This startup wants to turn your food scraps into something useful

It’s embarrassing how much food we throw out every day, and even though some of us may feel guilty when we think about it, that’s still not enough to motivate us to change our habits, but there may be a simple solution. An Israeli startup by the name of HomeBiogas has developed a system that can not only convert your food scraps into gas that you can use to cook tomorrow’s meals, it can also produce natural liquid fertilizer that you can use in your own garden. Having reached its crowdfunding goal of $100,000 in less than a day, HomeBiogas expects the system to start shipping early next year.

All those food scraps from tonight’s dinner can now go towards cooking tomorrow’s meal, thanks to a new concept called HomeBiogas. The system works well enough to produce enough cooking gas for up to three meals a day, while also producing clean and natural liquid fertilizer for use in the garden. This environmentalist’s dream will be available soon thanks to a successful Indiegogo campaign that reached its $100,000 funding goal in less than 24 hours. The Israeli-based startup HomeBiogas expects the system to ship in May 2016. HomeBiogas looks like a greenhouse and includes several components to process food waste: A digester tank, powered by a solar cover that captures heat from the sun, processes the waste and separates the gas from the decomposing waste. Filters and chlorinators process the gas and sludge produced. A spigot on the other side of the digester tank allows the user to obtain liquid fertilizer once the process is complete. Up to six quarts of food waste can be processed per day, producing up to three hours of cooking gas, HomeBiogas says. The system is designed to work in climates where the average daily temperature is around 64; the system is not designed to operate in cold or freezing temperatures. Those who pledge to support the Indiegogo campaign can get the system as low as $945. The final retail price is expected to be $1500.