Worms Wiggling Their Way Into College Lifestyle
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Del.icio.usA week before Windward Community College students return to spring semester classes, thousands of worms already are making themselves comfortable on campus as part of a 20-foot-long, state-of-the-art, low-tech Pipeline Worm System.
The Media Center’s Sandy Carmichael brought the project to fruition after noticing she was throwing away scrap paper by the bunches. The worm system also allows her to be environmentally friendly and resourceful.
“I hated throwing all that paper away, and I thought that worms could use all this shredded paper for bedding,” she explained.
Waikiki Worm Co. owner Mindy Jaffe will provide the redand-white worms for the project which totals $5,434.55 in equipment, worms and training. Because of the price tag, Carmichael began recycling all she could to help raise funds. Then Richard Fulton,vice chancellor of academic affairs,stepped in and purchased the equipment using past summer-session revenues.
“I’m so excited about the ecology of it all,“Carmichael said, noting that the wiggly creatures will feed on close to 2,000 pounds of leftover cafeteria food, paper and cardboard.
After the initial year, Jaffe said the organic waste will turn into 125 pounds of commercial-grade fertilizer, and an integral plant nutrient will be produced every six months.
“It’s a great system all the way around,” Carmichael said. “The agriculture department and the botany garden will receive the compost, and they’re really excited about that! The fertilizer will be organic, high-dense and pure.”
“The compost has a lot of nutrients, and when we add that to the plants it will reduce the need to buy fertilizer for our horticulture program,“added ag coordinator Dave Ringuette.
Nothing good comes without hard work, however, and Carmichael is prepared for the labor-intensive duties to follow.“We’re hoping to get the student government to help take care of the worms, who will be located on the mountainside of Hale Akoakoa. It will only require 30 minutes to an hour of work each week.”
According to Carmichael, WCC is among the first sites in the state to invest in this specific Pipeline Worm System, along with Kapiolani Community College, Hawaii State Hospital and Hokulani Elementary School.
“By showing what can be done with worms, I’m hoping that the community will pick up on it,” she said. “We’re also hoping to use the worms for an educational purpose, too, as part of our hoolaulea.”
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