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Future of Vermicomposting

          In the future of waste disposal on the earth, the recycling of products will become a more important initiative.  Vermiculture is a natural way of ‘recycling’ organic material back into a form the ecosystem easily accepts.  If all organic material was diverted from the waste stream in America today, there would be a 65% reduction in waste disposal.  As the rate of garbage per person is increasing in America, and the world, this safe alternative to traditional waste disposal will become even more important.

 

      

Landfill Crisis

 

Landfill sites around the U.S. and world are filling to capacity and closing down.  The following are some intriguing facts about the present methods of garbage disposal.

 

·        America generates more waste every year, growing from 247 million tons of non-hazardous waste in 1990, to 409 million tons in 2001, according to Biocycle magazine, an industry publication.  The State of Garbage in America, April 1999.

 

·        The Fresh Kills landfill facility, Staten Island, New York is the world’s largest garbage dump. It covers over 3,000 acres and processes about 4,368,000 tons of garbage per year, or 14,000 tons per day, six days of the week. (Guiness Book of Records) Source: FYI, Page E8, Toronto Star, Sunday, April 12, 1998.

 

·        At the current pace, we'll be generating 222 million tons of waste by the year 2000. http://envirosystemsinc.com/landfill.html

 

·        In a recent survey of World Wastes subscribers, of those owning landfills, 53% expect their site to remain open 10+ years; 12% said 5 to 9 years; 7% reported 3 to4 years and a whopping 26% said less than 3 years.” http://envirosystemsinc.com/landfill.html

 

 

 

 

In the future, recycling of garbage will be necessary in order to sustain our health and environment.

 

1992 National Statistics from EPA and U.S. Postal Service:

 

               What’s in our Trash?                                                                      Where does our trash go?

                                  

 

 

 

 

If the world made use of vermiculture, paper, yard trimmings, and food waste would not be a part of our landfills.

 

·        “In a composting system, redworms can eat half their weight in food each day.  That means worms in a modest-sizes bin can convert 430 pounds of food scraps per year into usable fertilizer.  That’s equivalent to the weight of two newborn elephants that otherwise would end up in landfills.” (The PriceCostco Connection, Vol. 11, No. 4, p 21)

 

   References

Researchers and project developers met at the Fifth International Symposium on Earthworm Ecology, hosted by Ohio State, to discuss earthworm ecology and its role in organics recycling. Earthworms can be used directly in horticulture and agriculture to enhance crop growth or to turn various residuals into beneficial composts. Both of these uses were addressed at the conference. Research continues into the effectiveness of earthworms in aerating soil, improving drainage, and especially increasing fertility. The main research challenge in vermicomposting of organic materials is that the heat generated by conventional composting is too high for earthworms.