The Lomi composter is a powerful at-home compost machine that turns food waste and scraps into dirt in just a matter of hours.
When this product first came out, I was absolutely over the moon excited. As an environmentalist, I understand the harmful impact that throwing food in the trash has. It’s so easy to think that natural food items like an apple core will just break down in a landfill but it’s simply not true. There’s not enough air in landfills to break down food waste and instead, our scraps sit there and release harmful methane into the air which contributes to climate change.
So composting is important. You get it. But the biggest problem with composting is that it’s widely inaccessible. So many people, myself included don’t have access to a local compost center or city composting plant that will take your scraps for you. You could do it yourself but usually that requires space, a yard and tools that will help.
Enter the Lomi. Now I know this piece of machine is expensive. It retails for about $500 CAD which is not as cheap as a countertop compost bucket. But, this machine is so powerful and in this review, you’ll learn whether or not it’s right for you.
Lomi Composter Review
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My wonderful husband bought me the Lomi Composter for my birthday in May of this year after years of me excessively talking about it. I’ve been using it for 2 months consistently now and I want to share my thoughts.
Long story short: I love it. Now let’s get into the details.
The Lomi is fairly easy to use. You can essentially fill it up with food waste and scraps, (except for a few things it can’t take like avocado pits) throw in a little Lomi pod and turn it on. There are 3 modes: Express, grow and Lomi approved.
Express mode usually takes about 5 hours and is the quickest cycle. It breaks your food down speedily and makes wonderful plant food.
Grow mode is the longest and can take between 16 – 20 hours to complete. This turns your food into super nutrient-rich soil that’s even better for your plants and your garden.
Lomi-approved mode takes about 8 hours and not only breaks down your food scraps but this is also the mode to use if you have any biodegradable items like bio-plastic bags or compostable items.
It is so, so important to look into what you can and cannot put in the Lomi composter. There are way more things that you can but you don’t want to risk randomly putting in something that could harm your Lomi. The manual that it comes with has a quick and easy guide you can keep close to your machine.
Things to look out for include uneven loads. I made this mistake and it was disgusting. You need to ensure no matter what cycle you’re running that you have an even mix of materials in there. You don’t want to run a cycle that has main wet ingredients or mainly dry ingredients. I accidentally ran one with too much yogurt that had expired in my fridge and when it was complete and I opened the lid…it was pure soup. There was no saving it.
Something else handy I learned was that you should run multiple cycles before emptying the bucket to yield better dirt. Since even if you fill the bucket to the max fill line before running, the cycle will break it down by 80%. After that, you can just throw more food on top, fill it and run it again! I like to run 2 cycles on express mode and then a final cycle on the grow mode to make delicious compost soil for my garden!
Downsides? There isn’t a lot. The pros definitely outweigh the cons. However, there are two “issues,” I think are worth noting.
First, there can be a bit of noise. The machine is relatively quiet but I’ve noticed (especially during the longer cycles) that there can be some noises coming from the machine. It’s simply because it’s doing its job but if you forget it’s running you may be startled by a sudden thump!
Second, the manual the Lomi composter comes with is helpful but doesn’t tell you everything. If it had, I would have avoided the soup fiasco. I just suggest thoroughly reading through their website. The FAQs, blog, tips, best practices and so on. As this machine is such an investment you really want to know what you’re doing so you don’t risk anything.
All in all, would I recommend the Lomi? I think you already know the answer to be a resounding YES! It is such a powerful tool that is literally combating climate change.
As consumers, the fight can often feel so powerless, and I’ve found that this brings a little more power back to you.
Buy the Lomi here! You won’t regret it!
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you get the chance to invest in your own Lomi and love it as much as I love mine! Please don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for daily low-waste living inspiration!
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