Designed to fit effortlessly into most modern kitchen sinks, this waste disposal unit not only reduces landfill waste, but also transforms organic materials into a harmless residue suitable for household sewage systems. Its minimalist aesthetic allows it to blend seamlessly with contemporary kitchens, while its thoughtful engineering stands out as a game-changer in waste management. One of the most impressive aspects of the Enviro-Green Waste Machine is its superior performance. Its unique permanent magnet motor produces 25 per cent more torque than competitors, offering more grinding power for efficient waste disposal.

Available in two sizes — ¾ horsepower and 1¼ horsepower — the unit caters to different household needs. The high RPM motor ensures quicker processing of kitchen scraps, handling everything from fruit peels to small bones with ease. Plus, the BioGuard antimicrobial technology integrated into the design eliminates odours and bacteria, keeping your kitchen smelling fresh With sound-eliminating insulation, the machine operates quietly in the background, allowing homeowners to maintain a serene kitchen atmosphere. Its corrosion proof stainless-steel impellers and grind ring ensure the durability of the machine, while the inclusion of a plunger simplifies operation.

Designed for convenience and ecoconscious living, the Enviro-Green not only saves time, but also helps households reduce their environmental footprint by minimising greenhouse gas emissions. For households looking to make a more sustainable choice, the Enviro-Green Waste Machine stands as an essential addition. Tested locally at Deakin University in Melbourne, this waste disposal system is not just an Australian innovation, but also a practical solution for today’s smaller homes and apartments where waste management can become problematic.

Find out more at Abey Australia.

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The main type of worm used for worm farming is called the tiger worm (Eisenia fetida), among other common names, and it is one of the best types for this purpose because they naturally live in shallow decomposing organic matter, have high appetites and breed easily. The technical term for worm farming is vermicomposting, and the fertile worm castings are sometimes referred to as vermicompost. Often people use the term “vermiculture” to mean worm farming, but technically it refers to just the breeding and raising of worms, whereas “vermicomposting” means the use of worms to process organic matter.

Worm farming can be done on a range of scales, from the compact indoor Tumbleweed Cube to the low-maintenance in-ground Worm Buffet, to the multi-layered Worm Café up to large-scale projects tackling industrial organic waste. Many businesses and institutions produce large amounts of food waste and unrecyclabe paper waste that can be transformed into valuable worm castings. Local government can also process food waste, green waste from gardens, and even sewage sludge using large-scale worm farms. There are many different businesses working in this area now, using a range of methods depending on the scale and type of waste. Some companies offer large contained units that can be installed on-site as a kind of giant worm farm.

Worms appear to be very simple creatures, but their anatomy and behaviour are more complex than it seems. Charles Darwin held a lifelong fascination with worms, studying them for decades, and revealing much about their lives. His final book, published in 1881, was titled The formation of vegetable mould, through the actions of earthworms, with observations on their habits, but is often just called Darwin’s worm book. Darwin talks about the anatomy of the worm and how they digest organic matter. Worms have a digestive system extending along their entire body, and they consume organic matter with the help of digestive proteins as well as tiny mineral particles in their gizzards and intestines. They also have glands that secrete calcium to regulate their body and stomach pH levels. Darwin observed worms himself in partnership often with his children over many years, and corresponded with people from around the world about their behaviour. Nowadays many kids love having a worm farm and benefit from seeing how they can make a difference to issues such as climate change, waste disposal and growing their own food.

Showing genuine interest and curiosity about the nature and behaviour of worms, Darwin discusses their sensory abilities, intelligence and importance for soil health. He writes about various experiments he did, including giving worms different plants and seeing which they prefer or avoid. In one test he gave the worms a range of different vegetable leaves, including celery, cabbage, wild cherry and carrot, and found they much preferred the latter two. He also gave them different aromatic herb leaves, such as sage, thyme and mint, which they avoided except for the mint, which was “very slightly nibbled”.

In later parts of the book, Darwin brings together observations and experiments about how worms move soil and their effect on soil health. He writes at length about the sheer volume of soil that worms process through their bodies, showing how great the impact of such a small creature is. Darwin’s fascinating book can be accessed on the internet by putting the title into your favourite search engine.

If worm farming has caught your attention as a home compost method, there are several important things to learn from Darwin’s work and the modern experiences of this powerful environmental tool. First, the finer the materials are when they are added to your worm farm, the easier and quicker the worms can break them down. Second, the amount of food you give them needs to be matched to the size of the worm population. If your worm farm becomes smelly or mouldy, chances are you are adding more food than they can eat at one time, paving the way for unwanted organisms to step in and create problems. Third, worms need air to breathe, so it is important to make sure the food you add is not too wet. Adding some shredded corrugated cardboard or paper, chopped straw or similar will stop things getting out of control for your wormy friends.

