There’s no doubt composting is beneficial to all, but the space (and time) required to tend to it manually has primarily existed in the realm of suburban or rural households – until now. In the last few years, at-home composting machines that speed up the process have allowed smaller households and apartment dwellers in urban environments the option to turn common kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich soil to add to balcony gardens, household plants, and planter boxes. The Reencle Gravity is one of these newly announced kitchen appliances designed to deliver composting into every household with respect to space and interior design.
Reencle’s Gravity is unassuming, yet modern, a design that earned the composter a 2023 Red Dot Design Award in the “Household Appliances and Household Accessories” category.
The term “circular design” has increasingly become a buzzword amongst designers, a philosophy and practice where every stage of a product’s lifecycle is carefully considered to ensure zero waste – from sourcing to manufacturing, all the way to the eventual “disposal” of a product when it goes kaput. The age-old practice of composting could be deemed the ultimate example of circular design, turning daily food waste into nutrient rich soil that can be used to grow more food. One hurdle beyond space is the learning curve for composting. Throwing out food scraps to allow microorganisms to work their digestive magic is convenient outdoors, but indoors can introduce a malodorous bouquet that might turn you off from the practice. The Reencle Gravity is designed as a beginner-friendly kitchen appliance addressing this issue.
It’s best to imagine the Reencle Gravity roughly as a robotic stomach, one that most likely can consume a lot more than you (thankfully)! Just like our own gut, the device hosts a community of self-replicating microorganisms chosen to break down food waste thrown into its bin. It does so using a brushless direct current motor to turn and churn food into digestible particles, creating optimal conditions for microorganisms to convert solid matter into material beneficial to many plants and trees (just don’t add compost to your cactus and succulents, a category of plants that prefer fast draining and nutrient poor soils).
The Gravity is actually the brand’s third compost machine, improving on their previous Prime model with a larger daily processing capacity of 3.3lbs. This third iteration is now quieter, operating at 24dB compared to the previous model’s 28dB performance, and utilizes roughly 47W of electricity per month when plugged in 24/7.
Reencle has also added a useful weight sensor, allowing users to track how much they’ve added into the machine via an app, which helps to control the rate of composting. Just like us, microorganisms need sufficient time to digest, and by not overburdening the process, you reduce the possibility of odors. Properly loaded, the Gravity turns food into compost in just 24 hours, and does so in a form factor no larger than a typical kitchen waste bin.
As the owner of the previous Prime model, I can report the machine occasionally makes “digestive” sounds when new food items are added, but mostly remains silent throughout the day. It’s also deeply satisfying when emptying the canister into the garden rather than throwing scraps into the trash. The Prime and Gravity both require a portion of the microorganism starter material to continue maintaining the digestive community within.
Compost appliances, like the Reencle Gravity, allow everyone to integrate circular daily habits into their lives conveniently, and arguably with more evident and personal satisfaction when compared to established habits such as recycling. The just announced Reencle Gravity will retail for $649, and is available in either Silver, Beige, and Green.
To find out more, visit Reencle.co.
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