Concerned about climate change and how much food waste is going to
landfill?
Wish you had a way of "recycling" your own organic kitchen
waste and leftovers?
Do you have space in your kitchen, basement or back yard for a neat
plastic
worm bin around 30 inches tall?
Would you like to turn your food waste into vermicompost; a highly potent
organic fertiliser commonly referred to as "black gold"?
Are you a friend to worm-kind?
If you answered "yes" to all the above, this is the place
for you!
As Ben & Jerry UK's Climate Change Ambassador for 2008, I am collaborating
with students of the University of Manchester to set up working examples
of vermicomposting kitchen food waste, to use this as an example of
how food waste can be diverted from landfill while resulting in a high-value
horticultural end-product.
What does food waste have to do with climate change? It is food waste
that, in landfill, gets compacted with other waste and emits methane
and carbon dioxide in anaerobic conditions. These greenhouse gasses
are released directly into the atmosphere.
My project: I have recruited, using Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
and other giveaways as added incentives, a team of 50 student “Worminators”.
These students have been assigned a worm bin for their communal kitchen
and be educated and trained to use, maintain, and be responsible it.
While their worms get adjusted to their new homes, for the 1st month
Worminators will keep a record of how many Kg of food waste they throw
away per week. This will allow me to compile data of how many Kg of
food waste an average student generates, therefore how many Kg typically
ends up in landfill.
They will also be given targets such as getting friends and family to
invest in a worm bin. If each worminator gets 10 other people to get
into vermicomposting, that’s 500 people actively diverting their
food waste from landfill!
You don't have to be a University of Manchester student to take part,
you too can be an honourary Worminator by installing a worm composting
bin in your kitchen or backyard!
If you're Manchester-based I maybe able to hook you up with some sweet
(ice cream) discounts. For those of you elsewhere, I can offer worm
bin shopping advice etc. So drop me a line if you're interested and
I'll see what I can do!
Do your bit - help combat climate change with global worming!
Erika
Contact Erika directly by sending her an Email.
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