A wonderful benefit of worm farming is the way it recycles your household organics to create one of the best-balanced organic fertilisers on the planet. Tap off the liquid and give your plants an instantaneous boost when the liquid is diluted down to the colour of weak tea, while the solid castings provide a relatively slow-release biologically based fertiliser that not only feeds your plants, but keeps them healthy through the beneficial microbes that are introduced around the plant roots. Finally, worm farms help build up the carbon-rich humus levels in the soil, helping to stop carbon emissions while encouraging rapid plant growth that extracts carbon dioxide from the air. Win/win/win. Happy worm farming!

For more information, 

Tumbleweed 

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These days, most people understand the importance of recycling, re-using, minimising waste and being kinder to the planet. For many of us, making a choice about reducing our environmental footprint is important, but sometimes the busyness of life gets in the way of taking decisive action. Composting is one of those things that might be on our altruistic to-do list, but seems just out of reach. It’s yet another thing we need to research, purchase and figure out how to use. Besides that, some of us might have not-so-fond memories of old ice cream buckets on the kitchen sink, with foul-smelling contents for the garden. But what if composting were super easy, highly functional, discreet and saved money on fertiliser for your potted plants and garden as well? That would certainly be a drawcard, and a bonus.

Tumbleweed — a privately owned Australian company with a global presence — is encouraging consumers to reduce, re-use and recycle organic waste with its innovative products, helping you embrace composting at home with minimum fuss. Tumbleweed’s product range includes fixed and tumbling compost bins, a range of worm farms (built-in and above ground), and all the accessories you need. More discreet and easier to use than traditional composting, Tumbleweed’s products are designed for Australian households that want to make a difference, so you can recycle your organic waste on a daily basis, simply and easily.

Environmentally sustainable

Tumbleweed is an Australian family-owned business that designs and manufactures products in Australia from 100 per cent recycled plastic. All their worm farms and compost bins are designed for longevity to ensure the product can be passed on through generations. From the very beginning, they have been designing products to recycle single-use plastic to give waste materials that were destined for landfill a new, long-term second life. Tumbleweed strives to make a significant contribution to our earth’s environmental sustainability by making innovative products that encourage users of all ages to re-use and recycle organic waste. By purchasing a product from Tumbleweed, you can be assured you’re aligning yourself with a company that has a true passion for supporting environmental responsibility.

Award-winning design

Tumbleweed’s award-winning Australian-made compost bins are light and easy to use. When used with an ergonomically designed Tumbleweed Aerator or Compost Mate, mixing the compost will be absolutely effortless. Or, you can select a Compost Tumbler, which does all the work for you. Simply fill the tumble bin and turn the unit on its axle every two days to mix and aerate your compost as it decomposes, producing rich fertilizer for your garden.

Sizes to suit

Tumbleweed has designed a range of worm farms to suit different households, environments and needs. Each product recycles a different amount of organic waste, making their products accessible for smaller as well as larger households. The company’s new Tumbleweed Cube has made recycling organic waste even easier. Designed to blend with an interior aesthetic as well as the outdoors, the Tumbleweed Cube will fit seamlessly into your apartment, in your kitchen, on your balcony or in the courtyard, giving you more options. Once established, the Tumbleweed Cube will recycle 2-3kg of organic waste per week. With its removable, built-in Worm Tea Bucket, you can easily remove and deposit a rich worm tea that your plants and garden will love. The worm tea is suitable for indoor and outdoor plants, fruit trees and vegetable gardens.

Teaching the next generation

The user-friendly Tumbleweed worm farms and compost bins mean composting and recycling organic waste is something that can involve the whole family, teaching your children important lessons. All Tumbleweed products are supported with guides and information to help make composting fun and easy to execute. The feel-good vibes you get from home composting and worm farming are not just about diverting organic waste from landfill; you’ll also be creating a nutritious fertiliser that will bring life to your potted plants and garden, saving you money and time. If you’re ready to compost like a champion, find out more from Tumbleweed’s website. You can find tutorials there too.

For more information, 

Tumbleweed 

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Waste management needs to be a functional and easy solution. That’s why Häfele loves to integrate different options into your cabinet. The company’s products are hidden away and practical, but also offer a wow factor when the user opens the drawer or cupboard.

Häfele works closely with three key suppliers for waste management: Ninka and Hailo — both with German origin, just like Häfele — and Hideaway Bins that comes from our neighbour New Zealand. Häfele focuses on the best of the best in the industry.

