Waikiki Worms

Every restaurant, not matter how careful, produces some food waste. Sometimes it originates in the kitchen due to overordering, overpreparing or the inevitable peels and scraps. Often, it comes from the dining room, where diners return half-eaten plates.

One way or another, restaurant dumpsters end up full of wet, heavy organic waste. Some of it was edible when discarded (as freegans well know), some not. All of it, however, has value. It’s a resource that can be tapped through composting, worm composting or anaerobic digestion.

I recently read about a vermiculture, or worm composting, company called Waikiki Worms. The Hawaii business provides a nice example of how restaurants (and homeowners–check out the Can-O-Worms) can reap value from their food waste. While I’ll admit that their location gives their work a certain appeal, Waikiki Worms provides a model for spreading the vermiculture near and wide, from restaurants to schools.

OK, I’ll admit that their logo is pretty catchy, too. Especially how one worm is “composting” its own grass skirt. My day has been made.