Nature's way of recycling
- Red wiggler worms are best for composting kitchen scraps. Photo: C-M Poon
By Clement-Meoni Poon
Sharon Slack is not squeamish about worms. She encourages people to get their hands dirty and slimy, all for a good cause.
“These little guys do a very good job for us,” she says. “They’re called red wigglers. They’re not the same as the big worms you see in the garden.”
Slack has been an organic gardener for over 30 years. She became head gardener of City Farmer eight years ago, after retiring from being a swimming instructor.
Tucked away in the urban landscape of Vancouver’s Kitsilano area, City Farmer has been teaching people how to grow food, compost, and tend their gardens in an environmentally friendly manner since 1978.
City Farmer estimates that 40% to 50% of families in Vancouver have a composter at home. Thanks to Vancouver’s cool climate in winter, composting can be done all year around, both indoor and outdoor.
Reasons to compost
Apartment dwellers who don’t have room for the backyard bin can still compost kitchen scraps in the balcony, reducing garbage that goes to landfills, says Mike Levenston, executive director of City Farmer.
City Farmer sells about 300 compost bins a year. Its compost hotline receives up to 5,000 calls. Media visits and school field trips amount to one hundred.
Slack says she’s especially excited to see kids’ participate in the worm-shop.
- Slack hopes to educate young people in composting. Photo: C-M Poon
“Most kids are okay with worms. It’s the older kids who’re a bit squeamish. But most of them don’t mind shredding up the paper,” she says. “Then we get them to sprinkle a bit of sand in, a little bit of straw in, and water to dampen things down.”
Slack always reminds her young apprentices that a good layer of bedding is essential when filling up the compost bin.
Worms have to stay down and stay dark, she says, so the food has to be buried under the bedding each time food is put in. The worms do eventually eat some of the bedding, which becomes part of the compost.
“It’s a good way to introduce children to recycling on a bigger scale and closing the loop between the food we eat and the waste that is produced, and what happens to that waste after we throw it away – as there’s no such place as away,” she says.
The City of Vancouver’s Engineering Services provides extensive information on how to take care of organic waste at home.
More than 45,000 tonnes of yard and garden trimmings collected from residences, streets and parks are composted annually at the Vancouver Landfill.
Composting helps conserve landfill space and creates a valuable product. About 18,000 tonnes of compost is produced each year and used for City parks and boulevards and sold to the public.
Common problems and solutions
- Levenston aims to teach people how to be environmentally good citizens. Photo: C-M Poon
The most common problem of worm composting in an apartment is unpleasant odours. This is caused by lack of oxygen in the compost due to overloading with food waste so the food sits around too long and becomes too wet.
The solution is to stop adding food waste until the worms have broken down what food is in there, and to gently stir up the entire contents to allow more air in.
Levenston says if the compost bin is maintained right, there should not be strong odours. “It’s a nice smell; it’s a forest florist smell.”
It’s also rare in a worm bin to get rodents in apartments, as they don't usually climb up on higher balconies, he adds.
Fruit flies can be an occasional nuisance when the compost bin is placed inside the kitchen or living room.
“In Vancouver we recommend the worm bin sits on the balcony outside, not inside. If you get food flies they’re outside your house,” Levenston says.
“If it freezes in the winter for five days and starts to look too cold for the worms, just lift it in for a few days until it gets mild.”
The key to harvesting good compost is to keep the bin clean all the time, Slack adds.
“Check it two or three times a week at least so you know what’s happening. Empty a compost bin at least twice a year if you can,” she says.
A sustainable city
Most people who get involved in composting grow their own plants or flowers at home, Levenston says, but a non-gardener can also get their feet wet if they want to help the environment.
- Tessa Rowan, a first-year UBC student, and her classmates visit City Farmer. Photo: C-M Poon
They can contribute the finished soil to a friend who’s a gardener or place the harvested compost on the plants around their building, he says.
Tessa Rowan, a first-year UBC student, has a composter at home at the backyard. It’s obtained from the City of Vancouver.
It’s a way for people to live in the city and live a more sustainable life, the ecology major says.
“I’ve done it my whole life,” Rowan says. “It really cuts down on garbage and the garbage smells better.”