COMPOSTING
Who knew worms could save the planet?
My rubbish bin stinks. It is full almost daily with junk mail and packaging materials, mixed in with onion peels, banana peels, apple cores, moldy leftover pizza and whatever the green mush was in that Tupperware …
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Can-O-Worms from the Waikiki Worm Co. $365 includes one pound of worms, delivery and set up.
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There is a simple solution, says Betty Gearen, environmental educator and sustainable living expert: compost. Composting not only saves organic material from the waste stream, it can also provide nutrient-rich soil for home gardens.
You mean, pile up all those food scraps and keep them until they rot? Won’t that stink, too, I ask? Nope, not when a compost project is correctly planned and is done with the right materials. She suggested I look to the Waikiki Worm Co. for answers.
Mindy Jaffe started the Waikiki Worm Co. in 2005. Now, she provides Hawaii’s homeowners with their own composting bins, and enough worms to get started. That’s the key, she says, because worms can digest their own weight in organic matter each day. Her Can-O-Worms provides the right environment, tightly sealed of course. All I have to do is feed my worms my salad leftovers, peels, junk mail and even newspaper (worms are vegan, meaning they don’t eat any animal products, including meat or dairy).
I was skeptical. A bin of slimy worms, sitting in my kitchen, eating my rubbish didn’t sound all that great. But, within a week, I noticed a difference. My rubbish bin didn’t smell like putrefied onion soup, and I hadn’t taken a garbage bag to the curb in a while. No little friends had escaped, and, as far as I could tell, they seemed happy enough to slime their way through my rubbish.
Three months from now, I can harvest what Gearen calls “gardeners’ gold,” or the
worm-digested organic material. The soil includes all of the nutrients in my organic waste, another savings from the trash pile.
GET STARTED:While I’m making the best of composting in a small condo, Gearen notes that homeowners lucky enough to have yards can compost their green materials, too. Outdoor composting is great for yard waste, but keep food materials in your indoor bin. To start an outdoor compost heap, measure out a 3-foot-by-3-foot plot. Then, make compost lasagna—layer brown and green yard material, such as grass clippings and dead leaves. Sprinkle each layer with a little dirt and water. Build the pile to about 3 feet high, so it can create heat to aid the decomposition process. Microorganisms will come by to help eat up the waste. In three months, the pile will produce beautiful soil for gardening.
RESOURCES:To learn more about composting and Waikiki Worm’s products,
visit
www.waikikiworm.com.
