The Lower East Side Ecology Center hosted a free compost seminar this past Saturday. After several previous attempts to go to one of these seminars, I finally made it up there and managed to convince my new roommate to join me.
Held at the Ecology Center in Inwood, which in a beautiful park on 207th St at the very tip of Manhattan, this was not the easiest place to get to considering the frequency of the trains on that particular Saturday, but i was determined to get my subsidized bin and pound of worms.
The seminar was fascinating! We learned all about the anatomy, behavior and life cycles of these fascinating little worms that create this compost that perhaps some day I can expand on. . . But in short, all you need to create compost inside your own apartment is:
- an adapted Tupperware bin (aprox. 3’x2’x2’) with a lid and air vents
- damp shredded news paper (enough to fill the bin about ¾ of the way full)
- one pound of red wiggler worms
- veggie scraps which can include anything that came from a plant
There are a few additional rules and helpful tips, but those are the essentials. And when properly maintained, it will not smell, and is actually a much better way to manage garbage smells as you are containing and monitoring the decomposition of your food rather than letting other organisms take on this task in your garbage can!
After completion of this approx. two hour seminar, we got a voucher for this bin (for the subsidized price of $10) I can not wait to pick it up and get started!! I will be able to do this NEXT Wednesday when the worms arrive.
Will keep you posted on how it goes!