Lomi Review

Do you want to turn food waste into garden soil? You can do this the old-fashioned way but there are ready solutions that speed up and ease this process. And here I’d like to introduce you to Lomi, a way to deal with green waste that can later be used for all your indoor and outdoor plants. So, if you want to solve the issue with the throw-away scraps, read on this review of Lomi.

What is Lomi?

Lomi is a household appliance that dries out and chops up food scraps and other organic materials to make dried particulate as an end product. Then, you can use this output to enrich the soil with nutrients and boost plant growth.

However, Lomi is not a full replacement for the organic waste bin as it cannot process hard food like huge meat bones.

Loomi is designed by the Canadian company Pela which also produces phone cases (that can also be placed in Lomi, btw), sunglasses, watch bands, and other accessories. 

Who is Lomi for?

Lomi is a good solution to deal with your organic waste in a wise way. But there are some groups that would find more benefits from using this device than others.

So, Lomi is best for people who

• Live in a small apartment with no place for a green bin and have no food waste collection in their city
• People who want to go green when it comes to waste but cannot stand the smell coming from the food scraps, leaks, and little bugs that might fly around your food scraps.

Lomi might not be a good choice for people who

• Already use a green bin in their apartment and feel fine with it or who have enough space for food waste and composting in their yard
• Produce a lot of organic waste each day (as the Lomi machine is not so big)

Lomi features

• Size: 16″ W x 13″ D x 12” H
• Weight: 20 lbs (about 9kgs)
• Capacity: 3L (filling ¾ or 2.25L is recommended)
• Material: recyclable plastic and the interior parts are metal.
• Requires: refillable filter, probiotic tabs optional
• Cleaning: Dishwasher friendly

What you can process with Lomi

Here is what you can compost with Loomi:

• Fruits, vegetables
• Animal products such as meat scraps, soft bones, and eggs shells
• Coffee filters, grounds, tea bags
• Yard waste, houseplants, leaves, flowers
• Bioplastics and packaging (Lomi Approved’ mode)

Among Lomi-approved products are:

• Compostable Tall Kitchen Bag
• Compostable Small Bin Bag
• Compostable Dinner Plates
• Compostable Spoon
• Compostable Assorted Utensils
• Hinged Sugarcane Clamshell 8x8x3
• World Art Soup Container 12oz
• World Art Hot Cup 12oz
• Jumbo Paper Straw Black 7.75in
• Giant Paper Straw 9.5in White

Here is what you can’t put in Lomi:

• Hard bones (chicken, beef, pork) and fruit pits
• Hygiene products
• Pet waste
• Cigarettes
• Alcohol
• Metal, plastic, glass

How Lomi works

The device speeds up the breakdown of food waste into smaller fragments. It runs from 5 to 24 hours depending on the mode you choose. You need ​​3 to 5 hours so that your food scraps turn into food waste, while you need 16 to 24 hours to make compost out of it. In the second case, it uses low temperature while creating more area for oxygen to preserve microorganisms beneficial for plants and soil.

So, Lomi has three modes:

1. Eco-expres mode (3-7 hours). Fast and low-energy consumption mode for generating dried and cleaner food waste. 
2. Lomi-approved mode (5-10 hours). This is also the mode for food waste but here you can put bioplastic and packaging. The company recommends putting 10% of plastics with the rest of food waste in this mode. 
3. Grow mode (16-24 hours). This mode is where you can generate compost out of your food scraps. This mode preserves microorganisms and bacteria that later can be used for enriching soils.

Using Lomi is pretty easy: You put your food scraps in Lomi, then you choose the mode and it starts to work. However, you need to be intentional about what you put in Lomi.

What is happening inside while Lomi works?

First, Lomi chops and grinds the food scraps into smaller pieces. Then, the device applies heat to dehydrate the scraps and shrink them in size. These processes can then be repeated to break down the scraps further.

Lomi Pods

These are small white tablets made of a proprietary blend of probiotics that speeds up degradation and create a better end product for plants. It also reduces the smell of food waste you put in.

Lomi Pods are recommended to use in the Lomi Approved and Grow modes.

Before starting your cycle, put LomiPod on top of your food waste in the Lomi bucket and add about 50mL over the pod.

Lomi Filters

This is a system used to improve filtration. It uses dual activated-carbon filtration to reduce unpleasant smells, purify air coming out of Lomi, absorb moisture, and remove gases from circulation. 

You need to refill filters with time, approximately every 3 to 6 months. When it’s time to refill, you will see a filter replacement light that will turn on. You can opt for the Lomi subscription to have the replacements automatically shipped every 3-months.

Lomi Price

Lomi‘s total price is $499. When you make an order, you need to put $49 as a deposit and then pay $450 after Lomi arrives.

If you sign up for their 2-year membership to automatically get Lomi Filters and LomiPods replacements, you have to pay $39 every 3 months ($312 for two years).

While Lomi is a Canadian-owned and operated business, they charge in USD only.

You can order Lomi here.

Lomi Customers Reviews

“It even breaks down eggshells which is super hard to do in traditional compost.”

“Reduces food waste to practically nothing. Also, customer service is fantastic!  However, the unit is pretty loud – I moved it out of the kitchen due to the noise.”

“Works great, however, it’s loud, requires refills of charcoal and compost accelerators which isn’t ideal after spending $500.”

“Here are the negatives:  very small capacity so I need to run it at least 4X/week and pieces of compost always get caught under the mixing arms and disrupts performance.  Even after soaking in water it is difficult to remove.  I have repurposed a thin piece of flexible wire to work out the debris.”

“Overall this is very cool and im glad i bought it. I live in NYC where kitchen space is not in abundance so i’ve had a bit of a hard time figuring out where to put it as its a bit bigger than i expected.”

“What I like: It’s easy to basically set and forget about the food waste until it is finished being converted into compost. What could be better: It is unclear what the purpose of the “stage” lights beneath the power buttons is. They never seem to change, instead remaining on “mixing” for the entire process.”

Negative Reviews

“The buttons are not intuitive. There is a smell when the Lomi is operating. Disappointed in the purchase as we had high hopes for this product.”

“The design of the product is very bulky and much heavier than I imagined. Although understandably it needs a very secure and tight locking mechanism to seal the waste whenever you close it, its handle is difficult and unwieldy to grasp firmly. ”

Is Lomi worth it?

The answer depends on your living conditions, your current opportunities to approach food waste, and whether you’re ready to spend $500 on this countertop composting machine. Generally, it’s a good device for dealing with organic waste but you also can find cheaper solutions like a green bin in your house or similar ones.