Project 365: Day 166

Eureka!

I spent my evening at a worm composting workshop put on by Eureka! Recycling at the Edgcumbe Recreation Center. I've had my worms for just over two months. The instructions that came with the Worm Factory make it seem a lot more high maintenance than the instructor at the workshop made it seem. So, with looser guidelines, I am ready to really get those worms working in the factory. If I can get a lot of compost created over the winter, I will be setting myself up to be able to establish a great garden this coming spring with lots of good compost.

The instructor made a lot of great arguments for home composting. Here are a few for your consideration:

• Home composting reduces your carbon footprint, as you have less garbage that must be trucked to a landfill or incinerator.

• Incinerating compostable materials requires energy and the process results in harmful gases that are released into the environment.
  

• Putting compostable materials into landfills results in it decomposing in a way that produces methane gas, which contributes to the greenhouse effect.

• By not composting, you are losing the opportunity to turn your waste into nutrient rich soil.

So, you can take your food scraps, feed them to worms, put them into your soil, add seeds, grow your own food, take your food scraps, feed them to worms....and so on! It sounds like a pretty slick arrangement to me. If you want to read Eureka Recycling's detailed argument for composting, you can click here. Go Red Wigglers, Go!