Garbage to Gold

Root cause of my issue

Throwing away kitchen scraps in the garbage to be incinerated is adding to the pollution of our planet. We can turn these scraps into rich fertilizer with the use of worms (verimicomposting). This rich fertilizer can be added to the soil and contribute to a healthy topsoil.

Addressing the root issue

I will address the root cause with worm composting.

Conventional composting takes months and needs lots of space. But a worm box can fit on your apartment balcony or classroom, needs minimal attention and can compost quickly. My dad has run a vermicomposting system for over 30 years in our home. At roughly 500 grams of kitchen waste a day, that's about 5.5 tons of waste we've recycled at home. Multiply this by the 728,000 households in Kobe you will arrive at an astounding figure. The worm castings are the treasure made from trash.

Teaching composting and building neighborhood worm farms is creating soil from waste. In the current system, humans produce waste, waste is transported at high cost to an expensive incinerator, that reduces the garbage 95%. The remaining 5%, sludge, must be discarded either in the ocean or landfill. In the vermicompost system, a human produces food waste, the waste becomes food for worms, the worm castings become food for plants, plants become food for humans. Thus the cycle is complete.

Establishing worm farms at schools and other community centers teaches worm composting and creates rich, fertile soil. This can be used in gardens or parks and replenish our Earth's topsoil.

My Gold Award project goals

I will install 10 worm compost stations in Kobe/Kansai area. I plan to have all ten stations installed by April 2022. I will teach roughly 30 students at each station how to compost and about the composting cycle. I will develop the curriculum for each school by April 2022. I will have the students complete an assessment I develop by June 2022. I will have students complete a survey at each compost station to keep track of how much waste is being fed to the worms instead of being incinerated how much worm "tea" is produced, how much worm castings are produced, and how the population of worms has changed by June 2022. It is my goal that after receiving the worm farms and education each school will use worm composting for 2 kgs a week to produce 5-6 cups of worm tea, 2kgs of castings, and double the worm population by June 2022.