One Wormy Wonderland ; Clinton Teacher’s Composting Project Wiggles Right Along

By Edith Brady-Lunny

CLINTON – Webster Elementary School teacher Dean Karr has opened a can of worms in his classroom – a can with 2,000 red worms to be exact.

A grant from a local garbage hauler allowed Karr to purchase Can- o-Worms, an odorless system that uses red worms, shredded paper and discarded food items to create composting material.

Worms are not considered slimy or icky by Karr’s fourth- and fifth-graders, who anxiously waited for the composter to arrive.

The carton was delivered to the classroom complete withFball of worms in a mesh bag,” said Karr.

The round, plastic composter is divided into four stacked trays that hold shredded newspaper and classroom paper and discarded food from the cafeteria. The worms were placed in the bottom layer with some dirt and coconut shells.

As the worms eat the paper and food, they crawl through small holes to the next layer. Karr added some plastic material to the food-laden trays-items that do not decompost – so the students could see the difference between manmade and organic materials.

“This helps the kids learn what’s recyclable,” said Karr.

Student Dominic Dyer said he’s also learned some new information about red worms.

“I learned that they don’t like light. If they get in light, they crawl away and try to avoid it,” he said.

His classmate, Heather White, said she used to consider worms icky, but the composting project has changed her mind.

“When I was 5, I thought they were icky. But now that I see them in our class, I actually like worms,” she said.

The end result of feeding the squiggly creatures is worm manure and a mixture of rich, black compost that can be used to improve garden soil. The worms also lay eggs and multiply, resulting in more worms that can be used for fishing or adding to gardens.

The worms eat about a pound of material every week. The small amount of water added to the compost occasionally accumulates and is siphoned off from a drain at the bottom of the system. The liquid is potent fertilizer, said Karr.

A $200 grant from Area Disposal allowed Karr to purchase the system. “Area Disposal sponsored this as a way to educate people about recycling,” said the teacher.

Karr would like to expand the worm project throughout the school by making some miniature worm composters in two-liter bottles for other classrooms. The compost will be used for classroom plant projects.

Karr’s class also is collecting 20-ounce plastic bottles for a related recycling project.

Terra Cycle pays nonprofit groups a nickel per bottle filled with organic liquid fertilizer. The fertilizer known as “worm tea” is created from a process similar to the Can-o-Worms concept.

More information on the compost and bottle project is available at www.canoworms.com and www.terracycle.org.___acts unearthed- Management and breeding of worms is known as vermiculture.- Worms can live up to 15 years.- Worms can consume their body weight in food every day.- They double in population every two to three months in ideal conditions.

SOURCE: Abundant Earth, makers of Can-o-Worms

Compiled by Edith Brady-Lunny

(c) 2006 Pantagraph. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.