SOUTH AFRICA: Posh hotel pampers worms for the good of the environment

Thousands of earthworms guzzle tonnes of scrap food from the tables of the rich and famous at South Africa's exclusive Mount Nelson hotel, quietly doing their bit to save the planet. Cape Town's oldest and most famous hotel, a favourite with visiting celebrities, is cultivating its own worm farm -- indulging the unlikely pets to help slash waste and, ultimately, impact climate change. The worms are kept out of sight of wealthy patrons enjoying the opulent surroundings and gourmet treats but they bask in pampered luxury in a backroom a short slither from the presidential suite. The up to 15 centimetre long worms -- commonly known as red wrigglers or tigerworms -- are housed in specially-designed crates and fed the vegetable discards from the kitchen and pricey restaurant tables. Their fluid excrement, or 'worm tea', is carefully harvested and used as a prized fertiliser in the hotel's rolling gardens. Their other by-product, vermicast, is a rich compost. "They are a specific species. They love food. They love eating decomposing food and they are really good at it. They've got a ferocious appetite," said environmental activist Mary Murphy. Murphy, one of the drivers of the project, said worms may just one day save the world. "If we think really big ... if everybody took their organic waste and processed it through vermiculture or worm farms and we stopped organic waste going to landfill sites, it would have a dramatic impact on climate change," she said, modeling an 'I'm A Worm Farmer' T-shirt and surrounded by thousands of the munching critters. "It's incredible. They reduce waste by 70 percent (and) there is no smell here." The worms neutralise harmful bacteria, such as Ecoli, and produce beneficial bacteria while increasing the levels of nitrogen and potassium in the soil -- elements that help vegetables grow. "It is exactly what we need to feed the soil and therefore feed vegetables and feed people," Murphy said. Organic waste on rubbish dumps release carbon dioxide and methane, greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, adding to global warming. The worms create a 'carbon sink' by devouring the waste and turn it into stabilised organic matter. The project is a first for a hotel in South Africa, and Murphy wants to expand it to Mount Nelson's competitors as well as schools and restaurants. The Cape Town hotel is processing about 20 percent of its organic waste through the worm farm but hopes to extend that to 100 percent within the next nine months, as the earthworms reproduce and the farm expands. Under the right conditions, two worms can become a million in just one year. The project may also help South Africa meet a pledge to stop all waste going to landfill sites by 2022.

ITN Source | August 11, 2006

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