Environmentalists are stupid
I hate to say it, but there it is. Proof of the moment is the flurry of love engendered by this thing, first seen here. It is a powered composter, and not just slightly powered, it draws “95/97 W (295/297 W with catalytic deodorizing function ON)”.
Almost 300 watts, to compost. That’s twice the draw of my 30″ flat panel TV (Syntax Olevia, 145w), and I don’t leave my TV running under the sink.
It is not like you need electricity to compost. I’m a child of the 70’s, and had my copy of Let it Rot. A pile in the back of the yard, or a pail on the balcony can work just fine and not draw 295/297 W.
[Update: might as well add a link to some non-electrical alternatives over at Real Goods]
March 3rd, 2005 at 2:29 pm
Yeah, these moronic things are sold all over Japan too. PEOPLE who buy them are stupid. It’s hard to imagine anyone who could credibly be called an “environmentalist” buying one. It would be like calling oneself an anti-tobacco advocate because you smoke menthol.
March 3rd, 2005 at 3:46 pm
Well, the gag of course, is that I consider myself an environmentalist.
March 3rd, 2005 at 4:05 pm
On the other hand, “letting it rot” on the balcony might awaken lurid speculation from your neighbors as to what variety of organic matter you’ve got decomposing out there…but the balcony might the only space to do it if you live in the Big City.
Maybe the answer to is to avoid eating anything that produces organic waste.
March 3rd, 2005 at 4:34 pm
Sounds very X Files.
Seriously, I think composting should be demand driven. If you need some for your garden (or even just potted plants), then make some. I don’t think it should be (as I was just surfing and saw some poor woman say) “if I compost in my apartment, who should I give it to?”
Otherwise, send it to the landfill and consider it a well-sequestered bit of carbon that won’t be contributing to global warming.
(I got a lot of hits for “apartment composting” and didn’t actually see electrical composting appliances.)
March 3rd, 2005 at 4:41 pm
Actually, the atempt here is to reduce volume since Japan is so densely populated. I agree that 300 watts is insane and it is likely that a super insulated version wouldnt need any electricity at all. It also may be that the device only draws that amount for brief periods to get the bio-action started and then cuts out via a thermostat. However, it does help Japan with its processing of waste by reducing the overall volume demand on the sanitation systems in place…and garbage is still taken out and dumped in the sea there the same way it is in New York City…some programs are in place to generate bio-gas for the upcoming fuel cell technology in Tokyo. Of course, since I started environmental projects when I was still a child I suppose that means I am a stupid environmentalist too. Just joking. But I do agree…300 watts…way to add demand for power production. Of course, here in the USA a lot of things have been deregulated so now we can import microwave ovens that sell for 30 dollars that are useless and “too expensive to fix” so they get thrown “away”. We have developed a sick way of living, plain and simple. uhhh…wow, i guess i kind of went on there. Anyway…thanks for posting your comments.
March 3rd, 2005 at 4:43 pm
oops….i meant that the primary intended market seems to be Japan. Here in the USA, where one has room and has a huge garden or fruit trees, I always liked those compost tumbler things…they make excellent compost fast. Anyway…didnt mean to ere.
March 3rd, 2005 at 4:51 pm
There’s a funny line in “let it rot” about knowing when you have a problem … when you showed your friends your compost pile ;-). I’m afraid I’d done that. The “V” where two chain-link fences met worked for me, just turned it with a good pitchfork. I’m in a condo now, but I think I’d go for one of the easy wire bins if I had opportunity again.
It is amazing though, the creativity and energy people put into designing compost bins.
On the space thing in Japan, I’m afraid I was thinking in terms of here (American southwest) where lots of dry stable land is a train ride away.
March 3rd, 2005 at 6:10 pm
I’m pretty sure (but admit I haven’t researched this) that a lot of organic trash in Japan is incinerated rather than dumped. Incineration is a common means of municipal trash disposal, thus the severe problems with dioxin (disposable chopsticks and plastic trash bags are big contributors, because unless burned at sunlike temperatures, they breathe out hellish plumes of dioxin when incinerated). I have a feeling that electric composters might provide people the feeling that they’re doing something good for the environment here, thereby permitting them to continue engaging in other sundry polluting behaviors with a clearer conscience. Perhaps someone spied a market for this kind of thing and started, well, marketing them. I’d be surprised if electric composters sell well, if at all, in the countryside areas like Gumna and Nagano and Aimori prefectures, where the local culture is intimately tied up in the (farm)land. I don’t say this to attack Japan’s environmental record, by the way; it is a nasty, “disposable country” in some ways, but there are a growing number of people working to reverse this. There’s also the Kyoto Protocol.
March 3rd, 2005 at 10:11 pm
Cool….thanks to both of you for your further enlightenment on the subject. Lots of link to check out now.
March 3rd, 2005 at 10:17 pm
What they need to do is make one of these that is a small bio-gas device that can then fire a gas wok connected to it from the methane….hahahaha….that would totally rock. Or how about something that can turn all that cat crap in to useable energy?
March 13th, 2005 at 11:15 am
Uh, your concerns are not valid. It depends on what the alternatives are. Most people in Tokyo don’t have the space to handle a compost heap, plus there’s the odor. If a typical household uses this device to reduce its waste by 92%, then the energy saved while a garbage truck idles outside as 2 bags instead of 6 are loaded into the truck will more than counterbalance the 300W * 24 * 7 = 50,400W of electricity used by the device each week. Not to mention space saved in landfills, preventing a lot more watts from being used when new ones need to be created, or when garbage needs to be hauled elsewhere via barge, etc.
March 13th, 2005 at 12:38 pm
Well, since this post, the folks at Treehugger were kind enough to say that I was justifiably angry. To be honest, I wasn’t really angry in any lasting sense. I was just “going off” in a semi-angry, semi-amused, way.
But maybe I should just take their 4W alternative as proof that my post was valid?
Basically, if the 4W machine works, you can re-run all your calculations on that basis (rather than 300W) and we can all be happy.
March 16th, 2005 at 1:57 pm
There is something called a wriggley wranch (or ranch) which is a habitat for Red Worms who will eat your organic waste with gusto and smell no more than a fresh bag of potting soil. Many municipalities sel it subsidized and you can even make one out of wood and order the worms from many worm farms. Contact the your municipal recycle/trash collectors or me for more info.