bunch of time and only makes sense if you have a big backyard,” said Friday Apaliski, a San Francisco “sustainability concierge” who works with clients to make their homes more green. She believes that people “are starting to understand how truly phenomenal composting is.”

Indeed, new composting technology has emerged that makes the process easier, faster and more stylish. Some composting systems are now small enough to live on your kitchen’s countertop and sufficiently attractive that you won’t mind looking at them day after day.

And with houseplant ownership skyrocketing (compost is just as good for Instagramable succulents as for an old-time vegetable garden) and a growing desire to reduce methane- producing food waste, more Americans are trying the ancient practice out for themselves. Between 2014 and 2019, according to the 2019 Composting in America report, the number of American communities offering composting programs increased 65%. This summer, Vermont became the first state in the nation to make composting mandatory.

If you’re going to do it, why not do it as pleasantly as possible? Here, our four favorite new products that use sharp design and cutting-edge technology to speed up, shrink down or even glamorize composting at home.

For Lazy Gardeners

Anyone looking to turn food scraps into fertilizer has typically had to house the refuse in rudimentary backyard containers and use their own forearm strength to intermittently aerate it with a shovel. New age tumblers like the Envirocycle do most of the aerating for you: You need only spin the drum manually a few times a week. Stored outside, the device is fully enclosed—keeping funky smells in and curious critters out. The company offers a 17-gallon version of its classic 35-gallon tumbler designed to fit on a patio or balcony. It promises to produce usable compost for your pandemic victory garden in a month.

Home Composting is Easy with Envirocycle

The Cutest Composter in the World is a mini innovative all-in-one outdoor composting system that arrives ready to use, with no assembly required, right out of the 100% recycled content box designed to minimize packaging. It is essential for any eco-friendly home and centerpiece in any suburban garden, deck, patio, or urban city apartment or condo balcony, conveniently placed near entranceways in direct sunlight for easy access from the kitchen.

Envirocycle Composters are high quality, proudly made in the USA of food safe and BPA free, materials, all backed by a 5 Year Limited Warranty, and our customer service? Not bad at all…

Customize your composting experience with 8 innovative easy-to-use drain plugs to collect powerful liquid fertilizer compost tea in the base, drain compost tea into the soil or to boost the humidity in the pile; a feature invented by Envirocycle. Easily open the snap latch and door with one hand to dump a variety of compostable material with the other. Worms can be used to accelerate the composting process and generate rich vermicompost castings. Vents increase airflow into the drum to aerate, oxygenate and create optimal aerobic composting conditions. Grab onto the drum’s deep, elegant grooves and turn the composter 3 full revolutions, every 3 days and once the composter is full, after a quick 4 to 8 weeks you will have fresh, earthy smelling mature compost.

Use your Envirocycle composter all year long, and during freezing winters, continue to add to the drum without turning it. Easily roll the drum off the base to wherever you choose, remove the door and dump and mix your mature compost into soil or apply as top dressing, without the need to reach into the drum with your hands or any other tools, to grow strong plants and healthy fruits and vegetables.

Technical Specifications

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If you have any questions about the product, contact our customer service team by email at customerservice@envirocycle.com, or by phone at 1-866-989-3684.

* We collect Sales Tax on your behalf in certain States, which is not included in the price and will be added to the cost of your order. Free shipping is included in the price when shipping to the 48 contiguous States. Contact our customer service team for assistance if you reside in Alaska or Hawaii.