If you think by using worms to compost you kitchen scraps and grass clippings, you are being bio friendly, you are way off the mark.
This is because worms are truly not eco friendly decomposers! Worms used in composting at many commercial worm composting plants, emit nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 296 times more powerful, molecule for molecule, than carbon dioxide.
Jim Frederickson, senior research fellow at the Open University’s faculty of technology, said:
What we found from looking at large worm composting systems is that their emissions could be comparable in global warming potential to the methane from landfill sites.
Domestic wormeries are dustbin-sized boxes formed from several trays, with names such as Can-O-Worms, into which reared worms are introduced. Some are even made to look like beehives.
The worms are laid out on lime and vegetable peelings. When they have digested this material they move to another level in search of more food. The lower trays of compost can be used and a tap allows the liquid collected to be drained off as fertiliser.
Worm composting bins and compost heaps produce really good compost in a decentralized way with no transport to landfill sites. Though on the other hand from the study, one thing is clear that Domestic wormeries also give out nitrous oxide, they can also be a source of greenhouse gas emission so think twice before you encourage their usage.
Source: Telegraph
