Trash-eating red worms to keep you green

Golan Heights-based agricultural tech firm Agrolan has an offer it believes Israelis can’t refuse: a kit consisting of red worms, delivered direct and delivered hungry.

Which is what you want when you deploy red worms, according to Agrolan CEO Yehuda Glikman. The worms eat all manner of organic material, excreting what their systems can’t use. In the case of red worms, small in body and simple in musculature, that’s a large part of what they eat, said Glikman. But those worm excretions make for excellent compost material, so the consumer benefits two ways, with an efficient disposal system for leftover food, cartons, newspapers, and other materials creating fertilizer for their home gardens.

The worms are meant to be grown in a box; all the user has to do is drop unwanted leftovers in, and the worms do the rest. “The worms leave our ‘plant’ every Sunday to towns throughout the country, sent through the mail,” a company spokesperson said. “We send them out at the beginning of the week to ensure that they get to their destinations before Friday, so they don’t get stuck in the post office over the weekend.”

Agrolan, a well-known agricultural tech company, has been involved in several innovative projects in the past. The company sells all kinds of agricultural tech equipment – advanced drip irrigation systems, sensors for plants, weather monitoring devices, etc. In 2012, for example, the company established nearly 70 “rain stations” throughout Israel, setting up – in conjunction with Google – the rain.org.il site, which displays data uploaded from mini-weather stations that gather information (updated hourly) about wind, rain, dew, sun, temperature, and humidity at over 70 locations in the country. The site was designed with farmers in mind, giving them solid data with which to plan their planting, watering, and harvesting activities — Agrolan develops 7-day weather farming forecasts based on the data — but the site has become popular with many non-farmers as well.

Now Agrolan is distributing its first “worm-based” recycling system — which, the company admits, is likely to appeal mostly to the non-squeamish. “The worms can be kept anywhere indoors, although keep in mind they like dark and damp conditions,” said Glikman. In addition to solid waste, the worms also produce “liquids,” said Glikman — which are also great for compost purposes. Because of those liquids, you might want to consider using a (very) strong plastic box to store your worms, said Glikman.

And make sure the box is clear, so you can see them grow. “Raising worms is an educational experience that enriches the whole family,” said Glikman, “and of course they make an important contribution to the environment, eating unwanted household trash and providing a natural source of compost.”

The price? Only NIS 59 ($16) for a good-sized group of worms, which, incidentally, double in population after just three months, said the company. It’s certainly a lot cheaper than a garbage disposal.