If you’re not in construction, shipping, real estate, or law, you probably don’t read the Daily Journal of Commerce, the newspaper that publishes most of our area’s construction bids, legal notices, foreclosures, court proceedings, and shipping news. Despite its small news staff it occasionally scoops the Oregonian and the local television stations.
Today’s news item isn’t a scoop, but it fascinated me. It describes a company, Ecconet, Inc., that makes the Worm-a-Roo. (I do not make this stuff up.) The Worm-a-Roo is a composting bin that uses “vermiprocess” to break down organic materials and paper waste into fertilizer. “Vermiprocess” means that vermiforms — worms — eat the stuff, digest it, and excrete it.
The company’s owner discovered a few years ago that worms could thrive on asbestos, and could digest it and break the asbestos fibers down into safe particles not covered by federal regulations.
Now, if someone could find a worm that could break federal regulations down into smaller, safer bits . . .