College receives grant to begin vermicomposting project

Lake Superior College has received $65,170 from the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance to begin a vermicomposting program to process food scraps and unbleached brown paper. Students and staff will sort food residuals into a separate bin. Materials will be placed in the 75-gallon worm bins and the vermicompost will be used for landscaping on campus. "We're estimating that we will have 20,160 gallons of compostable residuals per year," says Deanne Roquet, a science instructor who is working on the project. Approximately half of the grant money will be used for construction materials; the other half will be allocated to staff. There are plans to build a greenhouse that will be a prototype for a highly insulated facility to house the worms. The building will use heat generated from the vermicomposting process.