Composting in schools

Check out this video about why and how students at a school in New York, started composting their lunchtime food waste.



If you would like to start one in your school, this slideshow by Groton will give you an idea who can be involved in it.

Rot In Groton

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Mansfield Middle School in Connecticut even has a website to teach what composting is about. It is also touches on the variety of micro organisms that are beneficial to get a compost pile going. I think it is a wonderful way to pick up biology.

And if you considering a Vermicompost or worm compost, the website of The Adventures of Herman the worm should be a fun way to generate an interest of students in school to start one.

Don't miss out the many other useful information that you can find on Urban Program Resource Network. If you go to "Just for Kids", you will find the link to the award winning program, "The Great Plant Escape", where children can help Detective LePlant find clues that will uncover the importance of plants in their life.

Here is a good video of how you can start one at home posted on YouTube by : Kitchen Gardeners International.

It's a nice day for...

"It's a nice day for weeding".

That did not get me the response I have expected from my children as they went off to see their weekend kids' programme on TV.

I should have said, "Let's build a secret hiding place". With "The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian", still fresh in my daughter's mind, she was keen to be involved when she saw me digging a hole in the garden.

I told her to dig it big enough for a plastic pot that came with a plant I bought and went off to do my indoor chores. Not too long after, the older brother joined in the fun.

"It's ready! It's ready!", they shouted, very keen to see the outcome of this project.

I put the pot into the hole and decided that the hole is not deep enough and it's top will show above the ground surface. So, I placed garden stones around the hole.



So, what is the purpose of this hiding place? They wanted to know.



"Now, Mummy, has a place to dump dried leaves and weeds removed from the garden."



And to make it less of an eye sore, I placed a pot of plant over the pot.



It is a mini compost bin for a mini garden.



I have a lot more of these plastic pots and I am sure I will not have any problem getting them to dig more secret hiding spots. It should be fun for the kids, when it's time to count the worms.

Composting methods

I have written about "Composting: what's in, what's out?". Now I have been asked for the how tos.

I have collected a lot of information about composting from a few websites and I have written out the instructions in table form to ease reading and referring.

Following are more of such useful websites that I have discovered.

Home Composting

Read articles at Worm Digest or join their forum.

Check out some of the bins and methods used in worm composting.

"HOW WE COMPOST" by Bay Worms, a non-profit, student/ citizens-run collective operating as an independent entity.

Worm Bins - Vermicomposting Systems. This is the kind of system purchased by Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer to start their Vermicomposting business in 2002. What kind of sales can they expect to make from worm excrement? Check these figures out. $70,000 in 2004, $500,000 in 2005, $1.5 million in 2006, and an estimated $4 million in 2007. This year TerraCycle expects to turn a profit with a projected $8.6 million in sales!

Their TerraCycle Plant Food packaged in recycled soda bottles and other recycled containers are sold in organic groceries, independent garden shops, Wal-Marts and Home Depots around the United States and Canada. This is obviously a company who has successfully created abundance out of lots of abandoned materials.

Happy D Ranch used to supply the Eliminator, which is an educational model made of wooden and metal with a Plexiglas side to see what the worms are doing.

Here is a DIY model for school posted by a GreenYes member, Frank Teuton.

1) 30 Milk Crates stacked in a space of 3x4ft.
2) Place 3 boot trays under crates to catch any leachate.
3) Line crates with waste material as food stock: wood, cardboard, breathable material like fabric. If plastic bags are used, punched drainage holes into them.

Warning: Expect unwanted visitors, such as flies.
Tried and tested: You can microwave or freeze wastes to destroy fruit fly eggs prior to feeding the bin.

Google "Frank Teuton compost" and you will find many useful "dos and don'ts" tips from him on composting. That is how I found these useful information.

Also, check out the many video clips posted on YouTube on composting or compost bins. Here is one that I like by Home and Garden.



Did you notice the bin she used? You can get that free from companies in the renovation business who buy paint or plaster in large containers. Remember to punched holes into them before you start the layering process.