Vermicomposting

PWGSC-PPB has been vermicomposting at the Birks Building since 1996. Vermicomposting consists of using red worms to recycle food waste into a rich, dark, earth-smelling soil conditioner. The great advantage of vermicomposting is that it can be done indoors or outdoors, thus allowing year round composting. It also provides apartment dwellers with a means of composting. In a nutshell, worm compost is made in a container filled with moistened bedding and red worms. Add your food wastes for a period of time, and the worms and micro-organisms will eventually convert the entire contents into rich compost.

Food wastes are collected daily from kitchens in the Birks, Bates, Fisher and Dover-Brouse Buildings. The wastes are sorted and are fed to the red worms which inhabit plastic bins located in the basement of the Birks Building. The result is a sweet-smelling, dark compost that employees can use on their house plants. This initiative reduces approximately 400 kg of waste from landfill annually.

Red worms used for vermicomposting

Storage bins for vermicomposting used at the Birks Building.