Worm Bins
Vermicomposting is an ancient waste management practice dating back
at least as far as the Ancient Egyptians. Traditional methods of containing
large numbers of earthworms in a small space in order to harness their
digestive powers include the use of windrows, pails, drums, and wooden
bins. All of these continue to be used today, but the current popularity
of vermicomposting at home and at the office has been "fed" by
a growing ecologic awareness and by the proliferation of affordable commercial
systems advertised on the Worldwide Web.
According to Worm Digest (June
2003), the first plastic worm composting system was introduced to the
North American Marketplace as a simple
plastic bin in 1990. In 1993 the stacking
tray system appeared first in Australia.
Later still were the continuous flow
through system designs, which
were scaled-down versions of the large units developed in the UK for
processing
hundreds of pounds of organic wate per day. Finally came the lateral
movement systems, which improved on home-built designs used by worm
growers 20 years before. Examples of each of these systems can be found
in the
Wormpost Vermont catalog.
Points
to consider when investing in a home-made or commercial vermicomposting
system are:
- Goals: Waste reduction or worm farming.
- Weight/volume of kitchen scraps and other organic residuals to be
digested on a regular basis? See Worm Bin Set Up for a formula to help
you
determine this.
- Space available to house the unit.
- Location: Will the system be housed indoors or outdoors? In a heated
or unheated space?
Unit weight and ease of mobility.
- Time available for unit maintenance.
- Aesthetics of the worm system.
Below are links to websites with plans to build your own worm bin.
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