Nobody’s going to put up with a compost heap in a closet. But what if you could quickly compost your organic waste with no odors or bugs, indoors or outside, with a device small enough to fit in a kitchen cabinet? Naturemill promises that its Pro Edition automatic composter will do just that, producing hassle-free compost while using just a trickle of electricity.
According to the manufacturer, the Naturemill Pro composter can handle up to 120 pounds of waste per month. The upper chamber provides the ideal heat, moisture and airflow conditions for breaking down waste, which automatically drops down into a pull-out tray when composting is complete. A carbon filtered fan system eliminates trash odors, and the unit can also be used outdoors or in a garage.
Naturemill states that its composter can handle a wide range of waste materials, including dairy, meat, and pet waste. Items can be added continuously during the composting cycle, and waste volume is reduced 70% during the process, which takes about two weeks.
The company estimates that over the life of the product, a single unit can process up to two tons of waste that could have otherwise ended up in a landfill. And although the Naturemill Pro is powered by electricity, the manufacturer states that average power consumption is just 5 kw/h per month, or about $.50 on your energy bill.
This seems like quite an innovative product to improve household efficiency and reduce waste volume. If you’ve tried it, let us know – leave a comment below.
For more information, visit the Naturemill website.
Available on Amazon.
I got one for my folks so they wouldn’t have to dig around in the rear. But they were furious at me for wasting so much money on such a shoddy bit of engineering. In theirs, there is no actuator for the dump mechanism. I’m not sure if this was a one-time occurrence or a serious design flaw. I’d like to think it’s the first, but the second seems more plausible because there’s no room for another actuator in the STYROFOAM shell. I see these men all the time in COSTCO, and it makes me shudder. It’s going to deter a lot of people from composting.
I own the XE version and use it in school as a composting project. The motor broke once but was quickly replaced . The students love using it and I love the compost!
I bought one. It’s 10 cents worth of styrofoam, it stinks, it gets clogged way to easily. What a peice of overpriced junk.
Oh man, are you guys kidding? NatureMill employees have hit this website hard…it’s a piece of crap and your reviews are fake. It’s a styrofoam box that has only worked to produce mold for me. The creators of the NatureMill are green carpetbaggers.
I just came across these links about this product but I haven’t read them yet:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107204574471330808326984.html
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/home_improvement/4320997.html
http://www.naturemill.com/press.html
http://www.target.com/NatureMill-PRO-Red/dp/B0019CF2ZQ
I think the Naturemill is a very good investment. When I first got it of course I had remorse about the money I spent because it was quite expensive and I had already purchased several of the cheaper types of composters (a tumbler and a worm bin). They didn’t work out for me. So I invested in the Naturemill kitchen composter. It is by far the only home compost maker that actually works for me. All of the reviews I have read give it a similar review so I took the plunge.
The Naturemill has a really strong motor that mixes the compost on queue every 4 hours round the clock. You can hear it. Sounds like a refrigerator but not on as often. I am happy to give this product a solid review because I really think Naturemill has the right approach but any way that you choose to compost is the right way to compost.
Naturemill is amazing!!!! If you are thinking about composting then in my opinion Naturemill is the best option. If you want something indoors, it’s either Naturemill or worms and worms are just gross. I have been composting outdoors and it definitely cheaper, but read the reviews of the outdoor composters and you will see how much work it is and how slow it is and you can’t do meat or fish or dairy. Naturemill can compost almost anything (not bones or paper) and every review I have ready indicates that the product works just as mine does which is flawless. I give it a “two thumbs up” review and I highly recommend the Naturemill to anyone who wants to compost without getting too dirty.
It’s a good product. I have one. It is much easier than trying to keep worms alive. I recommend it. The reviews of the new one are good but I don’t have that one. There was a review in the new york times also.
I got the heavy duty version off their website and it is definitely the way to go. I’ve been watching this company for a few years since they first started and it’s nice to see the upgrades they have made along the way. By now the product is very solid as if they had listened to their customers which is always a good way to go. Pretty much we have no trash at home now because we recycle or compost almost everything. Our trash man must be lonely! Plants are loving the compost by the way.
I highly recommend that everyone steer clear of Naturemill and their composting products. We’ve had to send back our composter several times for various failures (red lights, not powering up, etc). In the beginning, Naturemill would pay for the product to be shipped to them. now, they insist that YOU pay the charge for their defective product. My last repair involved replacing the circuit board, and less than 2 months later, it’s dead again. Now they want me to pay to ship it to them AGAIN.
