What’s A Worm? Part 3

Organic material?

Like what kind of organic material am I talking about? Kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, shredded newspaper, cardboard and paper. Many of the things we just throw out or wash down the garbage disposal and into the sewer system. If every pound of composting worms eat one pound of material or garbage every two days, can that make a difference? Every pound of garbage that worms dispose of is one pound that doesn’t make it into the landfill or sewer system. And every pound of garbage consumed, equals about one pound of new soil generated. It is a perfect recycling system.

The process is called vermicomposting. It works the same way that the traditional composting process works, only using worms to do the work, at least most of it. If the right kind of worm is used and they are given the right conditions, they will work for their entire lives, happy as…well as worms in a worm bin.

This piece of information really caught my attention! I could see that I could make a difference. If I could get enough worms to divert our family’s garbage from the garbage, I could save about a pound a day from going to the landfill and wasting water to run the disposal and sending more items to the sewer system. If we could divert one pound a day, that would be 365 pounds a year. Yeah I know, big deal. But what if I could also convince 100 other people to change. Or a thoudsand. Or Ten thousand. My 365 pounds could become 3,650,000 pounds of garbage diverted form the landfill.

That much garbage would produce at least 3,000,000 pounds of top soil, that would in turn help the plants grow better, which helps the production of oxygen, and creates more green space which creates a cooling effect of that area.

In addition, the soil could retain more water, reducing the demand for increased watering, and reducing the need for chemical fertilizers that leach nutrients out of the soil and places contaminants into the ground water.

I’m not smart enough to create an alternative fuel to screw the Mideast and oil guys, but I can change the world by recycling garbage, at least my little part of it. And by beginning a worm composting business to help others begin their vermicomposting efforts, I believe we can make a difference…from the ground up.