Worms are a wonderful thing, as South Africa's Mount Nelson hotel has discovered. The hotel has added a worm farm where the wrigglers eat up the organic waste from the kitchen, resulting in a lovely "worm tea" that it uses to fertilize the historic property's gardens. While they're only currently processing 20 percent of their organic waste, the hotel hopes to bring that up to 100 percent soon, and to spread the idea. From CNN:
- "If we think really big ... if everybody took their organic waste and processed it through vermiculture or worm farms and we stopped organic waste going to landfill sites, it would have a dramatic impact on climate change." [says environmental activist Mary Murphy]
"It's incredible. They reduce waste by 70 percent (and) there is no smell here," she says, wearing an "I dig worms" T-shirt and surrounded by thousands of the munching critters.
The worms neutralize harmful bacteria, such as Ecoli, and produce beneficial bacteria while increasing the levels of nitrogen and potassium in the soil -- elements that help vegetables grow.
So, sometimes it's OK to think inside the [worm] box, eh? I absolutely love this idea.