Under Cover: What to do with food, paper waste?

Let it go to the worms

April 12, 2011

Manufacturers looking to reduce or eliminate their waste who say they find their cafeteria and office waste to be a can of worms may find the solution to be a bin of worms.

Urban Worm Girl™ owners Stephanie Davies and Amber Gribben harvest the compost from a vermicomposting bin. Photo courtesy of Urban Worm Girl, Chicago, by Grant Kessler.

Manufacturers striving for zero-landfill status whose cafeteria and office waste disposal is a can of worms may find the solution—in a bin of worms.

An innovative Chicago start-up company called Urban Worm Girl™ presents a potential solution for much of that waste—vermicomposting (composting with worms). Vermicomposting uses the natural digestion process of red wiggler worms to process food scraps and paper into compost.

This species of worm is capable of eating half its body weight per day, producing a nutrient-rich humus in a short period of time—60 days. Outdoor composting does the same in about 200 days, according to company owners Stephanie Davies and Amber Gribben.

The bins and worms can be located outside or inside, as long as the temperature is kept between 40 and 80 degrees F.

The menu for red wiggler worms includes:

Food scraps and paper are the diet for red wiggler worms. Photo courtesy of Urban Worm Girl, Chicago, by Grant Kessler.

• Cardboard
• Dried leaves
• Coffee grounds
• Eggshells
• Egg cartons
• Fruit
• Veggies
• Newspaper
• Paper towels
• Tea bags

Because the worms actually eat the food scraps placed in the bin, the food does not have time to rot, which is what creates an unpleasant smell and can attract pests—as do meat and dairy products, so the company doesn't recommend them as feedstock. When a worm bin, specially designed for proper aeration, is properly maintained, it is essentially odor-free.

The company offers three sizes of bins, including a commercial-size compost bin, which has a daily consumption capacity of 10 to 20 pounds. A large-capacity bin has a daily processing capacity of 75 to 150 lbs. of waste, Davies and Gribben said. The bin is made in the U.S. and contains postconsumer recycled plastic.

Urban Worm Girl, 1962 N. Bissell, Chicago, IL 60614, 773-355-4804, www.urbanwormgirl.com