Solar food digester - beyond compost!

[ChanellG]

Would you like to stop putting food waste in the trash? Did you now that even the stuff you don't put in the compost bin can be recycled? Did you know you could do the same thing with pet waste?

I've mentioned this before, only I couldn't remember the name - I thought it was called an earth pot, but apparently that's not it. The company that sold it still shows it on their website, but apparently isn't carrying it right now. It's a cool concept, but I wonder what the long term impact is.

The specifications say you have to dig the basket up periodically and clean it, but that seems to be the only drawback.

Any thoughts?

 

[ViperDove]

It produces gas, right? If so then you're talking about biogas digesters. It has been around for a long time now. For example, millions of small-scale biogas digesters exist in India, China and some other countries. You can find the large-scale ones in Europe and America.

The one you describe here is not that suitable since you have to dig up the basket, which can be really messy. The conventional design of digesters overcomes that. As you pour in waste into the inlet, an equal volume of old waste flows out from the outlet.

Biogas digesters is another technology that inspires me.

 

[ChanellG]

It produces gas, right? If so then you're talking about biogas digesters...

Biogas digesters is another technology that inspires me.

No, I am not talking about biogas digeters; that is something a bit more complicated.

Here's another image with a description of how it works:

The solar cone food digester is NOT a composter. It is a solar-heated garden unit that safely reduces food waste (including meat, fish, bones, dairy products, cooked & uncooked vegetables & fruit) to their natural components of water, carbon dioxide, and a small residue. Because over 90% of its contents are absorbed as water by the surrounding soil, the solar cone does not need emptying and does not produce compost. It can ideally be used in tandem with a composter, composting uncooked fruit and vegetable waste & peelings and using the Solar Cone to dispose of meat, bones, dairy products, and other items that should not go in a composter.

 

[ViperDove]

Wow. I have not heard of this one before. It looks very promising.

 

[Nahum]

This is the first I've heard of this too, but it does look like a pretty low maintenance way of composting. Thanks for the information and link.

 

[ChanellG]

It's not composting. It's a way to recycle the stuff that doesn't go into your compost bin such as pet waste. While the process is similar to the compost process, there is no soil produced that can then be used for gardening.

 

[Soliloquy]

Can other food waste that isn't appropriate for composting go in there, too? Like processed foods, congealed oils and fats, etc.?

 

[ChanellG]

Can other food waste that isn't appropriate for composting go in there, too? Like processed foods, congealed oils and fats, etc.?

Yes, that is exactly what goes in. The first one I saw had a basket that you dig up every few years, but the one above somehow reduces everything to its water content. Of course the graphic doesn't say what happens with the other 10% of the material that isn't absorbed into the soil.

 

[Jed]

I never heard of them until I read your last post. I did google and they seem to be still available.I guess it's like most things that you need to be dedicated. There were a few for sale second hand on eBay.
http://www.abundantearth.com/store/GreenConeDigester.html

 

[ChanellG]

I don't have a dog or cat and I don't eat meat so I don't really need one, but I like the idea of them. Every time I explain them to someone they frown at the idea of composting their pet's waste, but the same people have no problem using manure for their gardens. (I don't use manure at all.) I think the digesters are a great idea because they would significantly reduce landfill waste.

 

[Gardener]

That seems like a really cool concept. The only flaw that I see in it is that meat and dairy products, in a sense, can be composted. The drawback being that it lures small rodents to the area, but other than that, if you live in a farm, you can easily make a section for dairy and meat products and not get bad odours from it. Still, like I said, that is a pretty good concept, and useful for anyone doesn't live in a rural environment.

 

[ChanellG]

First, it isn't compost; second, how is getting rid of meat and dairy products in a compost-like process a flaw? It also digests pet waste and shouldn't attract any more rodents than regular compost. (What animal is attracted to the smell of and wants to consume feces?) The graphic showing the second digester shows how soil keeps it from smelling.

 

[Shellyann36]

This would be great for pet waste and for cooked foods/scraps that I don't want to throw in the trash and I don't want to attract wild animals to such as racoons or possums. I will show this to Keith. I wonder if it might be easy to make one of our own without having to invest in one? Thank you for sharing.