Composting reduces garbage and creates great fertilizer. But many of us don't do it or don't know where to begin. So two Vancouver students tested several indoor composting units to show just how easy it can be.
The St. George's Junior School science fair is filled with interesting projects from which paper airplanes fly best -- to the effect of red and blue lights on hydroponics,
There is one project we were particularly interested in: the one about indoor composters
Jesse Liu and Adam Cronkhite are the students behind the project to find out what science can do to kitchen waste. They found out that up to 20 per cent of our garbage going to landfills could be composted.
"Everyone should have their own composters because it helps reduce waste and helps your garden too," recommends Adam.
They set up three indoor composters -- right in the kitchen --plus a container of waste as a "control." They monitored them for two months.
The $400 Nature Mill Pro is an electric composter: its price tag and the noise are drawbacks but it's fast.
The Happy Farmer Bakashi uses something special called Effective Micro-organisms.
It's the least maintenance but when they ran a smell test with fellow students they thought it had the worst odour.
The third unit is the worm factory which uses 500 wigglers to consume the waste and turn it into rich looking compost. It had a more natural odour which was the least offensive and they give special instructions to prevent the worms from getting loose in your home.
In the end, they prepared charts and graphs and a 20 page report. The overall conclusion:
The Nature Mill Pro is best if you want fast results and have a lot of waste to process.
"And also the odor isn't as bad as some of the other ones so you don't mind the smell," notes Jesse.
If you want lower cost and smell, The Worm Factory gets the nod
"We think the worm factory will have the richest soil," concludes Adam
They'll put that to the test in the spring by taking the compost from each of the units and seeing which grows plants the best.
If you've tried out some products at home and found something that's really good or just doesn't live up to the hype -- let me know about it
