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Closing the Gap: The Worm Bin

A reoccurring theme that my thoughts often wonder to is the importance of preserving open space and keeping land use within the parameters of a healthy environment. Chief among the many contributers to unhealthy land use, and thus, a degraded ‘land’, is modern societies’ trash problem. There is a lot that can be written on this topic, but for this project I am focusing on a simple and fulfilling way to directly decrease my ecological footprint in relation to waste. Enter the worm bin:

With this awesome device, I am able to significantly cut down on the amount of trash I send to the local landfill by putting all of my food scraps in here. You can also put your paper and cardboard scraps, reducing the burden on the resource intensive recycling industry. The byproducts of the worm bin, Vermicompost and Worm Tea, are arguably the best natural additives for overall plant health, indoors and out. This allows me to turn all of my paper and food waste into quality fertilizer, reducing my use of store bought fertilizers which contain chemicals (unless organic) and rely on resource intensive processes such as production, shipping, packaging, etc. I call this closing the gap because of the gap, or void, between our modern life style and that of the natural world. This “gap”, I believe, is the cause for many of the problems facing our world today and as silly as it may sound, building a worm bin and living just that much more bioregionally really has an impact on the environment at large and your personal well-being.

I learned everything I know (which isn’t much) about vermicomposting at this site RedWormComposting.com. So, if you are planning on building a bin of your own, please visit his site and watch his YouTube Videos for detailed explanations and instructions.

This whole project is an experiment in modern, sustainable living. Below you will find a chronologically updated diary of this experiment. As with each of these little projects I enjoy trying, I have “ideal goals” I strive to meet. In this case, I would like to put ALL of my food waste and paper products in the bin, greatly reducing my trash. The byproducts of the process will be used for my indoor plants and outdoor gardens. Turning all of my food and paper scraps that would normally end up in a landfill into rich organic food for my plants which ultimately ends up as food for myself (or visual pleasure in the case of my indoor plants) would be a very successful and fulfilling project by any standard.

May 8th, 2008 - Setting Up

The basic set up of a worm bin in very simple. You need two stackable containers of any sort I used two 20 gallon bins I was using for recycle bins. One bin is a liquid catch bin for the worm tea. The other bin is the main bin where the worms and scraps go. A bunch of holes need to be drilled in the top bin for aeration. Once the basic setup is there, just add a layered “cake” of cardboard, food scraps, cardboard, food scraps to the top bin. I added 4 layers with a thick bottom layer of cardboard. Then you just let it sit and begin to decompose. I am planning on allowing it to decompose for 2 weeks before adding worms.

May 15th, 2008 - Setting Up

My worms arrived today, which I ordered from here. The worm of choice is the Red Worm (Eisenia Fetida) which is known for its reliable composting and reproduction abilities. I got 1/2 pound of worms which I hope will be enough to start multiplying happily in my bin.

The picture to the right is the worms as they arrived inside their box. They were slow moving when I unpacked them, but I’m sure they are just stressed from the trip. I placed them in the bin and after an hour or so they had all disappeared below the surface. I’ll update in a few days with some bin shots and any changes I notice :)

July 22nd, 2008 - Yum Yum Yum

Two months later, the worms have multiplied exponentially and a lot of the food has turned to mushy, nutrient rich, dark worm castings. It hasn’t been without its hitches though; About a month into the process, I had some bad odors and some major fruit fly problems. Both problems have subsided since. I stopped adding food and paper to the bin and started using a back-up bin in the meantime. I think this has allowed the worms to catch up to the massive amount of food I added at the start and balance the system. Next update I will have some pictures.