Gonyer 1

Jenny Gonyer

Final Report

ENVS 220

December 7, 2012

Vermicompost Biology-Environmental Internship

with the Industrial Composting Working Group,

Whitman College

Fall Semester 2012

I. Background of Industrial Composting - Whitman College

This Fall Semester 2012, I am a Biology Intern for the Industrial Composting Working Group at Whitman College. Campus Climate Challenge (CCC), a student environmental club at Whitman, launched the Industrial Composting Working Group in the fall of 2010. The group’s mission is:

As a collaboration between students, faculty and staff, we aim to establish an industrial composting system with the capacity to compost all pre-and post-consumer waste from Bon Appetit's food services, organic material from residence halls and support material from the surrounding Whitman community. We hope for Whitman's system to handle food waste to serve as a model for the greater Walla Walla community, including the other educational institutions and the city as a whole.

The Composting Group is carrying on previous composting efforts. The year before, residence hall section Green Leaders started campus composting with compost tumbles outside of residence halls. But winter weather and an excess of food waste slowed the decomposition process and ended the project. (Kahl)

The Composting Group worked with Bob Biles to find a system that can best accommodate Whitman’s 4000 pounds of food waste produced each week. They decided to install a large industrial compost worm-wigwam system behind Jewett Dining Hall. To build the shed and buy the worm-wigwam, the Composting Group received 16,000 dollars in funding, fromASWC’s “Green Fund,” Sustainable Agriculture Technologies (the wigwam manufacturer), Baker Boyer Bank’s Yancey P. Winan’s Trust, and the Whitman Physical Plant. The wigwam was purchased from a small business in Cottage Grove, OR and a local contractor and the Physical Plant staff built the shed. (Ellis)

With this system, 45,000 Red Wiggler Worms, orEiseniafetida, living in the red shed will break down food waste into high-quality compost, or vermicompost. The Physical Plant will use the finished vermicompost on campus. More than 100 pounds of student food waste will be processed each day once the worm wigwam reaches its capacity of 105,000 worms; the worms double their population every 90-120 days. Walla Walla Worm Works locally bred the worms. (Work)In Fall of 2011, the Industrial Compost Center was introduced to the campus. Vermicomposting allows for large-scale, year round campus composting. This is the second year of the project and the Composting Group is using the system as a learning tool for Whitman as well as the Walla Walla Community. Walla Walla Community College started their own worm-wigwam after hearing about Whitman’s.

In Spring 2012, the group faced a setback when only 5,000 of the original 45,000 remained alive. The group had received conflicting instructions from the wigwam seller on how to care for the worms with in the wigwam system. The worms had become too compacted and compressed from the food waste. They were pushed to the bottom of the vermicomposter where newspaper covered the holes at the bottom. The newspaper broke through and the worms crowded around the holes for air, fell through the holes and dried out. The group then had to find the best ratios for high carbon brown waste (paper shreds) to food waste. After this setback, the group turned to Barbara Newby, the worm breeder, and used her suggestions to get the system going again and the worms breeding. Barbara said to turn the compost above the castings every week (opposite of what the seller said to do). Also more paper shreds are added to keep the food from compressing, peat moss to keep it aerated, and water if it is too dry. Now the worms are thriving in a better-managed vermicompost system and there is a layer of worm castings at the bottom. The Composting Group now hires biology interns to give the worms the right amount of food waste to thrive and repopulate.

The Industrial Composting Group is currently reaching out more to the Whitman Campus to reaffirm that the worms are alive and doing well. They have an education intern to spread the importance of compost and environmental benefits. The intern has held a composting workshop with Barbara to get the community involved. The workshop involved building small vermicompost systems out of plastic bins for food waste from households. In addition to workshops, the Group has started Adopt-A-Worm as a fundraiser. Students can adopt and name a worm for $1. The money goes towards materials needed for the composter. It was not a successful fundraiser, but helped spread the message to students that the worms are alive and doing well. Study breaks are also going to be offered in the dorms to spread the awareness of composting. The Composting Group hopes the vermicompost system will make others start thinking about food waste and how much is consumed and thrown away.

