Children are wonderfully receptive to new ideas and already have a far greater grasp of the part we all have to play as custodians of the earth.
Worms can be used in a variety of different ways within the school setting.
Some schools use one of our domestic wormeries as a teaching aid passing it from class to class. Others opt for larger systems that can deal with all their fruit and vegetable waste and use a mini wormery for teaching in the class.
Following our successful trial using bokashi in schools, which we undertook in partnership with the Technology Innovation Centre at the University of Central England, more schools are opting to divert all of their food waste from landfill.
If you are interseted in setting up worm composting at your school please get in touch, we are happy to offer help whether it is a classroom model, a facility for vermicomposting your green waste or a combination system to recycle all of your food waste we can help you decide which option is best for your school. As a first step we will give you advice on doing a waste audit and then take things from there. It doesn't matter what your budget is or how much space you have there is always a way forward.
As part of our aim to encourage schools to recycle their food waste we offer a reduced rate to schools purchasing worms.
St John’s C.E. First School, Kidderminster. We have helped St John’s First School set up 5 worm beds. They are 1 metre x 1 metre square and 9 inches deep. They made the worm beds themselves, we supplied the instructions, the worms and the know-how.
The children were full of enthusiasm when they took custody of 10kg of composting worms, 2kg for each bin, on June 13 th 2005 and they are now composting all their fruit waste, used hand towels, teacher’s tea bags and lots more.
If you don’t think worms will fit into your school, but you are still keen to compost organic waste, you can use a conventional compost bin or an insulated composter, such as the Jora models that will compost mixed food waste. Contact your local council, or WRAP home composting advisor, they should be able to supply compost bins very cheaply or even for free.
Are you involved with Eco Schools? If not take a look at their website – www.eco-schools.org.uk If you live in Worcestershire the man to speak to is Rupert Brakespeare, contact him on 01905 766378. He is employed by the county council as the Education for Sustainable Development Officer. He supports Eco Schools and other ESD ( education for sustainable development ) initiatives.
Another great organisation is the Bishops Wood Centre. Their site is a magical setting and as their website will tell you they are committed to supporting the people of Worcestershire and beyond in creating a sustainable future. www.bishopswoodcentre.org.uk John Rhymer is their Teacher Advisor for ESD, he is very helpful and can be contacted on 01299 250513
