GCompost brightens your day, and a dryer

March 23rd, 2010, 5:37 pm

It has been an exciting week for GCompost as we anticipate the completion of our third  composter.

The composter dryer is in its third phase of completion with the application of the outer asthetic design. As we discuss different ideas of how to display an exciting and eye catching outer shell to the dryer, the other half of the group is in the process of acquiring compost for our first drop. Food services agreed to provide us with some compost today so that we could test out the designs.

We are excited to see how the designs progress with their first load of compost. As we look to the future we are on schedule to complete composter and business plan by April 6th and be able to present our accomplishments and projects plan for future groups.

Circular Pod-Shaped Tea House is Heated by Compost

February 14th, 2010, 5:43 pm

If you’ve ever experienced composting in action, you may know that things can get pretty hot when microbes meet organic material. So what if there was a way to capture all that heat and use it to warm up a cozy little space? Tokyo based architects Bakoko have come up with a circular pod-shaped teahouse that does just that by harnessing temperatures in excess of 120°F that are generated by compost. The designers are taking a simple, biological process and turning it into a viable (and free) way to heat small public spaces like the traditional garden teahouses found all throughout Japan.

via INHABITAT by Diane Pham on 2/10/10

After Your Laundry, Compost!

February 2nd, 2010, 6:29 pm

Composters, composting, compostable, composable…we’re composting compost!

Who would of thought that the most unheralded household appliance could be put to use after its been past its life? The ye ‘ol Dryer is simply tossed into the big bin and left to rot. After some simple thought, why not use an old dryer to compost waste?

Its a perfect proposition. Dryers are built to withstand multiple cycles of heating and wet clothing going in and out. The dryer has to air out and dry the clothing. It also has to be insulated so to prevent the house from getting too hot during drying and best of all…its built to last.

A dryer has all the points of a good composter. We haven’t even gotten to the insides. The rotating drum inside can be used to flip over the compost. The motor which is usually burned out can simply be pulled out and replaced with a hand crank. A belt can be replaced and then we’ve got a dryer-composter. If we’re lucky, we’ll get a dryer with a glass door which can act as a greenhouse.

In partnership with the EWSWA, we are in the process of acquiring old dryers that we can turn into composters. With any luck, your old dryer might end up creating healthy green compost.

A Composter For Your Scraps?

January 26th, 2010, 6:25 pm

Over the past week, we were able to determine three locations we plan to place the composter. One of these locations can be seen in our display picture. We designed concept of the future location of the composter. With this concept we are able to visualize where we would place it and also be able to describe to other groups involved what we plan to do.

We have researched several styles of composting and have narrowed them down to three main styles conventional urban compost bin, horizontal compost tumbler, and compost tumbler. At this point our preference in terms of which composting style is the Horizontal composter. With this style we are able to produce compost in a shorter amount of time compared to the conventional style, also the horizontal style requires less manual labour.

We are currently in contact with organizations that could potential be able to donate skids to the project as well we are currently in talks with University of Windsor Food services and the Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority.