Compost Seats Are Being Launched Globally

Subpods installed in a live, work, play precinct in Byron Bay, Australia.Compost CentralAs the global food waste crisis hits people’s radars, innovators are coming up with all kinds of creative solutions – from dehydrating it to wearing it. Joining the movement, a team of people tucked away in Byron Bay, northern New South Wales, Australia, has dreamed up a novel solution that makes composting food waste easier, quicker and more appealing – and it’s now been launched globally.Although food waste is a multifaceted issue that needs to be tackled at different levels of food production, distribution and consumption, food that ends up in landfill produces methane, which has a more than 20-fold greater global warming potential than carbon dioxide. Composting is therefore an important way to recycle food scraps, while enriching the soil as a bonus.At the household level, however, this isn’t practical for many people due to space, time or aesthetic constraints. Therefore, Saadi Allen and his team at Compost Central saw the need for an easy, accessible and trouble-free way to compost.“We have a dream for composting to be a part of everyday living,” says Allen. “Composting is one of the top five things we can do to dramatically reduce our environmental impact, but retail and DIY composting systems are hard work and can suffer from bad smells, rodents and flies.”The outcome was Subpod, an in-garden composting system powered by worms and microbes. It doubles as garden seating and turns food waste into nutrient-rich soil much faster than traditional compost bins. Allen estimates that composting at Subpod’s full 15kg capacity is equivalent to taking 1.54 metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the environment or taking a car off the road for six months.The Subpod is an in-garden compost system that doubles up as a garden seat.Compost CentralHow does it work? The Subpod goes underground, and is designed to allow air to move through the system to create a natural environment for worms and microbes, avoid smells and stop pests getting in. And bringing the compost straight to the soil means no more digging it in manually.“Composting at the root level of plants instead of above-ground means the worms can come and go as they please and spread their goodness through the soil of your garden,” Allen explains.Because worms can move freely through the soil, this gives them more space and helps regulate their temperature, enabling them to grow and thrive. Air brought in by the ventilation and aerating process speeds up the composting process. The underground system allows worms to come and go and circulates air to speed up the process of … [+] turning food into nutrient-rich soil.Compost CentralThe unit is simple to assemble, then can be tucked into a new or existing raised garden bed or dug into a ground level garden. Once it’s in the soil, you add composting worms and let them settle in for a week. Then you start adding food waste and a handful of paper or other carbon source and stir it for 10-15 seconds with an aerator and let the microbes and worms do the rest.The unit comes with instructions and more details can be sourced online.Compost CentralAnd because the worms can come and go as they please, you can even compost things like onions, citrus and meat that are big no-no’s for traditional worm composting. The system can be used for private homes or scaled up. The team has presold more than 900 Subpods and has several prototypes and projects in place including a large-scale commercial set-up at a Sri Lankan resort, as well as systems in Australian homes. They have installed two large, custom-designed commercial systems at Habitat, a live, work and play precinct in Byron Bay’s Industrial & Arts Estate, cafes, and a fashion house, Spell & The Gypsy.“What we like about the Subpod system is that it’s really low maintenance,” says Caitlin from Spell and the Gypsy collective, “and I like that it’s underground so there’s no smell from the compost and it’s a bench seat so you get to sit surrounded by all these beautiful fruit and veg that you’ve created from your compost.”They’ve also been working with several schools in Australia and overseas to develop programs and waste solutions to eliminate their food waste and create rich soils and gardens.“It’s hands-on learning,” says Simon McLean, principal of Periwinkle Preschool in Byron Bay. “The children are active participants in the learning by the very fact that they’re engaged with it and they’re doing it themselves – they’re not watching teachers doing it, they’re not being told about it, they’re actually doing it.”Even pre-schoolers can get involved.Compost CentralFor Subpod’s global crowdfunding launched this week, they will be donating a unit to a school or community in need of composting solutions for every 10 units sold during the 30-day campaign.“By simply taking the hard work out of composting and providing education and support to beginners,” says Allen, “we are building a global community of waste warriors who are turning waste into a key resource and having fun while doing it.”“Composting is a simple way we can start to make small steps for big change. We hope by building a movement of 20,000 people composting by 2020 we can start a grassroots movement to have a huge impact.”


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