In critiquing this club, they have done very well at working towards their mission. They have established an industrial composting center. The vermicomposter with only 5,000 worms currently will not be able to process all food waste form the dining halls, but it is a good start towards the group’s goals. In order to process all of the campus’s consumer waste, the group will need to help the worms continue to thrive and breed; they might also need to install another vermicomposter to deal with the large amount of waste on campus. Their system is a great model for the Walla Walla community and other educational institutions. Walla Walla Community College followed the Composting Group’s lead and installed their own worm-wigwam. The group has reached out to the community to bring small-scale composting to students and local households. Despite setbacks with the composting system early on in the project, the Composting Group has done well to use that delay as a learning process in their efforts to bring composting awareness to the community.

The Composting Group is a very well organized club. The studetns who started the group are very committed and make their presence and excitement about the project known during meetings. The group gets together once a week to make sure the project is going well and to go over goals for the semester. The Group is working towards becoming an official ASWC club to ensure a consistent money-flow for projects and to keep the club in existence for many years. The club also is working on having a fellow professor become a mentor for the club. As a mentor the professor would be able to make sure the club continues after the seniors, who started vermicomposting on campus, graduate. The group is open to any newcomers and is always enthusiastic to tell others and the campus about how well the worms are doing. The Industrial Working Group is a very well managed club on campus that is committed to its mission, to spreading food waste awareness to the college and city, and to the keeping the worms alive.

II. Internship Responsibilities/Activities

Goals and Objectives

My goals for the Worm Biology Internship are:

  1. To gain a personal understanding of vermicomposting: What is it? How do you maintain the system?

Objectives: 1. ReadVermicomposting Manual

2. Learn all there is to know about red worms from Barbara Newby

3. Research any questions about the system that may arise during the internship.

  1. To learn about the life cycle of Eiseniafetida, red worms: how to keep the population thriving, and breeding.

Objectives: 1. Read books and scientific articles about E. fetida

2. Keep notes on any interesting characteristics about red worms that may be useful for future interns. Find books to recommend for future interns.

3. Work with Barb, ask her questions.

  1. To learn about and from the Industrial Composting Work Group and their activities: become a committed member.

Objectives: 1. Attend every meeting.

2. Share information on the current status of the compost system/worms.

3. Participate in events and activities.

  1. To develop recommendations for how to continue this internship in following semesters.

Objectives: 1. Contribute ideas for an instruction manual for interns.

2. Keep notes on foods that compost well/ what is healthy for the worms.

3. Keep notes on how much food waste is recycled and what materials are added to help in the composting process.

  1. To maintain the vermicomposting system: process enough food waste to have the first vermicompost harvest by December.

Objectives: 1. Regularly feed the worms: adding food waste, paper shreds, water if needed, and peat moss. Turn compost when needed.

2. Have Barb check on the compost at least once a month to see if anything needs to be done or changed with the feeding and compost turning schedule.

3. Harvest compost in December if there are enough castings and food waste level is near the top of the bin.

Internship Responsibilities

My responsibility as a Worm Biology Intern is to maintain the vermicomposting system. I am responsible for feeding the worms by placing food waste, paper shreds, peat moss, and water into the worm-wigwam at least once a week and turning the compost above the worm castings. During cold weather I am responsible for turning on the space heater to keep the wigwam warm. I am to work in accordance with the other biology intern (Lydia Bailey), my sponsor (Alicia Kerlee), Barbara Newby (worm breeder and advisor), and to update the Industrial Composting Group at meetings on the status of the system and worms.

Internship Activities

At the begging of my internship I met with my sponsor (Alicia) and the other biology intern (Lydia). Alicia explained to us the history of the composter, what went wrong with the system, and what needs to be done now to maintain the vermicomposter and make sure it continues to grow. We all met with Barbara who came to check on the composter and tell us how the worms were doing. She said the worms were very healthy, they were a medium-dark red color, and to keep turning the compost and add water so that if you squeezed a bit of the paper shreds a drop of water would fall, but no more. Barb said our first vermicompost harvest might be possible in mid-December.

Every Monday at 5pm, I attend the Composting Meetings in Reid. We discuss goals, upcoming activities, and the status of the vermicompost. I inform everyone on how the worms are doing, if we need any new materials such as paper and peat moss, and what types of food waste Bon Appétit has been providing for the worms. These meetings help me work towards meeting my first and third goals. Through these meetings I am becoming a committed member, learning about the Composting Group, and learning about vermicomposting.

