Trending From Paris: Chic Combo Composter, Cutting Board, and Planter

May 31, 2012 by

The trend-setting Paris urban garden and exterior design fair, Jardins Jardin, opens tomorrow in the Tuilerie Gardens outside the Louvre.  I will share with you in a series of posts some of my favorite picks from among the cool products on exhibit. (If I hadn’t just broken my foot, I would be there right now, but hobbling around my favorite city on crutches wasn’t going to cut it.)

One piece that caught my eye was Lombric & Co (translates to Earthworm & Co), a combination vermicomposter, chopping board, and planter designed to fits nicely and beautifully in the smallest of kitchens. Created by Marine Le Moal & Savannah Lemonnier, the duo behind Rennes design collective Les Gallinules, the composter looks like a piece of handcrafted furniture. One can chop, slice, and dice, then with a flick of the wrist, easily toss scraps right into its bin.

With its built-in window-box planter, the composter is a veritable mini-ecosystem in which, according to the designers, “nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed.”

Vermicomposting uses worms to turn organic materials into compost. It is an odorless method, and this design works well for apartments where outdoor space may not be available.

No garden? No problem. The quality compost is great for indoor plants too.

22 Comments »

  1. Prithi said:

    Small design flaw- who wants to be slicing and chopping with WORMS composting material beneath?

    Preparing a meal above rotting food?

    Apart from the ick factor, how about smells and flies?

    I mean really!

    — June 1, 2012 @ 07:53

  2. cp said:

    @Prithi
    where do you think your food comes from? 5

    — June 1, 2012 @ 08:54

  3. gardenglamour said:

    I Love this! What a great idea. What a great find. Thank you.
    Leeann
    Garden Glamour -DuchessDesigns.blogspot

    — June 1, 2012 @ 20:03

  4. Jilly said:

    like Prithi I’m not too sure about preparing food above a compost bin, or next to plants. I feel it unhygenic. Make it a potting shelf and it works

    — June 1, 2012 @ 20:32

  5. Deborah Clifton said:

    I’ve had a worm farm and found the fruit flies difficult. How do you deal with them here?

    — June 1, 2012 @ 20:47

  6. ml johnstone said:

    if you live in a very small place this is excellent
    very organized and convenient
    flies come whatever method you use
    every kitchen gets fruit flies in warmer weather
    i often eat directly in my garden,and there are worms and manure and compost there as well as a host of other creatures
    wondering what the price is?6

    — June 2, 2012 @ 07:15

  7. Harmony said:

    Wood cutting boards are a bad idea. They may look great, but they hold onto bacteria. Get a plastic board and put in dishwasher after every use.

    — June 2, 2012 @ 09:37

  8. Georgianne said:

    This is a wonderful idea! We currently use a vermicomposter, and there is no smell as long as you thoroughly cover the scraps with soil. As for sanitation and cleanliness, you should be oiling your wooden boards, which makes cleanup much much easier, and makes it much easier to sanitize them.
    May have to talk a friend into building one of these for us!

    — June 4, 2012 @ 20:49

  9. Robin Plaskoff Horton said:

    Thanks Georgianne!

    — June 6, 2012 @ 10:32

  10. myelle said:

    I love this and want one in our new urban condo. How can I get one? I think it is a bit above my abilty to make…What a GREAT idea.

    — June 17, 2012 @ 09:14

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  12. EcoGrrl said:

    It’s a gorgeous design and an interesting idea but I’ve found vermicomposting much more high maintenance than my standard compost bin in the backyard where I can just toss and turn stuff, not chop it up etc. For indoor there is an electric compost mill that I’m sure is cheaper than this work of art (I love the work of art that it is, but know that it’s got to be tremendously spendy). I’m also kind of laughing because if it’s for “small spaces” that’s a pretty big chunk of your kitchen devoted to composting when I’m guessing if you have a small space that you probably don’t have a huge garden. But “A” for effort.

    Side note – plastic cutting boards leech all kinds of chemicals into one’s food. Epicurean makes phenomenal EcoPaper cutting boards that work gorgeously and are dishwasher safe.

    — July 8, 2012 @ 22:03

  13. Rachel said:

    I love this idea! I’ve found that vermicomposters are sooo easy. I’ve had my worm farm for 7 months now and barely throw any food away! I saw someone asked how to deal with fruit flies. Well, I have found that placing a layer of newspaper on top of the composting material and wetting it keeps the flies at bay. I haven’t had a problem since:)
    Happy composting!

    — July 13, 2012 @ 03:19

  14. Agen Bola said:

    Iâ??ve had a worm farm and found the fruit flies difficult. How do you deal with them here?

    — August 16, 2012 @ 23:19

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