Worm Composting

[Keith R]

Originally posted by Hillbilly
CACO: I think this might be a good project for schools....

HB

As I mentioned in the other thread on litter & environmental education, Puerto Rico's Solid Waste Authority (ADS) was just given an award by US-EPA for its program to get schools involved in composting. Maybe they can advise/assist on setting up a similar school campaign in the DR....

Regards,
Keith


http://www.ads.gobierno.pr/secciones...ta-epa_30-.htm

[Keith R]

Folks, Jaime ("Caco") is a true self-taught expert & very much the enthusiast about worm composting ("vermiculture"). I've seen his worm operation first-hand, and it's fascinating (and I'm not particularly a worm fan! ) . If you're located in the DR & you have any interest whatsoever in pursuing vermiculture, I strongly recommend you take up his offer and get in contact with him. You won't be sorry!

Jaime & his family have been also heavily involved in a broad range of environmental issues in the DR for a long time, particularly from the point of view of seeking practical solutions and looking for ways to make economic and environmental interests work together to the mutual benefit of both. I very much welcome his participation in this Forum! He has alot to teach us all!

BTW, Jaime, do you know of any municipal or community composting projects -- worm based or not -- currently operating successfully in the DR, such as the one once talked about in San Francisco de Macoris?

Best Regards,
Keith

[Dolores]

For those that may be interested, this is the link to the Edible Schoolyard program started by Alice Waters, president of Slow Food USA.

http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/

[Hillbilly]

I just got a wonderful phone call from a former student of mine and outstanding personal friend. She is, by far, the most brilliant student I have ever had.

She has provided me with an interesting list of things and people to go with the school yard gardens. It seems that the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has a program in place, with trainers and starters. Plus tons of information.

As I progress down this road, I will keep you all informed.

HB

[Keith R]

Great, HB! Considering all the contact I used to have with FAO, I should have thought about them having resources & programs to tap on this issue! [kicking self]

[lhtown]

Thanks for all of your helpful posts. I have been pretty busy lately, but I am going to get in touch with Caco, and I am sure I will be able to learn much more. I know it seems silly to most, but the subject fascinates me. It is so simple that practically anyone can do it and yet so intricate and technical that scientists could spend their whole lives studying the subject and yet never understand everything.

Speaking of home worm composting for household wastes and pet poop, at $25 per 1,000 worms plus the container, it is starting to get into the "hobby" category and therein seems to lie part of the difficulty with its widespread adaption. If it could be looked at as a necesarry appliance instead of an expensive hobby, it would have a much better chance. Other important factors affecting adoption of the "technology" would seem to be the perceived "icky" factor, the time factor in converting the wastes to compost, and the space/location requirements albeit modest. As with all new technologies, there is also a lack of understanding of how it works and how to do or use it. Of course, as with all worthy new technologies, we should not be overanxious in our expectations for growth. If we could achieve a 20-50% year over year increase in adoption of worm farming, that could be considered "success" in my book. After all, look at computers, they have taken maybe 25-50 years to hit mainstream and they are still perhaps that far off from being useable by the majority of the world's population.

More thoughts

In passing, I have considered the thought if worm farming could work as a neighborhood or community project in urban DR. That way, instead of each person having their own private worm farm, there would be a community sharing of resources. My mental "back of the envelope" calculations would lead me to really wonder if it could ever be an economically self-supporting endeavor in any DR urban neighborhood. Of course, a closer examination of real facts and figures combined with some hard work and ingenuity, might yield vastly better results.

Here would be some possible benefits to a community worm project over a home project:
-It would eliminate the "icky" factor for homeowners.
-There would be no smell coming from your home if something goes awry.
-There would be no need to understand worms or worm farming.
-Periodic maintenance would be eliminated for the homeowner.
-A shredder could be used in the community project.
-The initial start-up costs could conceivably be lower on a per-person basis.
-It would provide a meaningful job to one or more persons.

As you can see, many of the possible drawbacks to adoption that I mentioned above would be eliminated.

Here would be some possible drawbacks to a community worm project:
-There could be a smell all over your community if it was improperly managed.
-Someone would have to be thoroughly versed on worm farming to run it and be able to either run it themselves or find someone to do it and teach them.
-Good management and consistent maintenance would be paramount.
-Initial start-up costs could be prohibitively high.
-It would have to be an economically profitable enterprise to survive. That would be true whether it were a for-profit or non-profit organization. It would not only have to generate enough capital to keep up with labor/maintenance costs, but would have to provide a return on the initial investment.
-Someone would have to sort garbage either before or after the garbage is collected leading to more labor costs or more inconvenience for the homeowner and possible costs for separate garbage containers.

I personally, think that even though the economics might conceivable be better with a government/community project, that a home based or for profit project would be the most likely to succeed.

Here are some of my thoughts:
- Home projects mean individual responsibility. If it works or fails is up to you. The same goes for businesses and their owners/managers.
-Government and even community projects will almost inevitably fall to management problems as have even basic services in this country.
-For profit projects might work if profitability could be achieved and initial investment costs kept down.
-Garbage in, black gold out. It's all yours at home. Most people have at least a small yard and a few plants that can always use a bit of fertilizer.
-Labor costs would be eliminated at home greatly improving the economics.
-A shredder is not currently a viable option for a home project.
-There are some who would never do it at home, but who would gladly save their compostables for their favorite relative or even neighbor. For that reason, it is likely that in the Dominican culture one project would serve for several families.
-In order to have widespread adoption, costs will have to come down and ease of use will have to improve.
-Building a low cost, long lasting, easy to use container that has a small footprint seems to be an essential key to any worm farm whether at home or a community project.

[sjh]

Dont get me wrong, I think worm farming is great and I plan to try it out.

BUT

I can buy chicken manure at 30 RD for a 140 lb sack so I dont need the fertilizer. If I only needed small amounts, any farmer would give manure away for free.

I have to pay for garbage collection either way so it isnt going to save me money.

just my 2 cents...

[lhtown]

sjh,

You are dead on. There are indeed very valid reasons for worm farming, but it simply doesn't seem to make economic sense as it is currently practiced.

There really seem to be very few options to produce a greater profit.
1. reduce overhead (not a lot of room there)
2. sell "disposal" service(not a lot of money in that)
3. sell worm castings (relatively little value as fertilizer in most markets)
4. sell worms (who wants worms?)
5. sell worm "juice" for fertilizer or a hydrophonic farm (I find little value there)

I would suppose that any successful commercial operation would have to try to work all angles. I have trouble envisioning a profitable operation. Then again, I have trouble seeing how Walmart has become one of the world's largest entities on a razor thin profit margin.

[Cleef]

Just when you think you've had enough worm poop, I have more for you.

Discovery Channel has gone ahead and made a mini-documentary on the whole affair.

Saw the last part of it tonight and although it's not as fullfilling as sticking your hand into the muck for yourself, it should give you a good idea of what it's all about, in an entertaining manner.

You go Jaime!!

[Pib]

We've missed you!

Is there any reason why you only post in a thread about poo?