Une belle
histoire de
vermi-
compostage

Eddy Park, un
étudiant en
troisième année à
l'Université du
Nouveau-
Brunswick, 
découvre le monde
souterrain du
compostage par
les vers et il crée
un sol riche en
nutriments à
l'intérieur de son
appartement.
Tenant compte du
fait que les vers
mangent plus que
l'équivalent de la
moitié de leur poids
à chaque jour,
nous avons inclu
les instructions
nécessaires sur
les soins,
l'alimentation et
l'achat de vos
propres vers
pour le
compostage.

Feedback from readers, on this article / Rétroaction des lecteurs concernant le présent article

Worms in Your Kitchen

Eddy Park
March 11, 1998

n my third year of University, I just about had it with my wasteful cooking habits. The recycling center took my SPAM cans, but my organic waste (e.g. banana peels, orange rinds, etc.) ended up in the land fill. I found this an ironic situation; a situation I was determined to change.

============ "May I please speak to your vermi-department." ============

From a lesser form of divine intervention, I befell upon a "How to Compost" booklet. Being an out-of-town student, I did not have a backyard or any other accessible land on which I could perform natures miracles (i.e. composting). Feeling segregated from the rest of the composting populace, the booklet itself almost landed into the landfill when low and behold there was a section on apartment composting. I read with delightful fury and surfed with my momentum by making a vow that I too would be a composter.

========== They are quiet, eat garbage and you can use their poop. ==========

According to the booklet, vermi-composting allowed apartment dwellers to compost and obtain high grade casting (a fancy word for worm excrement) for plants. My booklet specified red wrigglers as the worms best suited for the job. I promptly called Department of Environment and inquired, "May I please speak to your vermi-department?" After clarifying myself, I talked to a lady who was involved with vermi-composting in schools. She informed me that red wrigglers were not native to New Brunswick, but that there was a number I could call in Ontario. After dialing the 11 numbers to Ontario (and stressing over my phone bill), I ordered a kilogram of worms. The rest is happy composting history. Tighten your stomach and try vermi-composting for yourself. Besides recycling your waste, an additional bonus is that worms make great pets. They are quiet, eat garbage and you can use their poop. Way cool.

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