With machine-shredded paper, we come to one of the most neglected, yet plentiful sources of worm-bedding material. In every populated area of the modern world can be found office-buildings, libraries, schools, police stations, and countless other locations that have in common the fact that they produce amazing amounts of waste paper each and every day. A tremendous portion of this paper is simply shredded, placed into plastic bags, and sent off to the local landfill. All it usually takes to obtain this material is to ask the office manager, the janitor, or whoever is in charge of the particular site, for permission to haul it away, and your bedding requirements are satisfied. (If you tell them it's for your worms, they may look at you a little strangely in the beginning, but that's something we should all be used to by now.)
For most regular-sized, indoor vermicomposting operations, one location will suffice to provide all the bedding that is necessary. Since the material is already shredded, the work-load is reduced to transporting the paper to your home, moistening the required amount, and installing it in the bed. By giving a little consideration to the "disadvantages" listed below, and keeping them in mind when you pick a location, you can have all the safe bedding your worms require, for very little effort, and you will be doing something that is environmentally friendly at the same time. For that matter, if enough in-home vermiculturists each absorbed part of the waste from one or more of these sources, it would not be long before a large amount of paper was being dealt with in a much more suitable manner than it presently is. In that situation, everyone is a winner. Just before we discuss the disadvantages, let's take a look at the more positive aspects of this potential bedding source.
Among the advantages of machine-shredded paper can be found the following items:
The problem lies in the area of obtaining waste material that has been used in a photocopier, and the main area of concern is the toner used in the photocopy process. (Toner is the powdery ink substance used to produce a photocopy, and may be plastic, or chemical in nature.) Since very little laboratory research has been done in the area of problems caused by transferring these artificial substances into the food chain, we have no way of knowing what ill effects might be caused by ingesting food grown in soil that has been enriched with compost containing these substances. We can assume, however, that since a worm's diet consists strictly of organic matter, these inorganic materials are passing through the worm's digestive tract, and becoming somewhat concentrated in the resulting casts. (The same situation occurs with the heavy metals contained in some sewage sludges. After being consumed by worms, the result is less overall volume to dispose of, but higher percentages of contamination in the remaining material.)
Since we are talking about your own health, and the health of your family or friends, I think if a mistake is to be made, we should err on the side of caution, and at the very least, follow some simple precautionary guidelines:
Since we have already dealt with the next three disadvantages in our discussion of newsprint, I have simply provided a link to the appropriate area of that section. If you wish to refresh yourself on the particulars, please return there by clicking on the link, and after you have read the comments, the return function on your browser shall bring you safely back here.
Now we come to my favorite worm bedding, the one that in my humble opinion (I heard those snickers), is the ideal material available for this purpose. When I started my first worm-bin, I decided that cardboard would be my bedding material of choice, and if I had either kept my operation at the typical in-home size, or if I had had access to the necessary mechanical equipment required for producing large quantities of this substance (in its most suitable form), I'm sure I would still be using cardboard and nothing else. Unfortunately, shredding cardboard by hand (with razor knives and scissors) is a long and difficult process for anything but very small amounts, and unless the material can be reduced directly to particles the size of dust, degradation of the bedding can take a lengthy amount of time. This matter of slow degradation is not always a bad thing, mind you, just for the type of situation I was into at the time. Rather than go off on a tangent once again, however, I'll try and include as many explanations as possible of the pertinent aspects of cardboard usage inside the listings of advantages and disadvantages which follow.
Among the advantages of cardboard can be found the following items:
Access to quantities of cardboard is made even easier by one very simple fact. For many people that have a lot of this material, it can be very expensive to dispose of. Consider how many grocery stores, small and large, occupy every neighborhood, in every city in North America. Once or twice a week (sometimes even more often), these stores receive their grocery orders. Approxmately 80% of what they receive will be packed in cardboard boxes, which will be emptied, usually flattened out, then placed in large garbage bins to await hauling to the dump. In case you weren't aware of it, most companies that supply those large dumpsters, charge for each time that the bin is emptied. The rates may vary from one location to the next, but I can assure you, it is often costly enough that many store owners will be quite happy to have you remove a load or two for them, whenever you are able. Like always, talk to the individual merchant before removing anything from their property, and once you receive permission to do so, treat that merchant in a polite and conscientious manner. That way, you will not only obtain a good supply of great bedding, but you might even make a new friend.
One last point concerning this availability issue. Very often, the larger grocery (or department) stores in the various metropolitan areas will produce enough of this waste material that a recycling company will already be contracting to handle their waste for them. For that reason, --though it certainly can't hurt to check things out-- it may save you some time if you approach only the smaller corner-store type operations. Besides, if you are running anything short of a commercial operation, just one or two smaller locations will probably be sufficient to provide you with all the bedding material you require.
