Boulder Vermicomposting

Earthworms used for coffee waste

Via Clean Technica, I found this article about the Rogers Family Company using redworms to process their coffee waste.  Apparently, coffee processing generates a fair bit of organic waste, and this was decomposing and  leaking into groundwater.

So, leveraging techniques used elsewhere, including in Selva Negra in Chiapas Mexico, they set up worm bins on their farm in Panama.  The goal?  Process 5000 tons of coffee pulp and turn that into free fertilizer for independent growers.  The company ended up with “10,000 square meters [of worm bins] filled with a billion worms”.  I asked why they chose E. Foetida, rather than one of the worms more suited to the tropics (as outlined here [PDF]); I’ll be interested to see their answer.

Talk about industrial vermicomposting!  I remember reading a while ago about ‘decompiculture’ (PDF here) which is the idea of “growing or culturing of decomposer organisms by humans”, the same way that agriculture is the growing or culturing of plants and herbivores.  Decomposers, whether redworms, bacteria or mushrooms, can help address some of our most fundamental issues of garbage management by turning waste into useful substances.  This project showcases decompiculture.

Pssst!  You should complete the cycle and vermicompost your coffee grounds.

Full press release here, and full blog post with pictures here.

2 comments May 13th, 2010

Durango Compost Company

Via the Durango Telegraph, I found this story about the Durango Compost Co, which details the genesis and progress of the Durango Compost Co, founded by Jennifer Craig.  This company is built around vermicomposting:

[Durango Composting Company] offers three main services: household composters and worms; public education; and commercial use and consulting. The Composting Co.’s most visible presence is at the Farmers Market, where Craig sells 35-gallon buckets of compost for $35; “compost tea,” a compost-steeped liquid used as fertilizer and to prevent plant disease; and the “Can-O-Worms” home worm composters. In addition, Craig also gives presentations at local schools and works with businesses, such as Ska Brewing and Cyprus Café, interested in worm composting.

The key to the company’s founding was the partnership with a coffee shop: “[Durango Coffee Company owner Tim Wheeler] would pay Craig to take his grounds off his hands. In exchange, he would get a cut of the profits from the final garden-ready product.”

I love to see business models around vermicomposting operations, as I believe they’re key to making the process really sustainable in the long term. I found no website for the Durango Compost Company and I was unable to find a telephone number, but the contact info for the coffee company is here.

6 comments July 2nd, 2009