I'm already doing the recycling thing: rinsing greasy aluminum foil for future use and salvaging toilet-paper rolls tossed into the garbage by a forgetful husband who somehow doesn't share my green focus. It's all in a day's work for the eco-warrior mom—but what next?
Worm composting might not be the first thing that comes to mind (ugh, gross. Nasty is more like it!) But it turns out that food scraps make up an astonishing 13 percent of our trash and contribute significantly to potent greenhouse gases, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Worms are nature's way of dealing with the apple cores, half-eaten broccoli stems, and banana peels I typically throw away.
Sure, worm-compost piles work when you have ample outdoor space, but what's an apartment-living greenie to do? Simple: You invite a pound of red wigglers to share your kitchen, devour your fruit and vegetable waste, poop it out, and make nutrient-rich soil (considered black gold by serious gardeners).
Always eager to take bold green steps, I was game. I punched some air holes in a plastic storage bin, then added food scraps and the worms. Now all I had to do was wait. My husband and children emphatically announced that this was my sole responsibility, and the experiment would be over the minute our house started smelling like a horse farm.
Bad luck—fruit flies appeared after about a week. My kids were all over me. No problem: I set a trap of beer and detergent and put more newspaper into the bin to reduce the moisture. The unwanted visitors departed—eco-détente achieved.
Fast-forward two months: Success! My worms seem happy. The fruit flies have disappeared. And, with great pride (you would think I had made a major environmental breakthrough), I have been scooping spoonfuls of soil from the bottom of my bin and giving it to my houseplants, which look perkier already.
Worm Composting Basics:
WHAT YOU NEED
- • Red wriggler worms: One pound (approximately 1,000 worms) can eat about 3 pounds of food scraps per week.
- • Container: Look for a plastic bin that is 16 inches wide, 18 inches long, and 8 to 12 inches deep.
- • Wire mesh: Use this to cover the air holes on the sides of the bin.
- • Shredded newspaper: Use this for "bedding."
- • Food scraps: Put them under the "bedding."
GETTING STARTED
Prepare the bin
Worms need air, and they like a dark, damp environment. Make 12 to 16 smallish holes (about a quarter of an inch) in the bottom of the bin. Make two bigger air holes on two sides of the bin. Cover the holes on the side with wire mesh and attach it with glue or tape. Raise the bin on blocks and set the whole thing on a tray to capture any liquid. Add ripped-up, premoistened newspaper as bedding, then add the worms. Keep the bin in a location with a temperature between 50 and 75 degrees.
Feed the worms
Worms like to eat the following: vegetable scraps, fruit rinds, coffee grinds, tea bags, eggshells, and plant leaves. Chop up the food scraps, wash them to kill off any fruit-fly larvae, then place the scraps under the bedding in the bin.
Limit onion skins, citrus fruits, and bread. Don't feed them meat scraps, bones, fish, dairy products, or greasy food.
Add food scraps after each meal. If the bin starts to get too wet, attracts flies, or gives off odors, then skip a couple of days and just throw away your scraps in the regular garbage.
Compost
Depending on how small you chop your scraps, it can take a couple of weeks for your scraps to turn into compost. When you're ready to remove the compost, separate the soil on one side and add new food and newspaper on the other side of the bin. The worms will move to the new bedding, and you will be able to remove the soil free of worms.
TROUBLESHOOTING
Yikes, I think my worms are dying.
The box might be too dry. Spray the bedding with water. Check to make sure the temperature is between 50 and 75 degrees.
Ugh, are those fruit flies?
Make sure the scraps are under the newspaper. Exposed food invites the flies. You can set a trap by putting a cup with beer and a few drops of detergent near your bin. Put a small ziplock or plastic bag on top of the cup and poke a small hole (you can use a pencil) to create an upside down funnel. The flies can get in but not out.
It's a little smelly in here!
Cut back on the food and make sure that you haven't put any meat or greasy food into the box. The worms can survive for up to three weeks without food, so don't worry if you slow down on the food to let the worms catch up. Make sure there is some air flowing through, and add more newspaper to reduce moisture.
Resources
• For more detailed information on tending to your worms, check out this site: Lower East Side Ecology Center.
• Watch a video on worm composting.
• Here is another useful site on vermicomposting: University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
