Save your peels

GEICO can save you money on your car insurance, but can worms save you money on your trash?

In communities such a Brookline with pay-as-you-throw trash disposal programs, residents are encouraged to recycle and cut down on the amount of trash they generate by paying per bag. Vermicomposting, or the use of worms to produce fertilizer indoors, is not only a way to cut down on waste production, but has environmental benefits as well.

Chris Russo of Brookline said while saving money isn’t his goal in vermicomposting, it is possible. Because Brookline recently adopted a pay-as-you-throw trash disposal program, residents who reduce the amount of their waste could save money. Russo, who lives in an apartment, does not have a yard for traditional, outdoor composting. However, Russo’s recent discovery of vermicomposting ‘-‘- he started his project this past winter ‘-‘- could solve his problems.

In February, Russo picked up worms, or ‘Red Wigglers,’ from Randi Mail, the recycling director at the Cambridge Department of Public Works for his indoor composting project.

In order to vermicompost, all you need is an aerated container, shredded newspaper bedding, soil and redworms according to the web site of Mary Appelhof, author of ‘Worms Eat My Garbage,’ the unofficial authority on vermicomposting. The shredded newspaper, soil and worms are then spread in layers in the container along with organic waste such as coffee or tea bags, fruits, vegetables or egg shells. The bin can be stored anywhere around a household, but for proximity, kitchens are convenient.

Russo, a vegan who is primarily concerned with his personal impact on the environment, said he is constantly throwing stuff out. ‘I think, ‘This is such a waste,” he said. ‘I don’t have any land, so I looked into the worm stuff.’

‘My concern is that the rate at which I consume, it will be too fast for the speed it will compost,’ Russo said. ‘I usually eat at home and most things I eat have peels.’

Depending on the size of the container, the process can handle anywhere from two to five pounds of organic waste per week, according to Appelhof’s website.

Keeping a balance on all things from moisture, temperature and pH in the system is important to keep the composting cycle running, as well as keeping the smell down. ‘We have a storage room and even if it stunk a little it wouldn’t be too bad,’ Russo said.

Ann McGovern, the Consumer Waste Reduction Coordinator at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, practices vermicomposting at home and at work. ‘Right now, I have fruit flies,’ she said, ‘That means I have to stop adding fruit waste.’ McGovern, who keeps a container in her kitchen, admits her husband is bothered by the fruit flies.

Bananas and fruit are a big attraction for the flies, McGovern said, but a simple trap made from a banana peel underneath an upside down plastic storage bin with holes in the top takes care of them. As for saving money, ‘it could save people money from not having to pay to be disposed,’ she said. ‘Plus, you can save on not having to pay for potting soil.’

However, McGovern said the environmental benefits to vermicomposting greatly outweigh the financial benefits. If people produce less waste, there will be fewer trucks and shorter routes for trash pickup and thus less carbon emissions, she said.

Tom Richard, an associate professor in the Department of Agriculture and Biological Engineering at Penn State University who has been vermicomposting for 20 years, said that when organics are thrown away and brought to landfills, they decompose anaerobically because of the absence of oxygen. When organics decompose anaerobically, such as in a landfill, they produce methane, which is 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, according to Compostable Organics Out of Landfills by 2012, a national initiative.

In vermicomposting, the worms, ‘work their way through the material and make holes which let air in ‘-‘- this keeps the process aerobic,’ Richard said. He added that although many modern landfills do have the technology to attempt to capture methane, not every landfill has the technology and they are not meant to last forever.

And although vermicomposting in private homes may not have an immediate measurable impact on reducing greenhouse gases, any small act can help.

Adam Mitchell, a member of the Brookline Solid Waste Advisory Committee and a partner at Save That Stuff ‘-‘- a company that provides recycling services to the Boston area ‘-‘- said he thinks recycling organics could eventually happen in Brookline on a larger scale. ‘If we have a drop off program initially, we’d get the people motivated to participate,’ he said.

If people showed enough interest in recycling organics, Mitchell said, they could begin to approach the question of what it would take to get the infrastructure needed to process organics on a large scale. Mitchell added, ‘If we eventually went to curbside organics, it would save the town money because it’s cheaper to process.’

Ed Gilbert, who is also a member of the Brookline Solid Waste Advisory Committee, said the committee’s first focus was to get as much recycling as possible in Brookline. The curbside recycling pickup was the result of their efforts, along with the pay-as-you-throw program.

The next step after pay-as-you-throw, a proven method to reduce overall waste production, is composting, Gilbert said. But until then, Brookline residents who vermicompost will continue to share their success stories and hold a special place for worms in their kitchen.