How to compost with worms
Every year, our world wastes about one third of the food produced, amounting to 1.3 billion tonnes of food waste. There are a variety of reasons why food is wasted, from stringent grocery store regulations to the common mistake of leaving something uneaten in the fridge for too long. Yet when food is tossed into landfills, it is unable to properly degrade due to the lack of oxygen and bacteria, and instead produces methane gas, one of the greenhouse gases contributing to climate change.
A large proportion of household waste comes from food, which often ends up in landfills here in the United States if municipal composting facilities are not available. Yet the red wiggler worm works wonders when it comes to eating up food scraps and natural materials, and is commonly used in small homes or apartments as a solution to food waste.
Getting a worm bin
The worm bin shown in the video above is beautifully made wood composter from Etsy. It uses upcycled wood from pine trees in Colorado - "the mountain pine beetle has decimated ponderosa pine forests of northwest Colorado. From this seemingly tragic loss, there is beauty. As the beetles lay their eggs, a blue-green fungus stains the outer sapwood layers of the tree. The result is a dramatic patterning of blue and cream colored wood." This particular bin also works as a tiered system, so as food fills up throughout the tiers, the worms move up with the food as well. This gives the compost time to age, and you can continuously rotate out the bottom-most tier to empty out for your garden or yard, and place the empty tier on top to fill with more food. On the bottom lies a metal tray which catches liquid.
There are also other handmade vermicompost bins out there though, like this one also off of Etsy, or you can also make your own with simple plastic bins.
How to compost with worms
Materials:
At least 1/2 pound of red wiggler worms
Bedding (paper product - unbleached paper, newspaper, egg carton, corrugated boxes, etc. Do not use cat litter, glossy paper, magazines, or coated paper)
Moisture (water, preferably a spray bottle to mist the bin)
Food (fruit, vegetables, coffee grounds and paper filters, paper tea bags without tag/string/staple, bread, grain. Do no compost meat, grease, fat, bones, or dairy)
Soil (optional - lined my bottom tray with soil in case the worms fell through the bottom tray, so that they would have somewhere to wiggle around. I also used soil when I started off the bin in case the bedding was too rough)
Directions:
Keep your compost bin in an area that stays a constant 50-80 degrees F
Keep away from open doors/windows also helps, so the bin doesn't dry out too much in the case you are using a wooden bin
Vermicomposting has no odor if you are concerned about the smell indoors
When you start your worm bin, put in moist bedding (soak paper products for a few hours or overnight), some soil, and a little bit of food
The worms will need time to acclimate to their new home, and may not eat as much
Cover the food and worms with more bedding to avoid smells or pests
The worms will eat their body weight in food and bedding each week, and double in population in 4 months
Check everyday if possible, spraying down the bin if not moist enough
If it's too moist, add a bit more bedding
Once you notice that the initial food and bedding are disappearing, you can start to add more food scraps
Continue to add 50% bedding and 50% food scraps to your worm bin
This will keep the bin from having any smells
Strong smells are caused by too much food waste, which creates ammonia in the bin
Worms can become unhappy when fed too much, so keep an eye on your bin to monitor how the little guys are doing
Once the compost is developed and you need to make more space for food, you can start using the worm poop (aka castings) as a wonderful fertilizer for household plants and gardens
Many people call worm castings liquid gold, because it has such wonderful nutrients for plants
