Fun with Worms - Part I

This is a late post but I need to get it up because it's just that cool. In March we started Vermicomposting (Confused? Go here.) The short explanation is that it's worm composting. So without further ado, meet Sam.


All of our worms are named Sam. There are several hundred of them in our bin. We believe they are happy and we know they are making some fantastic castings for us. Castings are worm poo and excellent fertilizer.


Soo why are we vermicomposting you may ask. I have several answers. First, we've been wanting to compost for awhile but were having a tough time finding the right size composter for a good price. While researching bins, I discovered the wonderful worm world and thought Ally would love it. She's been very intrigued by snakes for awhile and I thought she would appreciate the worms.

Second, we have a lot of fresh fruit and veggie scraps from our Farm Fresh Delivery bin and I hate throwing it all into the trash.

Third, I think hands on toddler lessons are the most long lasting and effective. Ally loves showing people the worms when they come to our house and can explain vermicomposting really well.

Fourth, you don't need fancy equipment for this project and the upkeep is minimal. We have no smell coming from our bin because we've followed a few simple rules.


I'll explain how to make a bin of your own in the follow up post. It's quite simple and you most likely already have everything you need to start. (Except the worms!)

Laundry list

On my attempt to clean up my cleaning supplies, I purchased Ecos Laundry Detergent from Sam's Club. We have an HE machine but this detergent is low sudsing so it can do traditional and HE both. Okay on to the specs: Ecos is a natural, earth friendly product. Ingredients are 100% natural anionic coconut kernel oil based surfactant, horsetail plant, lavender, coconut based fabric softener, essential oil of lavender (NOP Certified Organic), purified water. It is $13 for 100 oz which is supposed to be 210 HE loads (I haven't confirmed because I'm not keeping track and not super precise in my measurements. I'll take their word for it I suppose.) But above all it's made from sustainable and replinshable ingredients that are safe for us and the environment. It doesn't contain phospates, petroleum, enzymes, or chlorine. My youngest daughter has very sensitive skin and this hasn't bothered her in any way. Clothes come out clean but not scented. The Ecos website says that there are 3 scents: magnolia, lemongrass and lavender. (I have lavender and love the smell.)

Now a couple comparisons. I previously used Tide Free HE. It cleaned my clothes well and didn't irritate our skin. However, here are the ingredients: Borax, Citric Acid, Diethylenetriamine Pentaacetate (Sodium Salt), Amylase, Protease, Disodium Diaminostilbene Disulfonate, Diquaternium Ethoxy Sulfate, Polyethyleneimine Ethoxylate, Calcium Formate, Dimethicone, Ethanolamine, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Formate, Water, Alcoholethoxy Sulfate, Lauramine Oxide, Laureth-9, Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate. (Taken from Tide.com) Okay so I can't understand what all those things mean but I'm fairly confident they aren't all natural and environmentally friendly. It's like the rule that says if you can't pronounce it, don't eat. Maybe if I can't prononounce it I shouldn't expose my family to day in and day out. The cost is about $15 for ~64 loads.

Okay so there are the facts. I'm all about products that do the job without the extra fuss. I like knowing that we're slowly taking unnecessary chemicals out of our house. Ecos website can give you even more info so check it out. www.ecos.com I look forward to trying more of Ecos products and will be sure to let you know what I find out.