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http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061012/1004776.asp"
Buffalo News/Associated Press:
Worms turn lunch leftovers into useful compost in California
By NOAKI SCHWARTZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
10/12/2006
Associated Press
Steven Isoda, a management analyst, holds worms kept in a plastic bin at the Department of Public Works in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES - Next to a copy machine on the 10th floor of the city's public works building sits a plastic bin filled with worms wriggling in rotting lettuce.
Public servants walk by without even glancing at the box or the note above it: "Quiet please. Worms at work."
Always on the cutting edge of all things environmental, California is encouraging public and private-sector employees to bring worms to work so that the creatures can chew up apple cores, sandwich scraps and other lunch leftovers and produce compost.
The employees are then invited to take the all-natural fertilizer home and use it in their gardens and on their houseplants.
The state's Integrated Waste Management Board is so serious about this project that it has posted on its Web site a list of top 10 ways to recycle on the job, and No. 2 is: "Keep worms in your office."
Supporters of the idea say that once you get over the ick factor, it's not so bad. Open up a bin, and it looks like a box of odorless, wet coffee grounds.
"Worms are the most forgiving pets you'll ever own," said Carol Parker, the "worm lady" who cares for the worms at the public works office. "You can go away for two weeks and ignore them, and they're fine."
Tips for keeping happy worms are available on the state's Web site. Among other things, it suggests buying them from a worm supplier, to make sure you get the right kind. "Unless you are pretty well brushed up on oligochaetology, do not try to dig up worms from your backyard," the Web site advises.
The site provides a long list of suppliers across the state to choose from, including As the Worm Turns, Live Nude Worms and the Happy D. Ranch Worm Farm, which sells a three-tray "worm factory" for $117 that includes a bed of shredded coconut fiber and two pounds of worms.
To start a homemade bin, experts recommend putting down a little dirt and shredded damp cardboard or newspaper. Be sure to poke holes in the bin - air flow is necessary to promote decomposition and keep odors down - and make absolutely certain you have bought the right kind of worms. Apparently if they are not red worms, they may try to escape en masse.
At the California Environmental Protection Agency complex in Sacramento, hundreds of thousands of worms process five tons of food scraps per year. The 60 bins are in offices, halls and even the day care center. There is a waiting list for bins among employees, some of whom have been known to compete for bragging rights over whose office has the more-productive worms.
Over time, the caretakers have learned a thing or two about the worms' preferences.
"Worms don't like ranch dressing," said Andrew Hurst, who oversees the program at the California EPA.
They also seem to harbor a special dislike for bologna sandwiches, though any kind of dairy or meat product is problematic because of the smell, he added.
Like other slender creatures, worms are also finicky about fatty foods and carbs, and eat bread only in moderation. Coffee grounds, on the other hand, and rotting fruit go over very well.
"They don't have teeth, so things have to rot," Hurst explained. "Worms need to be able to slurp it."