Also, they do not take phone calls; you will never be able to speak to someone in customer service. Try giving their unposted 800 number a call; all options tell you to refer to their website.
In the end , a nice idea for the environment, but a poor design and poor company. Steer clear!
This is a great machine! We got ours at Costco. It looks like a different model because it is different than the one in the picture and it is definitely a heavy duty version. It’s nice to know that they fixed any problem the earlier model might have had. In any case, it has been cranking out compost for a few months now and we are very pleased with it and need to do some more gardening now.
I purchased one for my parents so they wouldn’t have to dig around back. But they were very annoyed with me for spending so much money on such a poor piece of engineering. There is no actuator for the dump mechanism in theirs. I don’t know if this was simply a one off problem or if it’s a terrible design flaw. I’d like to believe it’s the first, but the second is more likely because there’s just not space in the STYROFOAM shell for another actuator. I see these guys at COSTCO now, and it makes me just cringe. It’s really going to turn a lot of people off composting.
We have had a Naturemill compost maker for about a year. It has become a part of our daily routine, from coffee grounds in the morning to dinner scraps at night to farmers market trimmings on the weekends. I cringe at the thought of how much we used to contribute to big nasty landfills.
This is a good way to go green and it is so easy and inexpensive that it is really taking off. Even if you consider that it uses energy, apparently it is less energy than the trash truck to haul the stuff who knows where.
If you decide to buy one of these, be sure to read and follow the instructions. It’s not a trash can, and yes it will jam like any other mechanical appliance if you overload it. The company has been very responsive to our questions (mostly through email) and they really stand behind their product which is rare these days. It is made in the USA which is also very rare. So far I am quite impressed with this company.
We love our NatureMill! I can no longer imagine how people lived before the age of indoor composting. This is important to us because we have raccoons who love to dig through our regular trash even it is latched shut, so a compost bin is out of the question. As the other gentleman noted, it is very fast. There are no odors. We got the deluxe version which I highly recommend because it is more solidly built and does not have the jamming problems or the quality issues of the cheaper model. It doesn’t do paper which is a bummer because we have so many shredded bills and what not. It doesn’t do steak bones either which I can understand so our dog still handles those. But it does meat and fish and fish bones and chicken bones although they do not recommend that.
We’ve had ours for a few months. It works so fast that it is hard to believe it is actually compost! Within 12 hours, just about anything you put in starts to look like compost. Within 24 hours it is granular and dark. Within 48 hours it is ready to transfer to the lower chamber. So you can add new waste items basically any day. The bottom tray is where it stays for another week or so and then the red light turns on to tell you to empty it. This is a great invention for people who live in apartments.
“…a bucket of worms doesn’t sound like something I’d want to keep in my condo…”
It’s a bucket of dirt with worms in it and a drainage pan underneath it. There’s no smell or noise. If you follow proper procedure, bury the garbage as you put it in, it should work well for years.
You can even decorate the container, which doesn’t have to be a bucket, to match your condo’s decor.
I think the idea has merit. We don’t all have yards, and a bucket of worms doesn’t sound like something I’d want to keep in my condo. But the one customer review thus far doesn’t raise my hopes very high.
It looked so promising at first, but it requires electricity! Not exactly the most sustainable solution to organic waste. It also looks like it has a big carbon footprint for what it is – motor, pump, carbon filter, lots of moulded plastic. One step forward, two steps back.
Instead, try a worm bucket like gmoke suggested.
My boyfriend bought me one of these for my birthday in November. The first one they sent me was dead and didn’t get any power. We contacted their customer service and a few weeks later they sent us a new power adapter, even though we told them that we had tried an alternate power adapter and it did not work. We tried the new power adapter and behold, it did not work. After that, it took over 2 months and several angry emails to get a replacement unit sent to us. That unit did get power but the transfer mechanism is busted so we have to manually transfer the compost out of the bin. I would say that the quality of this product definitely does not match the price and you’d be better off sticking to traditional methods of composting.
I’ve used a worm bucket for about thirty years. It handles everything but meat and citrus. Doesn’t need electricity and provides “worm tea” and castings for my plants.
I thought about getting one of these, but it’s pretty expensive and uses electricity. Instead I got a “flow through” vermicomposting bin, the kind with multiple stacked trays, and hung up some flypaper for the occasional flying escapee. (Yes, this is indoors.) It can’t handle meat or dairy, but bokashi does.
I can see how these would be useful for apartment dwellers or people in large cities. In the midwest, where I live, it’s just cheaper to have a traditional compost heap.