Core77

A Composting Bin That Lets the Worms Do the Work

Yield is an efficient way to institute composting—and no watering or turning the pile necessary

By Core77 Design Awards - November 5, 2019

in Core77 Design Awards | Sustainable Design

Runner Up Home & Living Award Core77 Design Awards 2019.

There are big things we can be doing to save the planet. We can enforce emissions standards for cars and corporate manufacturers. We can stop flying. We can commit to renewable energy, stop chopping down trees, and avoid animal products on a mass scale.

But there are little things, too: we can purchase secondhand, appropriately dispose of electronics, close our windows when the AC is blasting, recycle – and we can compost. We can take the time to replenish the planet with our food waste, reciprocally providing for it the way it provides for us.

That's where the Yield System comes in, to make composting more efficient, tidier, and a subtler part of the landscapes (yards, gardens, and the like) that we're composting in.

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Yield is an-in ground compost bin that minimizes user engagement through its stationary design and employment of nature's raddest and most efficient composting machines: worms. Users can purchase and add in the little fellas once they have Yield set up—which only takes a few minutes—and they'll service the compost material by rapidly breaking it down, adding beneficial microorganisms to the soil and fertilizing surrounding vegetation.

The industrious worms aren't the only ones invested in bettering their (and our) terrestrial circumstances. "Organic landfill waste adds to our global greenhouse gas problem," say designers Delroy Dennisur and Hsuan-Tsun, the Maven Design team who created Yield. And landfill waste "underutilizes material that should be recycled into a valuable product. Composting this waste," they continue, "improves soil, can grow the next generation of crops, and improves water quality."

It offers a pretty robust contribution to a healthier ecosystem, one which the product designers are firmly dedicated to. Not to mention, speaking in (sometimes more relatable) economic terms, composting is more affordable than conventional soil remediation services. Yield is the most efficient way to institute composting, in that it reduces maintenance (no watering and turning the pile necessary) and above ground space consumption, and cuts out the middle operation of transporting compost from the home to the soil – it's already stationed directly in the ground, where it's needed most.

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Although the actual bin resides in-ground, Yield also come with stackable, above ground vessels. These grant the system modularity, wherein composters can scale by adding bins to receive more landfill material.

Composting is a relative antithesis to our culture of quick consumption – and even quicker disposal. But it's necessary and important as a deliberate, non-hasty micro-action of nourishing the environments we so easily take for granted. With wonderful irony, this design is essentially the fastest way to play the slow game.

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Comments

John Davis

5 years ago

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It's cute for a small home garden, as a hobby project.
I've been vermicomposting for years; this is a small version of a larger system that's been out there. I guess this is designed to bring worms into the garden?
Worms need carbon, in a ratio greater than nitrogen.

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Juan Cano

5 years ago

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Not sure what the advantage of this is vs a regular compost bin. No way soil is just gonna come out of those holes. This is so little you're gonna need half a dozen throughout your yard. Plus that lid better have a more secure locking mechanism than what the images show or you're just gonna be feeding raccoons.

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- Bradley Johnson
  
  Juan Cano
  
  5 years ago
  
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  There are many benefits over traditional composting. I do both composting and vermicomposting in my urban garden. I just drilled a bunch of holes in a bucket, sunk it in the ground, and the lid is quite secure. The worms breakdown food scraps much faster than traditional composting, and the resulting tea/worm poop is very nutrient rich/beneficial for plants. The downside to vermicomposting (and composting in general) is ratios.
  
  With vermicomposting there is no need to add carbon (and water is absorbed from the soil), but you're limited to the amount of food scraps your worms can breakdown. There is no limit to the amount of scraps in a traditional pile, but of course you need to insure the proper ratio of carbon (dead leaves, sawdust, etc), water, and air.
  
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