With millions of people crammed into a tiny space, coupled with an obsession with convenient packaging, Hong Kong throws out a lot of crap. The UN estimates that a third of the food that the world produces is lost or wasted, and Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department predicts that by 2020, Hong Kong will run out of landfill space, reports Euronews. Yikes.
So naturally as Hongkongers get more and more environmentally-conscious, various social enterprises are popping up. Enter Aubree Ltd, a company founded by local Jack Cheung that makes self-contained ecosystems that, with the help of live bugs and live fish, turn your food scraps into brand-new fresh vegetables.
These EcoCubes, as they are called, consists of a three-tier system, with each tier supporting the next in a natural harmony: black soldier flies feed on your food waste and lay eggs, which then hatch. The larvae then become food for fish, which then poop in their tank, producing nutrient-rich water that provides the perfect irrigation for the vegetables, which grow on the top of the contraption.
Check out the EcoCube for yourself:
The lucky larvae that don’t end up as fish food grow up into adult flies, thus ensuring that the future generations keep the system working (unless, you know, they evolve to be super genius flies).
Zhu Jing Xiang, an associate professor of architecture at CUHK, designed the relatively compact EcoCube with the cramped, vertical spaces of Hong Kong in mind.
There are currently only two EcoCubes, with one at CUHK and another at the HK Institute of Vocational Education. Aubree Ltd hasn’t sold any yet, but they expect that they would sell for roughly HKD $200,000. Maybe not quite cheap enough for you to break even with your potential grocery savings.
Video/Screenshot: Euronews via Youtube
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