About three years ago I purchased a backyard composter. It looks like this:
Since I assembled it myself and have walked past it nearly every day for years, I am very familiar with its appearance. Therefore I always spot it immediately whenever it pops up on TV, which is astonishingly often. It shows up all the time on futuristic cargo holds. Every Star Trek series made after TNG has featured it, and you can also catch it on reruns of Babylon 5. At first I suspected that it was just a coincidence, and that the set designers just happened to have an object that was the same shape, size, and color as my composter. Then I started noticing that sometimes you could spot the metal bolts holding it together as well as the holes in the side. On one episode of Babylon 5, it was displayed so clearly that I could actually see the lid and almost make out the writing on it. As you can see here, the lid is very distinctive. Tonight I was finally able to capture a screenshot of it on Star Trek Enterprise. (Look where the arrows are pointing.):
So now I have proof. I am the proud owner of the composter of the future. It's a great product, by the way. It's very durable; it doesn't seem to wear out from exposure to the elements; and it does a good job producing compost. It's called the Bio-Orb, and if you want to buy one, you can get it here.