Every Thursday I go to the worm-wigwam behind Lyman, feed the worms and turn the compost. Lydia and I have decided to split feeding the worms into two shifts. She feeds the worms on Monday and I on Thursday. We are to both feed the worms about 5 gallons of food waste, 1 bag of paper shreds, peat moss, and some water if needed. Taking care of the worms has helped me start and continue to accomplish my objectives for my goals I, II, IV, and V. I am learning much about the vermicomposting system and red worms. As I continue to maintain the system I learn more about how the system works and what will be useful recommendations for future interns to know. I am also accomplishing my goal in maintaining the system so that we may have the first vermicompost harvest in December. Without biology interns, the system may not have been as constantly cared for. My efforts assist the Composting Group’s goal to keep the worms thriving, breeding, and processing food waste so that we can produce vermicompost for the campus.

The second half of the semester I continued attending the compost meetings and feeding the worms. We turned on the space heater once a day during the colder weeks. We determined to turn it on when temperatures are around 23o F, but since we wanted the worms to breed at faster rates we turned on the heater when temperatures were below 30o F. My days to turn on the heater were Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday while Alicia and Lydia covered the other days.

In November Claire Cummings, the West Coast Fellow for Bon Appétit, came to one of our meetings. She wants to help us with funding, expanding our goals to reach out to farmers and the community, and to see how we want to continue composting at Whitman. We decided we want to focus on educating the rest of Whitman about the worms and to maintain our current system and make sure it thrives. I gave Claire a tour of the worm wigwam with Danielle Broida. I told her whatI do as the Biology Internand showed her how we feed the worms and turn the compost.

Barb came at the end of November to check on the worms. She said, “They are the best I have ever seen them!” She said they move fast and are a very healthy red. She put some “worm food” made out of milk fat and corn meal in the center of the compost to draw the worms to the middle. The extra contact with each other causes the worms to breed when they rub against each other. After one week I went to feed the worms and there were so many underneath the paper shreds! I could see many egg sacs, which look like little yellow dots. There were also many small juvenile worms. Barb said we can harvest compost in the Spring.

III. Reflections

My experience with vermicomposting and the Industrial Composting Working was a very enjoyable working experience. I have gained more knowledge about red worms and vermicomposting than I had at the beginning. I now have the knowledge and skills to start a small-scale vermicomposter for others or myself if I wish. There were no challenges that couldn’t be solved. Turning the compost was hard at the beginning of the semester, but became much easier when we acquired a pitchfork. My internship was very enjoyable as it does not require too much demanding work, but required consistency, flexibility, and patience as the worm populations rebuilt itself.

I achieved almost all of my goals and objectives. I learned much about the vermicomposting system and learned a lot from Barb. I learned much about the life cycle of E. fetida and how to keep the population thriving. It is very easy to care for the worms when the right ratios of food, paper shreds, peat moss, and water are added to the compost. I achieved my goal in becoming a committed member to the Composting Group. After studying abroad I plan on attending meetings during my senior year and participating in activities. I helped Alicia create an instruction manual for interns. I was not able to fully achieve my goal of harvesting compost this December, as it was not yet ready. But I achieved my goal of maintaining the system and keeping the worms healthy. The compost and worms look wonderful and I am glad to have contributed my time to this project. I am excited for the first compost harvest in the Spring.

For future interns I would recommend focusing on shifting toward using horse manure instead of peat moss to regulate moisture in the compost. I talked to Professor Delbert Hutchinson and he has manure available for when the composting group finds a system to keep the manure dry. Someone will need to be a mediator between him and the group and to get the manure from him. If interns are interested in reading about worms, I recommend reading the book, The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earth Worms by Amy Stewart. I also suggest looking into other composting options for Prentiss Dining Hall and the dorms, maybe even adding another worm wigwam on campus.

My greatest success has been seeing the worms stay a healthy red color and see deeper layers of worm castings form. My experience with the internship has provided me with the ambition to continue working closely with hands-on, experimental work, or fieldwork in my career after college. I would love to repeat this internship my senior year if my schedule allows for it. Working with my sponsor has been very enjoyable and a good learning experience. I loved working with the worms and the Industrial Composting Working group and I have enjoyed learning about vermicomposting and about developing composting projects. I would highly recommend the worm biology internship to anyone who does not mind getting dirty, who enjoys reducing the impact of consumer waste, who loves worms, and who enjoys seeing Whitman’s composting programgrow.

Citations

Kahl, Hanna. The Pioneer. 21 Apr. 2011.

Work, Alison. The Pioneer. 22 Sept. 2011.