Summer leaves are green because they are full of chlorophyll, the molecule that captures sunlight converts that energy into new building materials for the tree.
In it, electrodes generate chemical reactions that cleanse the bowl and turn organic waste into carbon dioxide and hydrogen that can be stored in a fuel cell for use at night.
A daily input of water, food, and energy of various kinds is matched by an output of sewage, solid waste, air pollutants, energy, and materials that have been transformed in some way.
Most of the bottles Closed Loop is currently recycling would otherwise have been shipped to China to be transformed into lower-grade plastic for cheap hard hats, artificial fleeces and the like.
Plants also convert carbon dioxide into different forms of carbon-containing molecules and the conversion process used relies on the very same enzyme that works in humans.