***• Peyton Lieser in a warm harbour in Hawai'i***

Aloha Kākou or Hello Everyone!

My name is Peyton Lieser. I am in my third year of University at The University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. I have decided to move to Sydney, Australia for half a year on an exchange program through my home University.

If asked why I chose the University of Sydney, I would give two answers.

The first answer comes from my academic side which would reason that the University of Sydney has a great program for my major study subjects, and could give me the opportunity to begin my first internship. The second response would come from my adventurous side who would leap at the chance to travel across the world and immerse myself in Australia’s culture and people.

The transition from the very warm, tropical weather in Hawai’i to the winter here in Sydney has been a jarring experience, to say the least. However, I have only been here for about a month and can tell you I rightfully made a great decision coming to Sydney. One person who has made me sure of this was Michael. After meeting on Zoom, exchanging emails despite the time zone difference, watching his house tours and documentary with Zac Efron who came to his sustainable house, and reading his blog posts I was finally able to meet the man who created the most sustainable house in Sydney.

And I mean this when I say that he does not disappoint – as his drive for sustainability and bettering the environment is infectious and made me want to jump into work. Right off the bat, Michael got me and Kei – another intern of his – to work on this project that has been a passion of his for a while - ending food waste where he lives and works in Chippendale and anywhere. The immediate project is the chance to end food waste in the Fishermans Bend Technology Challenge in Melbourne, Victoria. Voting and the decision to award the $90,000 prize will be half by the judges and half by the public. Anyone anywhere may vote - remember to put your email address otherwise your vote won’t count.

This is an immense deal for all communities and composting anywhere because just by being a finalist in Melbourne Council’s competition composting is finally getting the recognition it deserved. Of course, if the pitch, one of three, wins then composting can happen with the $90,000 prize fund to help develop the project through 2025.

The first project I was given was a difficult challenge for me - researching data on the costs and pollution of transporting waste - but I know it will be worth it and we can make composting happen around cities in Australia. I think Michael was nervous that he had scared me off with the high responsibility and work right away, but it was a wonderful way to see his passion and how the real world works with this type of work.

As this is my first internship, I am eager to learn and be hands-on with the projects Michael has created. While gathering data and creating graphs and tables for all the information we found about E-bikes and garbage trucks, the difference between their gas and energy use and the carbon footprint they would leave was interesting. The data will be published here as a blog later this year.

What I have learned is there are so many things that we never think of, and this was one of them.

Food waste is something that is a huge issue worldwide and for Michael to try to combat this issue with normal day-to-day things like leftover food is amazing to me. It is something that everyone can do, you do not have to have a Sustainability degree to help the planet!

Another project I started doing today was using the new composting device called Monty.

***• The Monty I'm learning to install and use in*** ***Coolseats***

This is a device used to collect data and information from compost. And it gives you tips on how to better your compost. Michael and I decided to unbox it and try it the day it arrived. It was a little bit difficult to figure out at first, but we did get the hang of it in the end. The problem we ran into was having more than one Monty device (as we did then), there were no numbers on the boxes or the device that allowed us to differentiate the different devices from one another. I did reach out to Monty on their website through their need help chat to ask, “How do I tell my two devices apart from one another?” and they responded a few days later, their response is seen below. They said that unfortunately their system does not support that kind of technology yet so it will be difficult to use the two Monty devices simultaneously in garden beds beside each other. This is something that they should try to improve and update their technology because they are advertising a compost data device that is extremely useful, but they are not including that you should only purchase one to use and it is not possible to use both in an efficient way.

*• My questions and feedback on the Monty app*

I would say that it is a little bit more complex and has more steps than they describe it to be. There are not specific instructions and information that tells you that you need to download an app and complete multiple steps. After looking for more information on how to set up the Monty monitor because it was not clear, I finally found step by step instructions with 18 steps to set it up. I would not classify 18 steps of instructions that were difficult to find an easy setup that anyone can do. I also noticed that when I was moving it into different types of composts to compare them it would take a long time to change the data, and I would sometimes have to reload and reconnect to the device going through the beginning process repeatedly. There were also limited options to choose from when setting up the Monty Composting Profile when I was asked what type of compost setup I had. The options to choose from were Basic Bin, 3-sided Bin, 4-Sided Bin, Tumbler, Bay, and Pile but the compost setup Michael has (which is also known as the Coolseat) is not any of those options which is very cool but also makes it hard for all the data to be accurate.

The people at Monty have been quick to let us know they are acting on our feedback and are upgrading the system - thank you all there.

The first type of soil I put the Monty device into was an outdoor potted plant. When I did so the data loaded in about 5 minutes, the data concluded that the temperature of the soil was 16 degrees Celsius which is said to be average. The temperature of the compost is important to monitor because if the compost is too hot or too cold the beneficial microbes which do more to break down the food waste will die off, so it is important to track and monitor your compost's temperature, so it is constantly below 65 degrees Celsius.

Your app with the Monty device will help track the temperature and help let you know if your compost is at an ideal temperature or if it is too cold or too hot for proper decomposition of the food waste. The air moisture was 70% which is said to be a little above average, this is also an important part of composting to monitor because of the microbial activity. The gases were ranked as 34, which is exceptionally low. Gases are a crucial part of composting. When composting gases are released - anything decomposing releases gases - landfills, forests. It is extremely important to make sure any compost has plenty of oxygen, so it does not emit substantial amounts of harmful greenhouse gases such as methane. Coolseats compost up to 150 kg of food waste. One kg of food waste puts over 1.5 kg of greenhouse pollution into Earth’s air and that pollution is avoided by many composting methods. A coolseat holds 150 kg of food waste and, when it is well maintained, can avoid around 200 kg of greenhouse equivalent pollution of Earth’s air. A Monty can provide data so anyone can check this pollution saving potential in a coolseat or other compost option.

The second place I set the Monty Device into was the Coolseat out the front of Michael’s house!

***• An early coolseat prototype outside Michael's house in the footpath garden***

It is an early prototype and the coolseat now on sale is more efficient in several ways including that it can be flat-packed for cheaper freight, and is more aerobic. Importantly, it is fully rat proof withe steel mesh around the compost baskets. Everything in it is made in Australia in Melbourne, Victoria, by Mrfoxinabox.

***• The Monty in the left basket in an early prototype coolseat***

The first side I put the Monty device into in the prototype was the left side compost basket (one of two food waste baskets). This data concluded that the temperature of the soil was 17 degrees Celsius which is said to be average, the air moisture was 76% which is said to be a little high, the gasses were ranked as 247 which is high.

The third place I collected data from was the other side of the Coolseat, the right side basket. I was not expecting much of a difference in the data but there was a bit of change. This data concluded that the temperature of the soil was 17 degrees Celsius which is said to be average, the air moisture was 75% which is said to be average, the gasses were ranked as 250 which is high.

We are also taking temperature readings of the surface of the compost pile using

***• An LED surface temperature gauge to measure the surface temperature of the compost***

I’m preparing a graph of all the readings because the amount of food waste and the composting rate varies over time and with the different ways the compost is managed, and I’ll publish the graph in a follow up blog here.

This is also where I found a little friend!

***• How to charge a Monty - sketch by Kei Konishi***

Thanks for following along with my experience with my internship and The Monty Composting device. Don’t forget to Vote for our project to make a brighter more sustainable future!

Peyton Lieser

Intern with Sustainable House