Micro-gardening has been a trend in urban areas but it had an explosive growth during the pandemic. Quarantine turned many people into home chefs and having fresh basil to top your pizza brings you a little ‘solace’ during uncertain times. Not everyone has a patio or a rooftop to cultivate microgreens so we turn to Solace – a design that makes growing these vegetables easier and more accessible! Up to 37 million acres of farmland have been lost to urbanization and climate change between 1997 and 2012 alone – that is 3 acres of agricultural land lost per minute and you can expect the numbers to be a lot more jarring for the years leading up to the present. So how does growing and consuming microgreens help with this issue? For starters, growing microgreens requires less water, no pesticides, minimal land/soil, and they also reduce waste. Microgreens are not only cost-efficient but also 40 times more nutritious in vitamin K, C, E, and more. With product designs like Solace, city-dwellers can ‘reap’ the benefits for their health, wallet and do their bit for the planet. Solace is a scalable and sustainable solution to grow food in small spaces. It has a system that uses wick moisture with a biostrate grow mat and automatic lighting which makes it easy for beginners to start their home gardens. The appliance is also integrated with an intuitive app that guides you through germination, growing and harvesting phases. The circular design increases the functionality of the product by utilizing available space instead of spreading out further. The growing light also serves as a lovely ambient light or night light – the design has a simple yet futuristic aesthetic – a lot like the Dyson circular fan actually. It has a detachable rechargeable battery and I think if it ever goes into production, the team should consider making the battery solar powered so it makes Solace even more sustainable. Unlike traditional gardens, Solace is mounted on your wall which saves countertop space or the need to have a patio if you want your own microgreens garden. The award-winning design helps you live more sustainably and healthily while embracing the new normal.