Tackling the Kitchen Compost Stench : An Obeo Box Review and Giveaway 

We’re a pretty normal family. I cook a lot, the kids eat loads of fruit, they drop food a lot, and spill milk on it rendering it inedible, so we always have some class of a bowl on the go for the compost bin. We’re lucky in that our compost bin is collected monthly and it’s parked right outside the back door so anything especially stinky (fish, I’m looking at you) goes straight out to it.

But for the daily bowl scrapings and apple cores, or discarded crusts I don’t like the idea of having to go outside constantly, especially at this time of year.

In a bizarre coincidence a couple of months ago (I am VERY behind on my reviews at the moment, apologies to all, especially to Obeo and the products in the queue after them) the day after I suggested to my husband that I should order Obeo boxes I got an email from Obeo the very next day offering me some to review. (Telepathy is kind of scary). So they came a few days later and here’s what we thought:

The blurb (from Obeo)

“Recycling food waste can be pretty gross. We all know it’s the right thing to do and soon (because of government legislation) we will all have to do it, but that doesn’t make it any less disgusting. Using a caddy or bioplastic bag to collect vegetable peelings, leftover and food scraps can quickly become a smelly, sloppy job. (Think bin juice, think smells, think yuck). When you’re a busy mum with a to-do list the length of your arm, washing out a kitchen caddy and dealing with food waste spills feels like wasted time.
This is why Kate and Liz, the company founders, dreamed up a compostable, little box that could sit on the kitchen counter and be thrown straight into the brown bin when full. And they called this invention Obeo (‘beo’ taken from the Irish for life and ‘o’ representing the life cycle of food). They believe that the Obeo food waste box is the cleanest, easiest, niftiest way to deal with food waste. It is so easy to use, simply fill it up over a few days, then throw it in the brown bin when it’s full and start over again with a fresh one.

Best of all Obeo food waste box is water-resistant so it can cope with any wet or gloopy food waste you throw in it (wave bye bye to bin juice). It might look like a little box, but it’s super-strong and will hold up to 2.5kg of food waste. It looks great in the kitchen, is easy to close (even with one hand) and does exactly what its supposed to do.”

What does it do? 

It’s a very slickly designed heavy duty paper bag that sits nicely on your countertop and holds all your smelly compostable food waste. It seals shut to keep smells in. When it’s full you chuck it into the compost bin and start another one. It looks well, it closes, it keeps the smells and flies away. (Can you tell I hate the smells?)

Do I want it?

There’s definitely a gap in the market for products like this, and if you hate the stinky compost gathering flies on the counter this is for you. It also looks nice, which is a bonus. If you live in an apartment or if your compost bin is down the end of the garden you need it.

Any downsides?

I tend to batchcook which leads to lots and lots of vegetable peelings, so I put those straight to the compost bin rather than filling my pretty Obeo box. You’ve to be careful about filling it too full or putting very wet things in it without kitchen roll underneath or the box could get soggy.

Where do I get it ?
You can buy Obeo directly from  weareobeo.com.

How much?

You can get a starter pack of 5 boxes for only €3.50 including postage, or they run subscription services for 30 boxes for €20.

Want money off?

OK, here’s a special discount code for reading this post – just enter bumblesofrice and you’ll get a  10% discount online, yay. Thanks Obeo.

Or better still want to win some?

Obeo have kindly given me a 2 month supply of Obeo boxes for one lucky reader. All you have to do is comment below telling me which food smell you hate the most. (Mine’s fish, or lamb).

The competition will close on Friday 16th October when the winner will be drawn randomly from the comments below. This competition is open to those with addresses in the Republic of Ireland only. The prize will be sent to the winner by Obeo directly. The winner must contact me by email or private message on Facebook or Twitter with their address with seven days of the winner being announced or I will redraw the prize. Good Luck!

Disclosure: Obeo provided me with samples for review and prizes for the giveaway. I wasn’t paid for the review and all opinions are what I honestly think.