There is a crazy new kind of green love out there that only few are familiar with. One word: vermicomposting. You heard us right! More and more people are beginning to use Vermi (worms) for Vermicomposting in their houses, condos and apartments to recycle their food scraps. Vermicomposting quickly turns fruit and vegetable scraps into nutrient-rich compost. Call it bizarre but the fondness is truly mutual between humans and worms. Worms go just as crazy for leftover food scraps as people go bonkers over worm poop, more commonly referred to as worm "castings", the gold standard for premium high-quality organic compost.
And this is just the beginning. Using worms to decompose food waste offers several advantages.
- It quickly turns fruit and vegetable scraps into nutrient-rich compost.
- It reduces household garbage disposal costs.
- It produces less odor and attracts fewer pests than putting food wastes into a garbage container.
- It saves both water and electricity that kitchen sink garbage disposal units consume.
- Its harvested compost boosts plant health and growth.
- It requires little space, labor, or maintenance.
- Kids seem to get a kick out of it!
~So what types of food scraps do worms eat?
Your hungry worms will devour any non-meat organic waste such as leftover fruits and vegetables, crushed eggshells, coffee grounds, paper coffee filters, tea bags, and shredded garden waste. Although make sure to limit the amount of citrus fruits added to the bin to prevent it from becoming too acidic. Keep in mind that these little worms are vegetarians! Do not add meat scraps, bones, fat, fish, oily/greasy foods, tobacco, garbage or pet/human manure.
Interested in starting your own worm composting bin? We show you how here...
by Local Green Circle, February, 2010