1. Design For Change VERMI COMPOSTINGatVasant Valley School SaieeshaaSethi, Manya Tandan, AneeshaPatnaik, Ananya Anand and Aarushi Kapoor

2. Vermicomposting uses earthworms and other micro­organisms to digest organic wastes, such as kitchen scraps. Vermicomposting is faster than traditional com­posting methods, requires less space, and creates little odor. Vermicomposting is an easy way to make a positive environmental impact by reducing the amount of green waste. The resulting nutrient-rich compost end product is an environmentally sound amendment to enrich soil for plant growth. What is Vermiculture?

3. ISSUE Waste food is a big problem in our school. After the lunch break everyone throws the remaining food into a crate where it gets completely mixed up. The food that is untouched we offer to the bhaiyas and didi’s to give to the animals like our school dogs but there is still a lot of waste food

4. Solution We at Vasant Valley found that Vermiculture was a viable solution. We decided to use Vermiculture to produce usable manure from waste food

5. Procedure After separating the plastic from the food we mix it with cow dung ,bury it completely in the cow dung and cover it with more of cow dung so that the food does not attract flies. Collect the earth worms or soil dwelling worms as they are also called and put them in the cow dung along with the waste food scraps. Make sure the worms are covered with cow dung on top as worms love the three d’s damp, dark and dinner.

6. Use the sifting grill to separate the worms and the compost. The worms will get stuck on the grill and you can reuse them and you also have your finished compost. Vermicompost is best used moist, as it loses nutrients as it dries. In the garden, use it at root level, digging it into the soil. Try not to use acidic foods like citrus fruits etc.

7. Properties Vermicompost has been shown to be richer in many nutrients than compost produced by other composting methods. It also has outperformed a commercial plant medium with nutrients added, but needed adjustment for magnesium and pH.

8. Soil Improves its physical structure Enriches soil with micro-organisms Microbial activity in worm castings is 10 to 20 times higher than in the soil and organic matter that the worm ingests earthworms already present in the soil Improves water holding capacity. Benefits

10. Improves root growth and structure

12. THE STUDENTS We ourselves at Vasant Valley School encourage everyone to do Vermiculture as it is completely organic and chemical free.

14. Click to play Video

15. Thank you. We hope you encourage Vermiculture.