Home Compost Solutions -- Mill vs Lomi

[TriGirl 268]

Several years ago my parents, who live on a rather large bit of land, had a compost barrel down by the barn.  It became too much trouble, so they got rid of it.  I have checked around and know that home compost pails kept in kitchens or even right outside become too, um, fragrant to be feasible for regular suburban or apartment home use.  Now, along come at least two different options I have seen/heard of on ads on podcasts and Instagram.  Both claim to be home friendly (no smell), quiet and efficient, and both advertise that they dry and mulch the food waste overnight to a soil-like consistency.  The question is, which to get?

Lomi -- Pros: one you buy it, it's yours. The result is a dry, soil-like mulch you can put directly into your plants or flower beds. One podcaster who promotes it puts the mulch on her fruit trees. Cons: I'm moving to a townhouse, so will have limited options for using the dried mulch except a few plants I plan to have on the terrace. It also takes up a lot of counter space, and requires regular filter changes (so, what if you run out of filters/the company stops making them?)

Mill -- Pros: it's the size of a medium garbage can, so it sits on the floor instead of the countertop. The device comes with a monthly subscription, so if you decide you don't want it anymore, cancel your subscription and it goes away. The company picks up the dry "mulch" (it is not ready for direct use by this process) to create fertilizer mulch for farms.  Cons: monthly subscription charge, plus you don't get the benefit of any of the mulch you create. 

I think I'm leaning toward Mill, but the benefits of Lomi still seem pretty good. I'm sure I could share the fertilizer mulch with friends. Does anyone have another composting machine for food/plant waste, and how do you like it?  Any thoughts on the above two options? 

Edited June 9, 2023 by TriGirl

[headoverheels 291]

I consider them a waste.  My wife has one in each house, but I also have compost bins at our main residence -- which is all that I personally use.  The processed Lomi (or similar) output should still be composted before adding it in any quantity to plants -- my wife adds it to the compost bins, where it breaks down much quicker than unprocessed kitchen waste, since it has been macerated into tiny bits.    

Where I live, you aren't supposed to put veg scraps in the garbage.  If you don't compost, you add it to any yard trimming waste, which is picked up in the street once a week.

[TriGirl 268]

Yeah, that would be nice, but we don't have similar options here -- especially since I'm currently living in a high-rise apartment and will be moving to a townhouse next year (no significant yard aside from some decorative landscape, which is maintained by the association).  So, no yard waste. 

I wish we could do that, though; or that we had compost bins.  I count myself lucky that my municipalities even do any kind of recycling.