Vermicompost, Pt. 1
Our notion to bring vermiculture-style of composting to the college began over a year ago when Makenna and I were partnered to complete an Ecollective assignment for our Intro to Environmental studies course. Our project was based on the premise that because the College of Charleston produces over 1,000 tons of waste each year, and although there had already been a significant composting initiative in the dining halls, we saw that there will be an increasing demand to compost at a higher and more efficient rate. Vermicompost will hopefully increase the rates at which the C of C composting program operates once the project reaches optimal scope, maximizing the amount of nutrient rich soil being produced as well as speeding up the composting process.
What began as a simple assignment quickly grew into the tangible roots of an idea. After completing the assignment, we wanted to do more with the project and took steps to making it a reality on campus. After the arduous process of approving our idea, we finally got enough funding to start. Based on the fact that one pound of red worms can eat up to half a pound of food waste each day, we saw the need to incorporate vermicompost onto our campus by purchasing a vermicomposting bin which can hold up to 5,000 worms, eating a total of up to five pounds of food waste each day!
We began by using our modest budget to acquire a starter kit of worms, a bin, and soil in order to get things going, as neither of us had any experience with vermicompost before. However, after getting our worms and spending time getting to know their preferences and habits, we’ve come to be quite fond of them (sort of like our worm children, as weird as that may sound). The project is currently progressing gradually. At the moment the worms have amassed such a great volume of converted compost that we recently added another bin on top of our first. The worms subside on a diet of greens and browns, greens being mostly vegetable matter, and browns being fibrous things such as coffee grounds, cardboard, or newspaper.
-Simon Engel