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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mannie who wrote (1566)	8/10/2005 12:47:28 AM
From: abuelita	Respond to of 24213

good ... its a date. i should be a total wreak by then <vbg> -zita

To: Mannie who wrote (1566)	8/30/2005 11:37:17 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 24213

Worms are working at Ecology headquarters Agency converts food scraps to fertilizer in basement BY BARRY GINTER THE OLYMPIAN Department of Ecology employees will go to great lengths to demonstrate that they practice what they preach, even if it means having thousands of worms in the basement of their Lacey office building. The worms are the last step in a new food-waste composting system in the three-story building, where more than 1,000 people work. The employees generate about 100 pounds of food scraps each day, ranging from coffee grounds to uneaten sandwiches. Instead of ending up in a landfill, that waste will be put into the compost system in the basement and ultimately will be fertilizer. The technology isn't new -- The Evergreen State College composts the food waste from its cafeterias, for example -- but the idea of setting up a system in a modern office building is. Ecology hopes its program will persuade other agencies and businesses to do the same. "It's sort of a template for other places," said department spokesman Caitlin Cormier. For most employees, the compost system won't change the way they go about their workday. "For the folks working in the building, the only difference is instead of scraping their plates into the garbage can, they scrape it into the food-waste container," said Holly Wescott, a compost specialist with the department who has provided much of the expertise to get the program running. Food-soiled paper products such as paper towels and coffee filters also are put into the system. Benefits of composting The program is voluntary, and there are no "garbage cops," said Megan Warfield, an Ecology employee who works on the third floor. She said she's enthusiastic about participating. "They're trying to educate all of us about the benefits of composting," Warfield said. The janitorial staff will take the waste downstairs each day and add it to the system, where it will compost in a sealed "Earthtub" container for four weeks before being transferred to a worm bin, where 80 pounds of worms will eat the material and create the end product. The entire system covers an area of about 28 feet by 32 feet, Wescott said. While the system does create some extra work for the janitorial staff, there are benefits even for them in that the regular trash is cleaner and easier to handle without the food waste, Wescott said. Alleviating concerns Some people were concerned about odors and others about the use of meat and dairy products in the system, something generally frowned upon in home composting systems. Odors are controlled by regular cleaning of collection buckets and odor-control filters on the compost system. Pathogens that can thrive in unmanaged home compost systems aren't expected to be a problem in the Lacey building, where system temperatures will get high enough to kill "bad" bacteria. The first usable worm castings won't be ready for several weeks, but after that, the system should produce about three five-gallon buckets of worm castings each day. The castings are potent fertilizer, and just a few tablespoons are beneficial for houseplants. The building's employees will be able to take the castings home to use in their gardens. "We have over 140 people on a list that are interested in the end product," said Wescott, who has claimed part of the first batch to feed the houseplants in her cubicle on the third floor of the building. Warfield also plans to use the castings on her plants. She said she has little room in her yard to set up a compost pile, so she plans to take advantage of the end product. "Now at least I can do it at work," she said. Ecology's Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee pioneered the idea of putting the compost system in the building, although some employees in the building had done smaller-scale composting projects on their own in previous years. Studies done by the committee showed that composting organics could reduce waste by 30 percent. "It's a demonstration project," Wescott said. "We are collecting data not just on composting, but also things like how much time does it take to do the collection." The system cost $70,000, which came from contributions from 11 different programs within Ecology. Barry Ginter is city editor for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5423 or bginter@olympia.gannett.com. 159.54.227.3