Why the World Needs a Picture Book on Worm Composting

Transformative lessons begin with a picture book story

Looking out to a sea of bright-eyed children during a classroom visit, I knew deep in my bones why the world needs a picture book on worm composting. Climate uncertainty and concern for the planet’s future loom large: ice caps melting, a ginormous plastic gyre spiraling in the middle of the pacific, rampant wildfires… but what does all this mean for the young ones still armed with sparkly eyes and open hearts? Turns out the most transformative teachers are unassuming, silent workers who burrow beneath our feet. Worms! Known as nature’s plow, the Red Wiggler Clean Up Recycling Crew teams up with Martin Snell to inform and empower those sparkly children through an entertaining story. Easily digestible, this intro to composting sows seeds of empowerment, awareness, and stewardship in the minds of these future leaders and innovators.

KIDS GET IT – It just makes sense:

• Wasting food by throwing it in the trash (landfill) is BAD.
• Regifting food scraps and food waste back to the earth is GOOD.
• Kids start to see more and more what can be composted instead of trashed.
• Kids can be in charge of worm hotel operations ALL BY THEMSELVES.

Composting food scraps with worms is an efficient (fast, simple), clean (no smell, no flies), and powerful (plant powers activate!) method to:

• Increase & develop sustainable habits
• Reduce landfill volume
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions (lower carbon footprint)
• Improve water conservation

Experiencing the power of worm composting through reading a picture book educates kids and the adults who read to them. The kids just get it, are ready to host a worm hotel, and fold worm castings and worm juice into the garden. However, adults (and kids too!) sometimes need some additional incentive with facts. Sound interesting? Read on…

Wasting food by throwing it in the trash (landfill) is BAD:

Ever wonder how much of your kitchen trash consists of food scraps (rinds, pits, peels, scrapings)? What’s drying up on your counter or turning soft and slimy in the frige? How much cardboard and newspaper is piling up? In a typical American household, It’s estimated that 25% of trash is food waste, and another 25% is compostable cardboard/paper waste. That means about 50% of household trash is compostable organic matter according to the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). After running an experiment in my house, I confirmed this fun fact is TRUE.

When plant material goes to the landfill it rots, generating methane (greenhouse) gas emissions. Plant matter needs air, water, and sunlight to decompose naturally. Conditions in a landfill don’t provide oxygen, proper moisture level, or sunlight which causes an anaerobic process in which organic matter rots, and the rot turns into methane gas. In 2022 the EPA estimated that 14% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the USA were from organic matter rotting in landfills. In other words, methane emissions from landfills in 2022 were approximately equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from more than 24 million gas-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year! (EPA–Landfill Gas)

Regifting food scraps and food waste back to the earth is GOOD:

Regifting food scraps and food waste back to the earth:

• REDUCES/RECYCLES WASTE: Composting plant matter including cardboard and newspaper reduces garbage sent to the landfill by about 50% thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• ENRICHES SOIL: Composting kitchen waste with worms returns vital nutrients back to the soil including Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, and Magnesium
• SAVES WATER: Adding compost to soil saves water – compost makes soil more absorbent and holds water like a sponge, therefore less water is required
• SPARKS TOTAL MINDSET SHIFT: When you start collecting food scraps and food that’s gone bad, you become AWARE of your waste, AWARE of utilizing the food you have. Every rotten pear and soppy bag of greens becomes a siren call to use it before you lose it, or even to think twice before purchasing more than you need. Kids are watching and learning by example. And see, it just makes sense!

Worm Composting becomes the vehicle for a mindshift

I hear from parents and teachers DAILY that after reading Martin Snell and his Worm Hotel at home or in the class, kids want to start a worm hotel of their own! They feel empowered to make a difference, starting with recycling their food and trash at home and at school. The interconnectedness of Nature is learned: of the food cycle, how growth and decay are supporting. They get to watch red wigglers move, mate, and eat. Ultimately, the spring green glow of plants supercharged by worm castings makes it all worthwhile. Just as important, worm composting is something kids can do, take care of, and see for themselves.

Martin Snell and his Worm Hotel is a hit with kids, parents, teachers, and classrooms.  Get your copy from www.susanfrazee.com (orders within USA) or request it through your local bookshop.  Martin can also be found throughout the world via Amazon.

Interested in classroom resources or a classroom visit? Contact me here.

“Their work might seem unspectacular at first… But they do something just as powerful: they consume, they transform, they change the earth. I have come to understand, like Darwin had, that earthworms are not destroyers, but redeemers. They move through waste and decay in their contemplative way, sifting, turning it into something else that is better.”

Amy Stewart – The earth moved: on the remarkable achievements of earthworms