WastePlant is a holistic food garden facility which turns food waste into fertile organic soil, grows nutrient-rich produce, sequesters carbon, cumulates water and sunlight, and connects communities.

Integrated composting food systems, composting education, self-sufficient high nutrient food growing - the way of the future.I’m a great believer that food gardens can be built to adapt to and weather all seasons and be productive all year round, and so I design to this approach. Composting below ground, protecting from pests, planting in specific ways all contribute to an efficient garden space.

The subpod™ (patent pending) is a sub-surface, high density, modular composting system that treats food waste and other organic matter, and builds healthy soil. Diverting this matter from offsite waste management facilities can save up to $300 per ton. For businesses and organisations that serve a large number of people from a centralised location, these represent important savings but also they reap other benefits of composting on-location.The subpod™ is installed directly into the soil for high-volume processing of organic waste. Each module can process the organic waste from up to 12 people annually. Multi-module installations allow for high-volume on-site processing of organic waste without the ongoing energy expenditure. The module's low-maintenance design creates a cost-effective solution for the light industries they serve. Due to the design of the module and the microbial density, these systems can process kitchen waste not normally placed in compost, such as meat, fish, onions and citrus scraps from the kitchen. Separating organic waste becomes simple; smells, insects and rodents are also eliminated. And the subpod™ sub-surface environment naturally regulates temperature and humidity. There are no moving parts and it does not consume electricity. The waste-processing capacity is easily expanded by linking the modules end-to-end to create a linear corridor where compost worms and microbes can move freely from one unit to the other.The markets that greatly benefit from the subpod™ are those that that process food waste from more than 250 people per day. Resorts, hotels, schools, prisons, refugee and displacement centers, as well as mining towns, and remote indigenous and island communities.

F.E.E.D. (Food Education and Ecological Design) is a non-for-profit foundation which was established in 2010 by eco-designer and entrepreneur, Andrew Hayim de Vries, to draw attention to the effect that our current food cycle and organic waste systems have on the communities they serve.

The Institute of Composting Studies Australia is a national and international platform facilitatingeducation and enterprise surrounding the complete food cycle (food = waste = food) including theneed to compost on location.

LCDA is a body of recycled lighting design objects which is a continuation of exhibitions titled ‘Home Wheres’, from 2004. The project used materials found, given and salvaged and everything in-between – via ‘100 Hubble‘, Andrew’s first home (which he completely rebuilt over 20 years) and again in his second, ‘Garage Mahal Home‘ (sustainable design) both in Fremantle, WA.

Background in painting and art performance; ecological housing design over 25 years; art object construction

GarageMahalHome, 100 Hubble

Compost Central is a local education facility, specifically focused upon the principles of composting and vermiculture composting on-location. The first of its kind in Australia, the learning environment will facilitate purposeful education around the complete cycle of food production, usage, wastage and re-usage.