Vermicomposting (Making Good Use of Garbage!)
Worms can turn our old food into plant food. It's called vermicomposting.
Vermicomposting can be fun, but it is also good for our planet!
Worms are good for the Earth.
Worms are good for fishing.
Fun Worm Facts!
NIEHS's 'Worm Wigwams'
Welcome Wiggly Waste WatchersBy Doug Nicholas
Composting is often considered a throwback technology, but the NIEHS environmental awareness advisory committee has taken it on a technological ride into the 21st century by installing North Carolina's first two "Worm Wigwams"—state-of-the-art composting bins that use vermi-technology to turn organic waste into usable mulch in a fraction of the time it normally takes.
What is vermi-technology all about? Simply put, it's about worms. By maintaining suitable temperatures in even the coldest winter months, the Worm Wigwam—with its insulated outside walls and thermostatically controlled electric heater—allows vegetable waste processing red worms to thrive. In return for the comfy home, the red worms process large amounts of organic material, consuming, digesting and passing almost any decaying organic matter including food waste, leaves and grass, shredded paper or cardboard waste, and chopped straw or hay. The worms' castings are the "vermicompost," which is like a rich potting soil but is superior to conventional compost in nutrient levels and water-holding capacity.
The Worm Wigwams cost $375 apiece. Each contains 10 pounds of worms (about 10,000) worth $75, which are working to process 1020 pounds of cafeteria waste plus shredded paper and other organic waste each day. The Worm Wigwam is 3.5 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter. A steel grate separates the processing area where the worms live from the harvest area where the vermicompost falls. A crank on the side of the unit functions like a flour sifter, breaking up the mulch so it can fall through the grate.
Compost harvesting began in January, and Sloane conservatively predicts a steady harvest of 2 to 4 cubic feet—about 30 pounds—per week.
Worms can turn our old food into plant food. It's called vermicomposting.
Vermicomposting can be fun, but it is also good for our planet!
Worms are good for the Earth.
Worms are good for fishing.
Fun Worm Facts!
- Red worms may live up to 4.5 years in the Worm Wigwam (compared to 1 year in the wild), and will grow to a length of up to 3 inches.
- Red worms can live in a wide range of temperatures. They're happiest from 55-70 degrees, but can handle 45-80 degrees.
- Red worms are hermaphrodites—they have both male and female sexual organs—and reproduce quickly in confinement. Their population may double or triple in 1 year.
- Make a dark house for the worms to live in. A wooden or plastic bin or other non-metal container. A bin 1.5 feet high x 2 feet deep x 3 feet wide is a good size for a household. Make drain holes near the bottom.
- Fill the bin with moist bedding. Bedding can be paper or newspaper shredded, leaves, straw, peat moss, or sawdust. Make sure the bedding is kept very moist like a sponge. Change the bedding once or twice a year.
- Feed the worms.
- Yes! Fruit, vegetables, coffee grounds, bread, leaves.
- No! Milk, oil, eggs, meat, fat, dog or cat feces.
- Dig a hole in the bedding, dump the food in and cover it up with bedding. Pick a new spot each time you add food.
- Keep them damp and warm. Add water if the bedding feels dry, but make sure the excess water can drain away. Cover the bin with plastic or a tarp during freezing weather.
NIEHS's 'Worm Wigwams'
Welcome Wiggly Waste WatchersBy Doug Nicholas
Composting is often considered a throwback technology, but the NIEHS environmental awareness advisory committee has taken it on a technological ride into the 21st century by installing North Carolina's first two "Worm Wigwams"—state-of-the-art composting bins that use vermi-technology to turn organic waste into usable mulch in a fraction of the time it normally takes.
What is vermi-technology all about? Simply put, it's about worms. By maintaining suitable temperatures in even the coldest winter months, the Worm Wigwam—with its insulated outside walls and thermostatically controlled electric heater—allows vegetable waste processing red worms to thrive. In return for the comfy home, the red worms process large amounts of organic material, consuming, digesting and passing almost any decaying organic matter including food waste, leaves and grass, shredded paper or cardboard waste, and chopped straw or hay. The worms' castings are the "vermicompost," which is like a rich potting soil but is superior to conventional compost in nutrient levels and water-holding capacity.
The Worm Wigwams cost $375 apiece. Each contains 10 pounds of worms (about 10,000) worth $75, which are working to process 1020 pounds of cafeteria waste plus shredded paper and other organic waste each day. The Worm Wigwam is 3.5 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter. A steel grate separates the processing area where the worms live from the harvest area where the vermicompost falls. A crank on the side of the unit functions like a flour sifter, breaking up the mulch so it can fall through the grate.
Compost harvesting began in January, and Sloane conservatively predicts a steady harvest of 2 to 4 cubic feet—about 30 pounds—per week.