Here at All the Stuff, we’re pretty generally interested in environmental issues, and we like to think some of our readers are as well. The trouble is that, for the most part, it’s difficult for the average consumer to really know what part they should be playing.

There’s plenty of contradictory and downright false information available, and some of it seems like pure PR drivel. What is pretty well accepted, though, is that recycling food scraps (meaning composting them) is better than sending them to landfill. Garbage disposals are usually more environmentally friendly, but still not a flawless solution.

Home Composting Made Easy

Many people, however, regard home composting as complicated, disgusting, or simply impossible if you don’t have space to spare outdoors. As it happens, though, there’s a simple solution you can literally use in your kitchen: an earthworm farm.

Earthworms are basically eating machines, capable of little more than wriggling around and consuming up to half their own body weight every day. Their poop is odorless, free of harmful pathogens and possibly the greatest fertilizer known to man.

Worm Factory Benefits

Using this indoor worm farm, you can easily turn your organic trash into vermicompost, which often costs upwards of $10 per five-pound bag in stores. At 16 inches square, it’s easy to fit into a cupboard or corner of your kitchen, produces no smell if used correctly, can be expanded by buying additional trays, and takes only minutes per week to manage.

A tray and tap at the bottom make it easy to collect worm tea (leachate, technically speaking, but your trees and evergreens will enjoy it all the same).

What we really like about this product, though, is that the package includes some fibrous bedding and mineral-rich rock dust to start you off with, as well as clear, reliable instructions. Many manufacturers don’t bother to do this, which falls somewhere between stupid and cheap.

The worms, of course, have to be bought separately, but can usually be ordered by mail.