From The Wall Street Journal:

Quick and Not So Dirty: No-Sweat Composters

By GWENDOLYN BOUNDS

The NatureMill Automatic Composter—one of four units I’ve been testing—is a small plug-in device that heats waste to speed decomposition (hence my 14-day turnaround) and automatically mixes everything so you don’t have to. Since it’s designed to be housed indoors, it can save users the step of collecting scraps in pails that then must be carried out to a compost bin. The newest model launching this month borrows a page from Apple’s iPod and comes in eight colors; it also boasts a “heavy-duty” mode to handle large loads after, say, a dinner party.

which speeds up decomposition,San Francisco’s rule requires residents to separate compostable materials into green carts.

NatureMill Inc. in San Francisco says it sold 10,000 of its automatic units last year and is on track to double or triple that in 2009. Founder Russ Cohn, who has an engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, created his first prototype five years ago after growing weary of “moving and reshuffling” compost piles in his San Francisco yard. His aim: to make the humble composter “sound, smell and feel like any household appliance.” Click to go to The Full Article