Every single day, owners across the globe contribute to the landfill drawback by throwing their kitchen scraps within the trash. What if, as an alternative of contributing to the issue, we might turn out to be a part of the answer – all inside the consolation of our personal kitchens? Welcome to the world of indoor composting.
Composting is not only an earth-friendly observe but additionally a way to counterpoint the soil in our gardens, scale back waste, and create a more healthy dwelling surroundings. Now, think about having fun with these advantages with out having to go away your kitchen. And as Chicagoans with little or no outside area (only a small balcony), we’re all the time on the lookout for methods to make use of expertise to make up the necessity for outside gardening area.
Among the many champions main the cost within the indoor composting revolution are two standout gamers: Lomi and Vitamix (FoodCycler) composters. Each promise to show kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich compost in just a few quick hours, proper in your countertop. However which one is actually the cream of the proverbial crop?
Advantages of Composting
Earlier than we dive into our comparability, it’s price briefly reminding ourselves of the explanation why composting needs to be on our radar. Composting is an earth-friendly observe that transforms natural waste right into a nutritious modification for soil. It not solely enhances the vitality of the soil but additionally promotes the expansion of sturdy vegetation, minimizing the reliance on artificial fertilizers. Moreover, by composting, we lower methane emissions from landfills, contributing to the struggle towards local weather change.
Indoor composting takes this a step additional by bringing the method into the guts of your property – your kitchen. It’s handy, usually reduces foul odors, saves area, and gives a continuous provide of compost for indoor vegetation or small gardens.
Wait – Is It Really Compost?
One factor that’s somewhat bit deceptive about these kitchen-top composters is that they don’t really make compost. Though countertop composting machines like Lomi and the Vitamix FoodCycler contribute to waste discount, they don’t technically produce compost within the conventional sense. These machines operate extra like a hybrid between a meals dehydrator and a grinder, decreasing meals scraps right into a dehydrated type – however not producing true compost or soil.
Actual compost requires microbial motion and time to transform natural waste into humus, a steady soil element that provides a perfect plant-growing medium. The output from Lomi or Vitamix FoodCycler is totally different and might’t be instantly used as a rising medium in pots or backyard beds.
Nonetheless, these machines do produce a product that may be useful when used accurately. Particularly, the Lomi gadget has a “Develop” mode that creates a product nearer to precise compost. This product may be blended with soil at a really useful ratio of 1 half Lomi output to 10 elements soil for plant cultivation.
To reinforce the method and finish consequence, it’s suggested so as to add Lomi Pods to every “Develop” cycle. These small tablets, created from Lomi’s distinctive probiotic mix, are designed to expedite the degradation course of and enrich the tip product with vitamins and useful microbes for plant well being. A pack of Lomi Pods is included with the acquisition of a Lomi, however you’ll have to purchase extra by yourself after that.

Lomi and Vitamix: A Head-to-Head Comparability
Pela’s Lomi and Vitamix’s FoodCycler are pioneers in indoor composting, every with distinctive options and potential drawbacks.This text compares the options, performance, and general efficiency of the Lomi and Vitamix composters. We are going to consider the professionals and cons of every gadget that will help you resolve which product most closely fits your area and indoor composting wants.
Disclaimer
Earlier than we go additional, I wish to level out that Pela despatched us one in all their Lomi’s to check out in our dwelling. Whereas we’re grateful for the reward, we’ll solely be offering our personal ideas and opinions of this product, and we now have not been paid to write down a optimistic overview.
An Overview Of the Lomi Composter
The Lomi composter is a countertop equipment developed by Pela, an organization dedicated to addressing environmental challenges by means of progressive product design. This gadget is an try to considerably scale back world waste, with a focused aim of eliminating over 10 billion kilos. That may be a ton of waste!
Some key milestones in Lomi’s historical past embrace:
- In 2008, the corporate’s founder, Jeremy Lang, determined to analysis various supplies to plastic because of the alarming affect of plastic air pollution he witnessed throughout a trip in Hawaii.
- Lang launched Pela in 2011 from his storage in Saskatchewan, introducing the world’s first compostable telephone case. At present, Pela’s telephone case has been adopted by practically 2 million customers. Aspect observe – you probably have one in all these telephone instances, please tell us about it within the feedback!
- In 2018, Pela expanded its focus to incorporate meals waste, opening a brand new headquarters in Kelowna, BC, and devoting assets to creating a house composting answer.
- The results of these efforts was the Lomi Composter, formally launched on Earth Day in 2021 and have become a extremely profitable crowdfunded environmental product.
- By 2022, Lomi had been adopted by over 100,000 households, contributing to the diversion of as much as 17 million kilos of meals waste from landfills.
