What a Load of Rubbish!

Approximately 200 million tones of waste is land filled every year despite the fact that   up to 30% of domestic waste is made up of organic recyclable material.   

Organic material should not be deposited in landfill sites. When placed in these airless conditions it ferments giving off pollutant gases and toxic fluids which damage the atmosphere and contaminate water supplies.

The Government has set deadlines for local councils to ensure that nearly half of domestic households will be composting recyclable waste within four years.  

The introduction of the Landfill Levy has meant that it is now cheaper for local councils to subsidize home composting units than it is to dump all waste in landfill sites.

The disposal of waste is a big problem.  Available landfill sites are running out, those which exist are becoming full and the cost of disposing of our waste is great.  

But there is a cheaper and more efficient way ....

Worms for Composting

Composting is part of the solution.  This converts organic waste into a valuable compost.

Worms hasten the composting process.  They can eat at least half of their own body weight of waste per day (e.g. 2kg of worms would eat 1kg of waste per day given the correct conditions).  

Worms turn the waste into valuable worm casts which are an excellent compost and contain nutrients which are in an attainable form for plants

Before they hatch!  Dendrobæna rubidus cocoons (relative to a pin head).

Dendrobæna (dendra's) are one of the best worms available for composting. They originate from the forest floor and so just love munching their way through rotting matter!

Ideally you need a bin when composting with worms and many local councils are now distributing these to households.  Or alternatively you can compost in open piles.  But bins retain moisture, heat and are obviously neater.

Most organic waste can be composted such as vegetable peelings, cooked foods, tea bags, pet hair, vacuum dust, paper, cardboard, horse manure and garden clippings. 

The number of worms which you will need is largely dependant upon the amount of waste you wish to compost and your style of composting unit. 

Given the correct surroundings worms will reproduce and adjust their numbers to suit their environment.  Therefore you will never have too many.  

What Can I Do to Help the Environment?