Bloom, Indoor Composter & Garden
Turning waste into an opportunity. A speculative deep dive exploration on
engaging with waste as it’s generated to promote more mindful consumption.
6 weeks
Course: Designing for Complex Product Systems
Industrial Design, Systems Design,
Rapid Prototyping, Solidworks, Keyshot
6 weeks
Course: Designing for Complex Product Systems
Industrial Design, Systems Design,
Rapid Prototyping, Solidworks, Keyshot
Around a third of food produced every year is discarded or wasted. Rotting food in landfills produces methane due to a lack of oxygen and excess moisture. 43% of this food waste in the supply chain is generated at the consumer level— we are often driven to buy more than we need and end up throwing away excess. Coffee grounds, egg shells, fruit and vegetable peels are some more common, consistent waste households generate that hold nutrients to enrich gardens if properly composted.
Traditionally, composting has been a process reserved for those with outdoor space. Indoor composting is much harder to start, and often done under sinks in DIY plastic bins, and are unmotivating to keep care of. This project is an experiment on what urban composting at a household level could look like to be more interactive and engaging, and provide an outlet for the nutrient-rich material generated.
Traditionally, composting has been a process reserved for those with outdoor space. Indoor composting is much harder to start, and often done under sinks in DIY plastic bins, and are unmotivating to keep care of. This project is an experiment on what urban composting at a household level could look like to be more interactive and engaging, and provide an outlet for the nutrient-rich material generated.
A focus on urban composting
According to the UN, 55% of the population, about 4.4 billion people, live in urban environments, with this number only projected to grow. However, composting has traditionally been an outdoor activity.
There is a general dissatisfaction people face with current indoor composting systems that exist. The Mill and Lomi, are high-tech appliances requiring a lot of energy, and advertise shipping your dirt back to them. Dustbin-like containers are meant as collection points where bags are disposed at a community composting bin— still a decent amount of work with no direct incentive. Bokashi provides promising results but requires special bokashi bran purchased every month.
This lead me to question how a system could be designed to be more productive for families while keeping them committed and engaged.
According to the UN, 55% of the population, about 4.4 billion people, live in urban environments, with this number only projected to grow. However, composting has traditionally been an outdoor activity.
There is a general dissatisfaction people face with current indoor composting systems that exist. The Mill and Lomi, are high-tech appliances requiring a lot of energy, and advertise shipping your dirt back to them. Dustbin-like containers are meant as collection points where bags are disposed at a community composting bin— still a decent amount of work with no direct incentive. Bokashi provides promising results but requires special bokashi bran purchased every month.
This lead me to question how a system could be designed to be more productive for families while keeping them committed and engaged.
Doing some of my own testing at home
This project stemmed from my desire to be more mindful and involved with the waste I generate, so it only made sense to try out a small system with my roommates to note the process and pain points first-hand.
With tips from a friend and lots of research, I decided to use a deli container to collect coffee grounds, fruit and veggie peels, old produce, egg shells balanced out with dry leaves from outside. This worked out quite well— with the largest learning curve being monitoring the moisture of the mixture. At the start, I hadn’t created sufficient holes in the container lid for air circulation, which led to more moisture being retained in the container leading to more smell. Adding more holes significantly improved this, and is something I reflected in the design of this composter. Adding dry leaves, a carbon rich element or “brown”, in ratio to nitrogen rich compostable materials also helped balance moisture and smell, and is something other households can do— even with something as simple as old newspapers.
This project stemmed from my desire to be more mindful and involved with the waste I generate, so it only made sense to try out a small system with my roommates to note the process and pain points first-hand.
With tips from a friend and lots of research, I decided to use a deli container to collect coffee grounds, fruit and veggie peels, old produce, egg shells balanced out with dry leaves from outside. This worked out quite well— with the largest learning curve being monitoring the moisture of the mixture. At the start, I hadn’t created sufficient holes in the container lid for air circulation, which led to more moisture being retained in the container leading to more smell. Adding more holes significantly improved this, and is something I reflected in the design of this composter. Adding dry leaves, a carbon rich element or “brown”, in ratio to nitrogen rich compostable materials also helped balance moisture and smell, and is something other households can do— even with something as simple as old newspapers.
Initial Ideation
I wanted the composter to focus on an urban gardening aspect and almost fit in like furniture in a home. Another priority was ease turning the waste which can to be done every 1- 2 weeks to aerate the material, and a collection system for excess moisture ideally for both the compost and garden.
I wanted the composter to focus on an urban gardening aspect and almost fit in like furniture in a home. Another priority was ease turning the waste which can to be done every 1- 2 weeks to aerate the material, and a collection system for excess moisture ideally for both the compost and garden.
Narrowing down form and scale
It became apparent early on that for this to become an engaging home ritual and effectively complete the composting cycle, the composter-planter would need to be of a slightly larger scale—more akin to a side table than a tabletop appliance.
Leveraging height would enable a larger bin and provide more space for growing larger vegetables such as lettuce in a smaller apartment. I settled on a pagoda-spaceship-like 3-tier system that efficiently separates space for growing different-sized foods while embracing the compost bin in the middle.
It became apparent early on that for this to become an engaging home ritual and effectively complete the composting cycle, the composter-planter would need to be of a slightly larger scale—more akin to a side table than a tabletop appliance.
Leveraging height would enable a larger bin and provide more space for growing larger vegetables such as lettuce in a smaller apartment. I settled on a pagoda-spaceship-like 3-tier system that efficiently separates space for growing different-sized foods while embracing the compost bin in the middle.
Physical Prototyping
3D printing scaled down models allowed me to view and understand the object in physical space.
3D printing scaled down models allowed me to view and understand the object in physical space.
It feels a bit ironic and morally gray to be proposing something that will require the use of valuable resources and materials for its manufacturing, processing and transport, to lower the impact the a human will have on the environment. At the same time, it is ideal for it to take the form of something that integrates into one’s space and lifestyle cohesively and maintains good engagement with the household for a long time, maybe even generations. It is also beneficial for the materials and processes to be of good quality, however, this would also raise the costs, making it inaccessible to a lot more people.
This aspect has been a struggle throughout this project, and one I haven’t figured out yet— it helps to view it as more of a concept/ experiment. There might be a version where diy-able instructions or 3D printable files are the “product” and the composter is sourced locally and made with found/ recycled objects.
This aspect has been a struggle throughout this project, and one I haven’t figured out yet— it helps to view it as more of a concept/ experiment. There might be a version where diy-able instructions or 3D printable files are the “product” and the composter is sourced locally and made with found/ recycled objects.