LiveSmart BC Community Hero
Environmental Educator Lori Carifelle Digs In
Lori Carifelle is more than just the director of the Quesnel Nature Centre, she is an educator.
“I do my job as I feel there is a hope for the future,” she says. “It is difficult for people to change, but I think we can change.”
Carifelle has worked at the Nature Centre since the fall of 2006. One of the projects she has worked on is worm composting bins.
“Red worms can eat all your organic household waste,” she said. “The hardest part for people is to learn to sort out the garbage from the compostable stuff that the worms will eat.”
Worm composting is a method for recycling food waste into a rich, dark, earth-smelling soil conditioner. The great advantage of worm composting is that this can be done indoors and outdoors, thus allowing year-round composting. It also provides apartment dwellers with a means of composting.
“Worms can be kept between 5-26 degrees Celsius and kept indoors over the winter unless you have an insulated worm box,” Carifelle said.
Red Wiggler worms can take care of six pounds of your household food waste for one week, and provide wonderful soil for your plants or garden.
One square foot of surface area per pound of worms is needed. The container depth should be between eight and 12 inches. Food scraps such as fruit and vegetable peels, pulverized egg shells, tea bags and coffee grounds can be composted. It is advisable not to compost meats, dairy products, oily foods, or grains.
Carifelle teaches up to 2,500 students and adults about the worm bins when they come to tour the Nature Education and Resource Centre.
“A lot of people think the environment is just the Earth, but the environment is our homes and ourselves as well.”
“I enjoy my job and the main reason is the environment is important to me. I like to discuss different issues and bring awareness to people who would not otherwise know. I like educating them.”
To find out about composting household waste with ecofriendly worms, call 250-992-5833.