When you design your kitchen, don’t forget to include a waste bin in your plans — it’s often the most forgotten item. No one wants to see a freestanding bin in the corner, so head to Häfele Home now and find a bin that suits your needs.

For more information
Häfele

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Imagine you have just finished preparing your evening meal. You collect all the vegetable peelings, meat trimmings and balance them precariously on the chopping board while trying to pry open the kitchen bin. Food is dropped, sauce is spilled and the bin is broken.

Today’s Evolution Series Food Waste Disposer has come a long way from the days of a roaring food waste disposer beneath the sink. The InSinkErator Evolution Series is a more hygienic and convenient approach to waste management. The process is simple, food scraps are swept into the sink and with the flick of a switch and turn of a tap they are ground and flushed without blades through to a waste water treatment plant.

The InSinkErator Evolution Series is designed to cope with a range of different food wastes. It can easily eliminate food conveniently and quietly at the point of preparation, saving you time and effort.

Myth Busting:

Technology has come a long way since the invention of disposers in the 80’s. The InSinkErator Evolution Series offer multiple benefits for the modern home.

Food waste disposers are noisy – The InSinkErator Evolution Series features Quiet Collar Sink Baffle®. The baffle design reduces the amount of noise that may come up from the sink opening. It also features an Anti-Vibration Mount® which insulates the disposer in a cushion of rubber, majorly reducing any noise from the disposer to the sink.

No blades in sight – The InSinkErator Evolution Series has a Tri-Action Lug System®. The swivel lugs work with the grind shear ring to perform the first and second stages of grinding. Fixed lugs act like a hammer helping to break down the food and grind particles finer than the swivel lugs.

Never empty a bin again – An InSinkErator Evolution Series Waste disposer fits to your existing plumbing under your kitchen sink. You can wave goodbye to emptying a waste bin!

What can an InSinkErator Evolution Series grind? The Evolution Series disposers are best suited for the disposal of fruit and veggie scraps, bones, seafood, meat products, dairy and coffee grounds.

For more information

InSinkErator

The post Save space, eliminate waste appeared first on Completehome.

Imagine you have just finished preparing the evening meal. Tonight it is steak topped with seafood served with a side salad. You gather up all the vegetable peelings, prawn heads and meat trimmings, and balance them precariously on the chopping board to transfer to the kitchen bin. You gingerly pry it open with your foot because the pedal is broken and then sigh in defeat as the tomato end lands face down on the kitchen floor while the onion peel simultaneously becomes airborne.

Now the evening’s over and the beetroot juice is running down the side of the kitchen bin that no longer closes, which raises the question: whose turn is it to empty and wipe out the bin? Family members scatter like rats deserting a sinking ship and all that remains is you, the bin and the beetroot juice now pooling on the kitchen tiles and cascading along the once-white grout.

Alternatively, you could consider installing a food waste disposer. Food scraps can be swept into the sink as you prepare the meal, then at a flick of a switch they are ground and sent through the plumbing to a waste water treatment plant. With the Evolution Series from InSinkErator, nearly all food scraps, including bones, are ground and flushed quickly away without blades, saving you time and effort.

Life is fast and time to waste is seldom a luxury we can afford, especially for multi-hat-wearing mums. For this reason, invest in a food waste disposer. Priced between $300 and $1300, it is an ideal time-saving solution that will complement today’s busy lifestyle.

For more information

InSinkerator

The post No time to waste: a time-saving disposer appeared first on Completehome.

It’s no secret that Australians love to cook. The modern kitchen takes centre stage when entertaining family and friends. Yet the more we cook, the more food scraps and waste we produce — not to mention the accompanying nasty food smells. Why keep food scraps rotting in a bin under the sink when there is an alternative?

An InSinkErator food waste disposer is a must-have appliance for the modern kitchen. Rather than scraping and pouring messy food waste into a kitchen pedal bin, simply turn on the cold water tap, switch on the system and empty the food waste into the sink. –
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With just about any type of food waste able to go down the drain, handling of food scraps is minimised and time spent preparing and cleaning up after meals is significantly reduced.

Extremely quiet and efficient, using less than one per cent of the total household water consumption, the disposer grinds food without the use of blades in just seconds. After being ground, food waste is sent via the sewerage system to a waste water treatment plant.

These are designed to treat organic waste — in contrast to landfill sites, which are the least-desirable way to dispose of organic waste. Properly equipped facilities allow food waste to be recycled, and the methane gas generated can be converted into usable energy to power homes and businesses.

For more information

InSinkErator
Website:insinkerator.com.au
Phone: 1300 136 205
Email: sales@insinkerator.com.au

The post Contemporary cooking essential appeared first on Completehome.

Contrary to what you might think, the Complete Home team aren’t especially experienced (or if we’re being honest, talented) when it comes to cooking food.

