What's better than a Lomi countertop composter?
A Lomi countertop composter that earns carbon credits, of course.
Lomi is the Kelowna-based company that brought to market last year the world's first home appliance that breaks down food scraps and prevents organic waste from ending up at the dump.
This month, Lomi was awarded certification from Swiss-based Gold Standard, enabling Lomi users to generate carbon credits.
In fact, Lomi is the first home appliance to be approved as a verified carbon credit.
"It took us nearly two years to receive Gold Standard certification," said Matt Bertulli, the co-founder and CEO of Lomi.
"It's very rigorous. It basically creates a new methodology for food waste. It's a completely new way to think about food waste."
Technically, Lomi's certification recognizes that it helps reduce methane emissions from landfills through decentralized organic waste processing.
That's a lot to digest.
So, let us explain.
The plug-in Lomi unit fits on your countertop and will take up to three litres worth of food scraps.
When it's full, turn it on with the push of a button and the food waste will be broken down to 20% of its original volume to create nutrient-rich soil.
It quickly and effectively takes the ick out of composting.
In a year, a typical family of four can create about 76 litres of soil and generate up to $10 in carbon credits.
Now, $10 in carbon credits annually may not sound like a lot, but consider that there are 200,000 Lomi's in circulation across the globe whirling, making dirt and earning carbon credits.
Those 200,000 Lomis have already diverted 300 million pounds of food waste from landfills and saved 34,000 tons of carbon emissions.
Lomi, with the help of Gold Standard, can in turn sell those carbon credits to companies that want to offset their greenhouse gas emissions by funding Lomi's entry to new communities and creating more positive impact on the environment.
Anyone can buy a Lomi via the company's website or Amazon or www.williamsonoma.ca for $690.
You can also purchase locally at Lakehouse Home Store at 510 Bernard Ave. or Chickpeace Zero Waste Refillery at 1851 Kirschner Rd.
Also, in Kelowna, the birthplace of Lomi, you can participate in a unique pilot project.
Residents anywhere in the Central Okanagan can sign up for $20 a month at https://ca.lomi.com/products/kelowna-organics-pick-up and receive a Lomi countertop composter in your choice of black, white or green and a reusable Lomi Earth storage bin.
Start turning all your food scraps into soil and manage the results with an app for on-demand curbside pickup of Lomi Earth to be donated to local farms.
Of course, you can also use as much of the soil as you want to top up your house plants, use for your garden and outdoor planters and lawn.
"The reality is most people will be making more Lomi Earth than they can use, so that's where we come in to pick it up and give it away to farms," said Bertulli.
"Kelowna is our home and the perfect place to pilot the program. We have clean electricity to power Lomis. And the city doesn't have food waste curbside pickup, so there's a need for individual home food recycling with on-demand curbside pickup of Lomi Earth."
Bertulli said the typical Lomi user isn't necessarily an eco warrior, but an existing composter or lawn and garden enthusiast who wants the convenience of hassle-free and stink-free food recycling.
But, of course, Lomi wants to get the whole world on board.
The goal is to have 10 million Lomi's in operation around the globe in 10 years and eliminate 10 billion pounds of waste by 2028.
Bertulli is also the co-founder and CEO of Pela, another environmentally innovative company that makes compostable phone cases.
Besides being awesome phone cases, Pela made big news in 2019 when Jay-Z and Beyonce invested $5 million in the company.
