This revolutionary product from Vitamix is absolutely one of the best small appliances ever! I am not normally one to write reviews when asked, but when the email came as a follow up on this purchase, I immediately took the opportunity to rave. My wife and I are both environmentally conscientious, however maintaining a compost pile in the Southwest, is no easy task: No grass clippings and few leaves to drive the process, water is a scarce resource, a multitude of undesirable desert critters that would happily nest in the ready made food source, and due to the lack of humidity, things in the pile tend to desiccate instead of rot. The FoodCycler breaks down all our food waste into an immediately useable form that goes right to supporting our fruit trees and garden. No more food waste coupled with aggressive recycling means we have significantly reduced our household waste and improved our footprint. Imagine a world where this appliance was standard in every kitchen. Thanks Vitamix!