Worms that are used to process waste. It might not seem nice, but this is a very eco-friendly solution to the problem of unused food. Photo: CFP

 

Feeding a colony of thousands of worms that munch your kitchen scraps at home may seem unappealing, but it is the latest trend among green urbanites worldwide.

A group of Beijingers is spreading the word about the habit that turns garbage into fertilizer and promotes a sustainable way of life, while local people are posting and discussing their experiences in online forums.

More Beijingers are discovering that indoor composting is a recipe that helps reduce food safety concerns and the city's organic waste.

Rubbish in, rubbish out

Elizabeth Ashforth gets her shoes fixed instead of buying new ones, she mends her broken clothes with a sewing machine and she is saving up to buy a solar panel charger for her phone and laptop. Indoor composting is the latest addition to her environmental agenda.

"I am trying to produce less waste by using less of everything and appreciating and using fully what I have," explained Ashforth, a marine and microbiologist.

"I wanted to produce something good from the kitchen waste somehow. I enjoy growing plants at home, but buying soil is expensive so this solves two problems," said the 30-year-old British woman, who learned about indoor composting in Beijing at an event organized by The Hutong.

Instead of worms that can't break down meat, Ashforth started using a special microbe mix for her meat waste one month ago. "I buy the microbial mix from 'Lilly' at the Beijing Organic food market. You only need a small amount to sprinkle on every time you put a layer of waste in, so a one kilogram bag costing 75 yuan ($12) should last about a year," said the biologist.

The box is good quality plastic with a strong seal and has a tap at the bottom to drain out liquid, which can be used for feeding plants and cleaning sinks.

Ashforth is more concerned with the food she eats and where it comes from since she started composting.

"It makes me want to go organic so that the edible plants that I grow will also be organic. If I'm putting food that contains pesticides into the bin then the compost that comes out will also have them in," she said.

Juicing garbage

Kate Rosow and Charlie Chrisman felt bad about having so much leftover fiber from juicing vegetables for breakfast every morning.

However, their foray into indoor composting turned into a disaster involving fruit flies, dead worms and smelly dirt.

The couple ordered from the same supplier off online shopping portal Taobao. They paid 60 yuan for about 1,000-2,000 worms. With a newspaper and some soil they set up a hospitable worm home in the living room.

"The first round of composting [following Martha Stewart's instructions] did not work well and our worms escaped," recalled 31-year-old Rosow, who is an energy analyst. 

"When we opened the box to see if any were left, it smelled awful. We also had some fruit fly problems, but it's not clear if that is from composting or from a bunch of plants we bought from the Laitai flower market," described 30-year-old Chrisman, who is an IT consultant.

Soon to leave China, the couple will restart worm composting when they settle back in the US.

"It takes about a month from setting up your worm home until they really start producing compost. Plus we didn't know who would take our worms when we left," they explained.

Familiar with worm composting since she was a child, Rosow thought until recently that it was a smelly process (which it shouldn't be, if done correctly), only for people who had lots of land or were incredibly devoted to the environment.

She now recognizes that for those of us who eat a lot of produce, it can cut back significantly on waste.

"There's nothing new about worm composting, but I do think more people are getting into it as a way to lessen their impact," Rosow said.

"Just hearing about the waste problems China is facing and the landfills around Beijing make me want to lessen my impact on the city," she added.

Back to basics

For a while people worldwide have discussed composting conundrums. Many turned to home composting after reading Mary Appelhof's 1982 book Worms Eat My Garbage, which popularized the technique over the years and has now sold over 175,000 copies.

In Vancouver, Canada, worm composting has become so popular that the city has established a telephone hotline.

In China, when Internet users posted videos and "how-to-do-it" personal diaries on social networks such as Douban and Sina Weibo, the comments and exchange of tips multiplied.

Last month at the TEDx Great Wall talk event, Miranda Mullet talked of her earthworm project.

Originally from the US, Mullet came across vermicomposting when she was looking for a solution to a white fly problem affecting her plants about a year ago.

Now she hopes to engage the Beijing community on the eco-solution through workshops and talks where she explains the global potential of indoor composting.

"My plants have tripled in size and the compost helps keep the pests away. I planted vegetables with compost and another half without it and I could see the growth rate with the compost is substantially bigger and healthier," she described, adding how easy and clean the process runs.

Mullet, 25, who is the co-founder of My China Opportunity, a Beijing internship program provider, questioned whether the worm experience will take off in Beijing. "I find that locals view what I do as strange and gross," Mullet said.

"I know there are foreigners who rent farm plots on the outskirts to grow produce. With these growing trends, there will be a demand for organic fertilizers in the community to replenish nutrients back into the soil," she predicted.

Laji Couture, which spreads ideas on sustainability through creativity and design, will take place on Saturday Sepember 8. For the schedule, venue information and other details visit www.lajicouture.com

Words on worms

Research worm species for composting, where to buy all the supplies and how to start. Watch videos online to learn from the mistakes of others.

Cut up the vegetables and/or meat into bite sized chunks before you put them in the bin.

Start feeding your worms slowly with fruit, vegetables and egg shell leftovers, as well as coffee powder and tea bags. Banana peels carry fruit fly larva and should be avoided.

If you have a garden, you can also feed flowers, turf and tree bark to your worms. Worms won't eat cooked food or meat, fish or cheese.

Make sure your worm bin isn't too moist.