The bacteria and sowbugs begin breaking down the waste and the worms soon join in to further digest it into a rich compost that sprinkles out of the bottom of the fabric bag that hangs beneath the table. This compost is used as a fertilizer for plants, such as those at the base of the table.
The human plays an important part at the table by eating, feeding the food waste to the worms, feeding the resulting fertilizer to the plants, or by simply sitting and appreciating the living ecosystem she/he is a part of. A cross-section of the activity inside the top 9 inches of the compost is made visible using an infrared security camera connected to an LCD screen built into the table. On the screen, viewers can see the live movements of the worms and sowbugs inside.
Read on for instructions on how to make your own 'living dining table'.
Before you go all green and decide to puke over the keyboard, this is not something out from a horror fantasy. Rather the designer has managed to wonderfully execute this 'living dining table'. The designer has used vermicomposting to give a digestive system to the table. The table even lets you see the worms eating up and recycling the leftovers with a LCD screen that is built-in to the table's surface. A living ecosystem of worms, sowbugs and bacteria are invited to this table. They are a part of the digestive system that starts with a person discarding food leftovers and shredded paper into the portal at the top.