A Surrey-based company is trying to reduce odour, moisture and pest issues with their new composting product.
Compy started selling in 2015 and can be found in a few organics stores, Choices and some London Drugs. The Cloverdale London Drugs (17685 64 Avenue) began selling the product recently.
Co-founder Shawn Davis began composting when he was UBC studying business and sciences as an elective,.
Research and development on the product in 2014 when he was a year out of university.
Davis worked with his other co-founder Sam Sidhu, who has also been with Compy since the beginning.
Compy is all locally sourced, and partly made up of plant by-product.
"We don't grow plants just to be thrown into your compost bin," Davis said. "They'll remove seeds or oils from the plant or use it for food purposes. Then we take what's left over, so the plant stalks, and we repurpose that."
The rest of what they use, Davis said, is a secret. "We try to keep what we're using under wraps."
But he added, that people will find out eventually.
Compy eliminates odours at the source by reacting at the molecular level with the food waste to reduce harsh odours given off by the food waste.
"It helps to balance out your compost. It's a basic science compost. You need a good source of carbon to [work with] your food scraps which are nitrogen. That carbon to nitrogen ratio is important for healthy soil."
This helps to create better soil in the long run.
Compy also reduces the moisture given off by the food waste.
After a few days of decomposing, the food waste breaks down and releases moisture. Compy absorbs most of the moisture, trapping it between its fibres.
Since Compy reduces odours, pest such as fruit flies, raccoons, rats and bears are less likely to get into the compost bin.
Because Compy creates a barrier between your bin and your food waste, it reduces food sticking to the bin which makes cleaning a lot easier.
Compy's goal is to create a world without waste.
To do that, the company wants to educate the world on the impacts that waste has on our Earth, solve complex issues in waste management and energy creation and provide products that work and benefit humans and their habitats.
Davis added that planting trees with the city's compost or using it for agriculture means would be a good way to "close the entire cycle."
Currently, Compy is being sold throughout cities in B.C. with plans to branch out to Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba soon.
For more information visit www.compythat.com