Subpod is a modular in-ground vermiculture composting system, designed to make composting a breeze for almost anyone, anywhere. Ideally paired with a sleek Subpod raised garden bed, Subpod converts household organic waste into a powerhouse of nutrient-rich soil, while doubling as a handsome and hardy garden bench.
Subpod creates a safe environment for compost worms and aerobic (odorless) microbes to convert organic household waste into vermicompost. The worms move through the perforations in the underground part, aerating and carrying those nutrients into the surrounding soil, creating an optimally fertile environment for plants to thrive.
Subpod creates a closed-loop system for household waste.
Compost worms will eat almost anything organic. You can Subpod:
Conventional household compost systems, such as tumblers, worm towers, and those ubiquitous big black buckets, sit above the ground where the material, worms and microbes are exposed to extreme temperatures.
When compost gets too hot, and not correctly managed, it becomes anaerobic, and turns into a foul-smelling, greenhouse-gas-emitting sludge that attracts vermin and makes composting a drag – as well as a complete waste of time. Managing these systems is labor-intensive and difficult. Subpod eliminates these issues and is practically maintenance-free.
Subpod features two distinct bays. One side of the divider is fed, and the worms fill this area with nutrient-dense castings (poo). When it’s full, the user feeds the other side and the worms are drawn across. The first bay is now ripe for harvest, full of vermicompost ready to use elsewhere in the garden or for indoor plants. Level indicators and simple instructions on the inside of the lid make the process easy to understand. Above the ground, Subpod’s ventilation system helps to keep the compost aerobic and odourless.
Subpod was invented by artist and eco-designer Andrew Hayim De Vries, in the back of his Byron Bay workshop. Andrew wanted to create a sustainable, easy-to-use compost system for the average person. After a decade of research and experimentation, he developed Subpod, and met Saadi Allan, head of the marketing team behind record-breaking crowdfunded start-up, Flow Hive. Saadi helped with Subpod’s 2019 crowdfunding campaign which raised over $350K, surpassing its goal by 300 percent, and continues to support the business as its CEO. In 2022 he spearheaded a second crowdfunding campaign through Birchal, which raised over $787,000.
As a company, Subpod is an advocate of the circular economy, which aims for sustainability by recycling and reusing resources. The Subpod facilitates a closed-loop system for food waste, keeping it out of landfill, minimising its greenhouse impact, and using that waste to create more food.
Each year, every Subpod diverts 750kg of food waste from landfill and more than 300kg of CO2 from the atmosphere. Food waste goes in, fresh food comes out. Simple.
In 2017 we were hand building prototypes and testing them at homes and businesses in our local area.
Fast forward to today and we have 52,000 homes and businesses using Subpod in 26 different countries around the world.
That’s a goal community of waste warriors who have jumped on board the Subpod home composting vision and helped turn it into a reality.
Our Subpod tribe includes 122,000 engaged followers on our social media platform and over 126,000 email subscribers. We have a combined social ambassador reach of over nine million people, and there are over 20,000 users on our GrowHub community platform.
All this has translated to a combined accumulated revenue of $16.4-million as of October 2022.
But most importantly, Subpod is currently diverting over 21,000 tonnes of organic food waste from landfill every year. That’s the equivalent of offsetting 14,543-tonnes of food waste! What an incredible team effort. We really can't wait to for the rest of this journey, which we hope will see Subpod being used in 160-million households around the world!
Instagram: instagram.com/subpod
Facebook: facebook.com/subpod
Website: subpod.com
Growhub: growhub.subpod.com
Check out some of the print media coverage that Subpod has been getting lately:
