Earthworms used to control waste at Illinois hospital

MATTOON, Ill. -- Jeff Nichols doesn't mind sharing his office space with a few hundred worms.

The worms, housed in a dark tub with a secure lid, silently consume food waste while Nichols, manager of custodial services at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center, researches ways for the hospital to continually help the environment through recycling.

After a food waste audit was performed at SBLHC, Nichols said hospital staff wanted to find an efficient way to decrease the amount of food waste they disposed in landfills. Nichols learned one option was recycling the food waste by feeding it to worms, a practice known as vermicomposting.

Officials at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity report organic waste, not including paper, makes up 11 to 13 percent of all material found in landfills and is one of the biggest problems facing the solid waste industry today.

SBLHC is still in the opening phases of researching the benefits of vermicomposting, but after six months, Nichols is pleased with the worms' recycling abilities.

"One pound of worms will eat half a pound of food waste each day," Nichols said.

Worms are very efficient at recycling, he said. The worms eat the food waste and if a worm dies, the other worms consume it, Nichols said.

The castings from the worms provide rich nutrient soil builder used for plants and trees.

To harvest the castings, Nichols moves the worms' food to the opposite side of the tub from where he wants to harvest the castings. The worms move to the food, allowing the castings to be harvested, he said.

Red wiggler worms can live to 2 to 4 years and mature at 10 weeks. They can begin reproducing at that time.

"They can produce up to three cocoons per week," Nichols said.

Although Nichols is supportive of the project, he admits when he first heard of vermicomposting he was skeptical.

"I thought it was funny," Nichols said. "But I learned how good it was for the environment and that it works."

Nichols was so impressed with vermicomposting that he built his own bin for home use so he and his family could recycle some of their own food waste to help the environment.

A dark tub, with proper ventilation is needed. Place a layer of dirt, paper and worms, and then supply the worms with food and they will eat their way to the top, Nichols said.

"All they need is air, food, water, shelter and bedding," Nichols said. "They love fruits and vegetables and can eat paper and cardboard. We don't feed them bones or meat. They also like coffee grounds and coffee filters."

"And they don't smell," he added as he took off the lid to show the worms which were busily consuming an old banana peel placed in the bin for food.

If SBLHC officials decide to expand the vermicomposting project, the worms would be moved to a building near the hospital. Currently, the worms are safely secure in a bin in Nichols' ground floor office.

The vermicomposting project is part of a larger recycling program that SBLHC has embarked upon. Landfill space is decreasing at an alarming rate and SBLHC staff wants to do its part to help the environment, he said.