Keeping a Worm Bin

is fun and easy as ABC

Sustainable Living + Pet Therapy ?

Keeping a worm bin, to be exact, a worm composting bin or a vermicomposter, has been all the rave among followers of zero-waste living. You can tell how popular it has become by running a search for "worm bin" on Google or Amazon. A dazzling array of styles, colors, sizes and not to mention types and material, you are spoilt by the choices available at a click of a button.

Chancing upon an article of zero-waste blogger Wasteland Rebel one fine afternoon in my little condo, during the early days of Covid-19 mandatory stay-home period, was enough to set me on this journey of no return, a worm keeper. Doesn't it sound like heaven in the making? Where you turn your kitchen scraps into good smelling, nutrient rich earth which in-turn produce healthy plants and vegetables? It is magic to me! After a good search around, comparing prices, reading reviews and watching a handful of YouTube videos, learning the do's and don'ts, I finally set eye on this cute little purple chest of drawers. And after a long wait, the live worms arrived in a tiny box, and the rest is history.

Don't they smell? I am often asked, no, not only they don't smell bad, they smell really good, like fresh earth in the wood. Did I say pet therapy ? Yes indeed, the worms are my pets now, I feed them, I think of them often, when I prep meals, I would lovingly save a carrot top, wash egg shells to grind into fine powder for their reporductive health, banana peels are their favorite and so are spent ground coffee and the paper filter that comes with it. I coined a term "coffee bathing", they like lying on the coffee filter, a sure way for "worm sighting" other wise they are pretty shy and prefer hiding.

Have a look at the inside of my worm bin. Shredded egg carton makes a good "brown matter" and top layer to prevent flies from laying eggs. Brown matter helps with aeration and balanccing the moisture content.

A fairy tale ending, happily ever after ? The fairy tale continues. I can swear that worms are the best pets ever, at least it is for me. I particpated in a community garden project in spring this year and proudly contributed my home produced compost, the worm castings, the poop of my beloved pets.