The Mount Nelson’s well fed worms are currently munching on 200 kilograms of scraps from the breakfast buffet and famous afternoon tea – 20% of the hotel’s usable organic waste. It is hoped that by next year all of the hotel’s organic waste will be processed in this way. Already the worms have started to produce liquid fertiliser for the pot plants in the hotel’s conservatory and lounge.
Each day’s organic waste is separated by the hotel’s night support chef, Samkelo Tumtumana, who delivers it to the farm. The trainee worm farmer, Shaun Gibbons, then feeds the waste to the earthworms, who are housed in a custom designed farm built out of recycled crates.
The hotel developed its worm farm with the help of Mary Murphy, an environmental activist, and Roger Jaques, a botanist, environmental scientist, landscape architect and vermiculturalist; who call their company FullCycle.
“Waste is a huge problem. It winds up in landfills and ends up polluting our groundwater and generating greenhouse gases responsible for climate change,” says Murphy. “In nature, there is no such thing as waste - the waste products from one organism provide the matter and energy for other organisms. We have ignored this basic principle in the design of our urban spaces.
“Earthworms are amazing creatures. They are able to process their own weight in food waste everyday, turning it into the finest soil conditioner. They do not harbour any bacteria or viruses harmful to humans, and are completely free of parasites. They eat harmful organisms and excrete masses of beneficial organisms in their droppings, known as worm casts.
“They modify their environment by processing and aerating the waste, thereby preventing the decay process from turning ‘bad’ – anaerobic decomposition. This helps prevent the formation of carbon dioxide and methane, and keeps carbon and nitrogen bound in the soil in forms that are available to plants”.
Earthworms are able to convert in a matter of days what would otherwise be a putrid, foul-smelling mass of food waste into earthworm compost. Another product produced by this process is ‘worm tea’, the liquid that drains from the worm casts and makes an exceptional liquid fertiliser.
WRIGGLY WORM FACTS
1. Worms do not have legs but instead are covered in hairs or bristles that help them to move.
2. They breathe through their skin, which must remain moist to absorb oxygen from the air.
3. The longest earthworm is the African giant earthworm, which can grow up to 6.7m (22ft) long.
4. Worms are tough little creatures. If you accidentally cut an earthworm in half while gardening, only half will die. The piece with the saddle (the fatter, pink part) will survive.
5. Worms detest the daylight – which is why they are always hidden deep beneath the soil.
6. Worms eat their own weight in organic waste, soil and minerals and excrete their own weight in castings daily, which makes compost and enriches the soil.
7. They don't eat living plant tissue, and so don't hurt plants either. They truly are a gardener's best friend!
8. Worms are hermaphrodite, which means they don't need another worm to reproduce. They lay their eggs, which hatch as little worms. Worms can live for up to 10 years.
9. There are about 34,000 different types of worm
10. They've existed for about 600 million years
Ends/……
Downloadable high resolution images of the Mount Nelson Hotel are available at www.orient-expressimages.com
For further press information, please contact:
Victoria Legg, Public Relations Director - Orient-Express Hotels
Tel: (020) 7921 4067
e-mail: vicky.legg@orient-express.com
Web: www.mountnelson.co.za
