How often have we seen something and thought to ourselves, “Now why hasn’t someone invented something to do that?” Well, little Ryan Nicholls didn’t wonder why it hadn’t been invented. He actually invented it. All at the ripe old age of 8. And no, that’s not a typo.
image courtesy of Stuff.co.nz
Now what is “it” and why did he invent it? Ryan, from Auckland, New Zealand, was tired of having to take out the compost. So he created a machine to do it for him. His machine, the Waste-Away, separates mulched food scraps and collects in a composting bin. Once enough compost has been collected, it can be taken out just like normal compost and spread over the yard.
Even sustainability experts have chimed in to praise the ingenuity of the invention, saying that it could help revolutionize household composting. In fact, Ryan’s invention was so good, he won $10,000 (NZD) in a competition on the TV show Let’s Get Inventin’.
Now 9 years old, Ryan Nicholls is believed to be the youngest inventor to obtain a patent in New Zealand.