The Lomi Composter is designed to remodel meals waste into compost, selling the recycling of vitamins again into the soil. The gadget makes use of a mix of warmth, abrasion, and oxygen to interrupt down natural waste inside a typical kitchen setting.
Moreover, in line with their web site, utilizing Lomi for a 12 months can probably offset environmental impacts equal to these created by powering a gasoline automobile for 576 miles, burning 257 kilos of coal, or charging a smartphone 28,221 instances. This means the potential environmental advantages that may be realized by means of the utilization of a house composting answer like Lomi.
How Does The Lomi Composter Work?
Lomi’s composting system has three preset packages, which you’ll be able to choose with the push of a button: Eco-Specific, Lomi Permitted, and Develop Mode. Right here’s a fast information dump on what these every are for:
- Eco-Specific Mode: An answer for quickly decreasing waste quantity – that is normally what we use for meals waste in our dwelling
- Lomi Permitted Mode: This mode is designed particularly to decompose bioplastics
- Develop Mode: An extended cycle that produces nutrient-rich compost prepared to be used in gardening or planting.
Every mode goes by means of three distinct phases, designed to make sure most decomposition effectivity.
Within the first two phases are heating and grinding, which occur concurrently. It is because it’s simpler for microorganisms to interrupt down small items (slightly than bigger ones).
The ultimate stage is a cycle of heating and cooling that gives optimum circumstances for the decomposition of meals. This cycle is essential in guaranteeing the system completes composting and doesn’t simply grind and warmth the waste.
Lomi’s inbuilt sensors measure moisture and temperature inside. These readings and a air flow system that ensures a steady airflow create preferrred circumstances for accelerating the pure decomposition course of. Every preset mode (Eco-Specific, Develop, and Lomi Permitted) completes this course of inside various time intervals, relying on the kind and amount of waste and the specified finish product.
Conventional composting usually happens over three principal phases: the mesophilic (moderate-temperature) section, the thermophilic (high-temperature) section, and a remaining cooling section. Usually, these phases can take a number of months to finish. Lomi can accomplish all of those phases in only a few hours. Not too shabby should you ask me.
An Overview Of the Vitamix Composter
The Vitamix® FoodCycler® FC-50 is a meals waste recycler that provides an efficient answer to the rising difficulty of meals waste. With the aim of making a sustainable and environment friendly recycling course of, this equipment takes a novel method to meals waste administration.
Listed below are some vital factors concerning the FoodCycler FC-50:
- The FoodCycler FC-50 transforms meals scraps right into a nutrient-rich soil additive in only a few hours, offering an environment friendly various to conventional composting strategies that may take weeks and even months.
- With its capacity to scale back meals waste quantity by as much as 90%, the FoodCycler FC-50 can assist households considerably scale back their contribution to landfill waste.
- The gadget is provided with a specifically formulated carbon filter that eliminates odors and dangerous methane gases, making it appropriate for indoor use.
- Along with vegetable and fruit scraps, the FoodCycler FC-50 also can course of meat, dairy merchandise, pet meals, and small bones from fish or hen, including to its versatility.
- The FoodCycler FC-50 replaces the Vitamix FC-30 and comes with a number of enhancements over the earlier mannequin, together with processing time, filter life, and a lid for the bucket.
- The FoodCycler FC-50 is energy-efficient, utilizing much less electrical energy than a small microwave oven.
Vitamix’s FoodCycler FC-50 gives a sensible and sustainable answer for managing meals waste. Its capacity to transform meals scraps into nutrient-rich soil modification contributes to a greener, extra eco-friendly way of life. Its environment friendly, user-friendly design and compact measurement make it a worthwhile addition to any kitchen.
How The Vitamix Composter Works
The Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50 is a sophisticated composting system designed to remodel meals waste right into a nutrient-rich soil modification in hours (not weeks or months), providing a sensible, eco-friendly various to conventional composting.
The method begins with the gathering of meals waste in a detachable bucket, which is designed to be saved in your kitchen for handy entry whereas making ready meals. This bucket can simply be moved across the kitchen – from countertop to sink – and it comes with a lid that retains the cast-iron bucket odor-free and appropriate for indoor use. The bucket can be dishwasher-safe, making cleansing easy and hassle-free.
As soon as the bucket is full, it’s positioned into the FoodCycler FC-50 unit. By urgent the facility button, the FoodCycler begins its composting operation. The unit quietly agitates the meals waste whereas additionally aerating and heating it. This motion not solely breaks down the meals waste but additionally sterilizes it, thus stopping the expansion of micro organism and pathogens.
The Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50 is provided with a specifically formulated carbon filter that eliminates odors and any dangerous methane gases that will come up throughout the composting course of. This makes the FoodCycler appropriate for indoor use, together with underneath the sink or in a utility room.
The method takes between 4 and eight hours, after which the meals scraps are transformed right into a dry, odorless powder. This substance, often known as a soil modification, may be blended instantly into the backyard as a nutrient-rich fertilizer.
The Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50 can deal with a wide range of meals waste, together with fruit and vegetable scraps, meat, dairy merchandise, pet meals, and even small bones from fish or hen. This makes it a superb alternative for these on the lookout for a simple and efficient strategy to decrease meals waste from their meals.
Moreover, the FoodCycler FC-50 is energy-efficient, utilizing much less electrical energy than a small microwave oven, additional contributing to its environmentally pleasant profile.

Evaluating Lomi and Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50
So now that we’ve laid out the general performance of those two composters, let’s examine them.
Capability
Winner: Lomi
The Lomi has a capability benefit, holding half a liter greater than the FoodCycler, with a complete capability of 12.68 cups or three liters for meals waste.
The Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50 has a capability of roughly 10.5 cups or 2.5 liters, making it capable of course of a big quantity of kitchen waste at a time. The FoodCycler is compact and requires just one cubic foot of area and an influence outlet.
All this mentioned, it’s vital to level out that you must solely fill both composter to about ¾ full.
Dimension Effectivity
Winner: Toss Up
First off, let’s simply be clear and say that each of those merchandise are a bit cumbersome on a counter. When it comes to sizing (measured), the Lomi’s dimensions are 14″ W x 12″ D x 12″ H, whereas the Vitamix’s dimensions are 11″ W x 12.25″ D x 14.25″ H.
The Lomi is wider (14″ vs 11″) and has the identical depth because the Vitamix (each 12″), however the Vitamix is taller (14.25″ vs 12″).
So, contemplating which one takes up extra counter area (width x depth), the Lomi can be bigger. Nonetheless, should you’re taking a look at general quantity or contemplating area constraints vertically (peak), the Vitamix is bigger.
The variations are fairly minuscule, although. Each merchandise will take up concerning the area of a countertop microwave.
Energy and Effectivity
Winner: Lomi (except you completely use it in “Develop Mode”)
For the Lomi, each cycle consumes between 0.6 and 1 kWh of energy, translating to roughly 14-24 cents per use for a median American family. Right here’s the breakdown of the kilowatt price per mode:
- Eco Specific: Beneath 0.60kWh
- Lomi Permitted: Beneath 0.75KWh
- Develop Mode: Round 1 KwH
Assuming you utilize the Lomi two instances per week, you’ll doubtless spend underneath $1 per week and underneath $4 per thirty days. That’s not a large funding for a lot compost.
The FoodCycler makes use of about .85 kWh per processing cycle. That is nonetheless extremely vitality environment friendly.
Affordability
Winner: FoodCycler
The present record worth of the Lomi is $499, whereas the FoodCycler is $340. There are at the moment a whole lot of Lomi reductions within the wild, although, so the costs are rather more comparable than it initially appears.
Ease Of Use
Winner: Toss Up
Each merchandise principally begin with the push of a button. Lomi has just a few extra choices relying on what you might be composting, however that is extra of a function, for my part.
Noise Ranges
Winner: Toss Up
The Lomi could be only a hair louder than the Vitamix, but it surely’s fairly inconsequential.
Dealing with Totally different Varieties Of Waste (e.g., meals scraps, yard waste)
Winner: Toss Up
I’ve added a desk under on the fundamentals of what you possibly can and can’t put within the Lomi and FoodCycler. I ought to level out that there are some caveats, and you must check out the guides for particular conditions:
When doubtful, a easy Google search can assist get you a fast reply.
Odor Management
Winner: Toss Up
The Lomi makes use of activated charcoal to manage odors successfully. The Vitamix FoodCycler makes use of a carbon filtration system to do the identical factor. Each techniques have little to no scent, and it’s a much better scent than conventional composting.
That mentioned, you’ll have to be diligent about changing your filters to maintain the smells from turning into an excessive amount of.
Time Effectivity
Winner: Lomi (however solely in Eco-Specific Mode)
Whereas each merchandise take significantly much less time than conventional composting, the Lomi has the quickest mode.
The Eco-Specific mode solely lasts 4 hours, lower than the eight hours wanted for the FoodCycler.
The opposite two modes for Lomi, Lomi Permitted and Develop Mode, take 10 and 20 hours, respectively.

Ultimate Ideas
Compared, each the Lomi and the FoodCycler have a whole lot of similarities and some variations. Probably the most vital distinction is that the Lomi has just a few distinctive modes, permitting it to compost extra than simply meals – and it could produce a “Lomi grime” within the Develop Mode that’s the closest to precise compost. Probably the most vital issue for FoodCycler is the worth. However once more, there are such a lot of reductions accessible for the Lomi that the costs may be very related.
Ultimately, it comes right down to your private choice. What did you resolve on your own residence composting wants? Inform us about your expertise within the feedback under!