And so it was with great excitement that we were invited by InSinkErator to attend a cooking class at Julie’s Place, run by, you guessed it, Masterchef winner Julie Goodwin herself.

After watching a cooking demonstration by Julie on what we were making, we were split into pairs and placed at workbenches. An hour and a half later we sat down with Julie to feast on our hard work. Lebanese baba ghanouj, chicken tawouk, lamb kofta and fattoush — I don’t have to tell you how delicious it was as the photos are enough to cause salivating.

One thing that quickly became apparent about Julie, aside from her mastery of cooking, was her reliance on InSinkErator’s food waste disposal system, of which she owns two — one at her home and one at her work (she has named them Igor and Ivan).

Upon further investigation it wasn’t hard to understand why Julie is such a fan of InSinkErator’s food waste disposal system.

The InSinkErator Food Waste Disposal System is a truly impressive piece of kitchen tech. As anyone who works in the kitchen is aware, keeping it clean and tidy is a top priority—although unfortunately this is sometimes easier said than done, particularly when running a busy household.

InSinkEratorFood Waste Disposers provide a clean, convenient and environmentally responsible method of ridding the kitchen of food scraps. Installed discreetly under the kitchen sink, food waste is finely grinded before being sent via the sewage system to a wastewater treatment plant.  Treatment plants are designed to treat organic waste, in contrast to landfill sites that are the least desirable way to dispose of organic waste. Properly equipped facilities allow food waste to be recycled and converted into usable energy to power homes and businesses. This all means a win for the environment and a step forward for the modern Australian kitchen.

In Julie’s own words, “It is really hand for those food scraps we can’t give to our chooks or put on the compost heap. It reduces how much we are putting into landfill and is especially great for seafood scraps so they don’t make the bin smell”.

InSinkErator’s latest range, the Evolution Series, includes premium models that work at near silence and can grind nearly every type of food, including small bones, meat, fish heads, peelings, eggshells, nuts and much more.

The benefits of InSinkErator’s Food Waste Disposers include the removal of the need to transfer food scraps from the point of preparation to  another area in the kitchen for disposal, no more emptying food waste bins and cleaning the residue the food leaves behind and a more hygienic kitchen environment as food waste is no longer decomposing in kitchen bins.

For more information

InSinkErator

Written by Ben Nour

The post Julie Goodwin cooks up a storm with the Complete Home team appeared first on Completehome.

The benefits of an InSinkErator food waste disposer are numerous – such as:

• Environmentally friendly – It’s better for the environment, requiring just 1% of the average household’s water usage and reducing household waste going to landfill.
• Shorter clean up time in the kitchen – the bins fill up slower, and majority food scraps can be easily disposed of through the sink
• Grinds food without blades – disposing of scraps in seconds
• Quiet – unlike the noisy waste disposers of eighties American sitcoms, this contemporary InSinkErator food disposer keeps noise at a minimum
• Cleaner kitchen – overall, the elimination of food scraps from your bins will mean a reduction in smells, bin spillages and germs.
• Convenient – minimises food handling and reduces meal preparation and clean up times

For more information about InSinkErator, check out their website.

Written by Lauren Farquhar

The post Insinkerator: The only choice for families appeared first on Completehome.

That’s why an InSinkErator food waste disposer is a must-have appliance for the modern kitchen. Rather than scraping and pouring messy food waste into a kitchen pedal bin, simply turn on the cold water tap, switch on and empty the food waste into the sink.

With the touch of a button, the disposer grinds just food waste into tiny particles that are easily flushed down the sink drain. Almost any food waste is dealt with by the waste disposer in seconds — even meat bones. This means fewer insects and lingering odours in the kitchen, making it a more pleasant environment for family and social gatherings — even in the hottest Australian summer — not to mention the time you’ll save on cleaning up.

InSinkErator is a striking example of how technology and design combine to make our lives that much easier. The unit sits discreetly out of sight under the kitchen sink, and is easy to install in most kitchen sinks. All you need is standard plumbing and a nearby power source. It is also perfectly safe as the quiet grinding action means there are no knives or blades.

The InSinkErator Food Waste Disposer helps you do your bit for the environment too. An average Australian household sends almost 1000kg of food waste to landfill annually. With an InSinkErator Food Waste Disposer, this food waste can be recycled through the sewerage system, via a waste-water plant, where they typically convert the methane gas into usable energy.

Built to last, the InSinkErator features overload protection and stainless-steel grinding elements on most models and comes with a two-to-six-year warranty.

For more information

InSinkErator

Originally from Kitchens and Bathrooms Quarterly magazine, Volume 21.3

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