Worms Are Amazing!

I just went to an extremely educational event hosted by the Big Green Summer interns, that was all about composting and vermicomposting - which is composting with the help of worms. Apparently little red compost worms can eat almost anything! Food scraps, straw, manure, newspaper, non-glossy junk mail paper, natural fiber cloth like cotton, silk and wool - they just munch it up little bit by little bit and turn it into stuff that's super nice for soil and plants!!! Of course it's easier/faster for them if you give them smaller bits to start out with, but oh my sheesh - if you do it right you can set it up inside your house and they'll eat it up fast enough it won't even smell! They highly encourage such practices for people in city apartments who don't have the yard space for a big compost pile.

As I was driving home I started getting really upset. This stuff makes so much sense for the sustainability of our planet, and it's not that hard really. How come it's not something they teach/establish/encourage on the level of ALL public schools?? (and while we're at it, real world relationship skills should be required curriculum too! but that's a whole different post) I mean, apparently a few schools have vermicomposting programs to deal with their cafeteria scraps, and so do some zoos (huge producers of organic waste), but it seems like there could be a HUGE market potential for people to provide/set up these services all over! Restaurants, grocery stores, offices... Not only do the worms get rid of the unwanted stuff, the by-product (worm castings) is GOOD for the environment! Seriously! What the heck?!