With all that said, there is very little to be added on the consistency side of the matter. Basically, cardboard is cardboard, and except for a few related issues which we will deal with further on, the simple fact of the matter is, if you start your worms in cardboard, and continue to use cardboard as their bedding material, there is very little chance that your worm population should have anything to complain about.
In a manner of speaking, yes.
(Who the heck is that?) I realize that using any waste material for worm bedding, rather than sending it off to the landfill, is an environmentally-friendly act (which is why I haven't included it among the earlier lists of advantages), but using cardboard in this particular manner has at least one added benefit.Oh...do tell!You see, even though there are many substances that can be diverted from the landfill for use as worm bedding, very few of those materials take up as much space at the landfill (in relation to their total weight) as cardboard does. Cardboard boxes, for instance, are not always flattened out before being disposed of, and crumpled cartons tend to use up a lot of unnecessary space. If the boxes are flattened out prior to burial, they can still present another problem. Under tremendous pressure, and protected from the elements by a multiple layering effect, this cardboard can take an awful long time to decompose, thus causing the landfill to reach its capacity much faster than it normally would, if used only for rapidly-decaying materials. So you see, if we use 50 pounds of cardboard for worm bedding, as opposed to 50 pounds of green waste (for example), we save a lot more in the sense of available disposal space, and that (
you curious little rat), is what I mean by environmentally-friendly.What this means of course, is that with many substances --such as newsprint or machine-shredded paper--, a feed source apart from the bedding material is required for happy, healthy worms. There are exceptions to this rule, however, and cardboard is one of the most notable among them. Not only can cardboard serve as an excellent bedding material, but if you are so inclined, you can have it pull double-duty, serving also as the only feed source in the bin. It has even been said by various worm experts that worms raised strictly in cardboard will be larger, healthier, and more prolific (sex-crazed ) than worms raised in any other material. There are a few explanations for these opinions, and also one or two qualifications which should be kept in mind.
First of all, why should cardboard make a good feed? Because of the cellulose (a complex carbohydrate derived from plant fibre) it contains, as well as the glue (usually made from animal by-products) that is used to bind the various layers together. In combination, these substances provide the worm with just about everything it requires to grow up big and healthy. If there is anything lacking in this particular bedding/feed, it is the additional protein necessary for giving the worm a firm, resilient body, something desirable to anyone raising worms as fishing bait, even though the worm itself may consider it to be an optional trait. (This deficiency is easily rectified by a weekly supplement of commercial feed.)
The main qualification that must be taken into account is the condition of the cardboard in relation to its availability as feed. When pulverized, this material is pretty much ready for instant ingestion by the worms, and conversion of the bedding into castings can be expected to occur in as little as 6-8 weeks. This is, of course, assuming the presence of an average worm population, which for the sake of argument can be approximated at 2 pounds of worms per cubic foot of bedding. If, on the other hand, the cardboard is not pulverized, but simply shredded or crumpled, it will take a considerably longer time before decomposition progresses to the point where the worms can use the bedding material as feed. In that situation, a secondary food source will be required until such time as the cardboard reaches a suitable state.
First, it must be understood, cost is not always determined by an actual expenditure of cash. Time is also a valuable commodity, as is work, and unless you happen to be in a very fortunate situation, the conversion of raw cardboard boxes into suitable worm bedding can involve a considerable outlay of both. You see, the waste material is definitely available, but simply crushing the boxes and wetting them down is a very crude technique that is seldom satisfactory in the long run. This means you must either pulverize the cardboard, or at the very least, reduce it in size quite drastically.
There are two, possibly three main problems encountered when the boxes are merely crushed and moistened as a means of preparation.
Now, as I've already said, pulverization works the best, but unless you happen to own a hammermill, or at least have access to one, you are not likely to encounter a great amount of cardboard in the form of dust (other than the unsafe material prepared as insulation.) The idea of purchasing a hammermill specifically for "bedding preparation" is more than a little silly considering the cost, and even renting the use of this type of equipment from time to time can get expensive. (If you should obtain the use of such a piece of equipment, remember to wear a face mask to prevent the accidental inhalation of the airborne particles.)
So in the end, though I consider waste cardboard to be the finest bedding substance available for indoor worm composters, the problems involved in obtaining it in a suitable form, or the effort required to convert the raw material to the necessary condition by hand, makes this substance suitable only for the smallest of operations. That is, unless you happen to be one of the fortunate few who just happen to find yourself in a very rare situation. In that case, congratulations, you lead a truly blessed life.