High Tech Indoor Food Recycler Raise Over 6 Times Its Goal

We love a good composting article here at TreeHugger. We've shown you how to compost in a small city kitchen, a big backyard and everything in between, but outside of the likeminded world of these pages, there are people who still see composting as too much of a hassle, too messy, too smelly.

How do we get those people to reduce the food waste they send to the landfill?

The solution might be this new Zera Food Recycler from Whirlpool's innovation incubator, WLabs, which Derek wrote about just a few months ago. The indoor machine serves as a collection bin for kitchen scraps throughout the week and then, as the company claims, turns them into nutrient-rich fertilizer in just 24 hours without any offensive smells along the way.

If the product's Indiegogo campaign is any indication, people are very interested. The gadget has already raised over 6 times its crowdfunding goal and there are still 12 days left.

Each week, users place a paper additive packet consisting of coconut husk fibers and baking soda into the bin, which acts as the brown material that aids the decomposition of food scraps. Then throughout the week they add all of their food scraps, including meat and dairy (sans bones), which is off limits in composting. When the bin is full, users push the "Start" button and the machine begins heating, slicing, mixing and aerating the scraps and within 24 hours the scraps are transformed into fertilizer, retrievable from the bottom of the bin. A HEPA filter keeps smells at bay.