Vermicomposting: How worms can reduce our waste - Matthew Ross

蠕蟲分解：蠕蟲如何減少我們的垃圾 - 馬修·羅斯 (Matthew Ross)

譯者: Ning Zhang 審譯者: Geoff Chen

Think of all the food made in the world each year.

請設想一下全球每年 被生產出的所有的食物。

Hard to picture?

很難想像是不是？

Then, imagine that you are all of humanity,

那麼，請設想一下你就是所有人類，

and on a plate in front of you

在你面前的這可愛的一盤

is the one lovely annual meal you make for yourself.

是你犒賞自己這一年的大餐。

You did all sorts of work putting that meal on your table.

你竭盡所能地把這頓飯放到你的餐桌上。

You must be eager to consume the fruits of your labor.

你一定急於吃掉 用你勞動成果換來的成果。

And the vegetables

蔬菜

and meats

和肉

and waffles of your labor, too, right?

還有華福餅，對不對？

Well, oddly enough, a third of that meal

但是，奇怪的是，這頓飯的三分之一

ends up in the trash.

最後都倒進了垃圾桶。

A third of the food we eat globally,

我們全球三分之一的食物，

an estimated 1.3 billion tons

大約 13 億噸

ends up as waste.

最後都被當垃圾倒掉了。

All the work we put into producing that food is wasted.

所有我們生產那食物的工作也被浪費了。

And what's worse, it costs us.

更糟糕的是，我們為此還花了錢。

America alone spends an estimated

就美國一個國家而言，

165 billion dollars a year

每年就要花掉 1650 億美金

managing food waste.

處理食物垃圾。

We're wasting food,

我們在浪費食品、

energy,

能源，

and money.

和金錢。

Perhaps worst of all,

可能最糟糕的是，

we're wasting the chance to change,

我們還在浪費令食品消費系統

to make the system of food consumption more efficient.

更行之有效的機會。

If you want to bring on that change,

如果你想帶來變革，

you should know about a humble

你應該了解一位謙卑，但勤奮的

yet diligent and ever-so-crucial ally:

而且很關鍵的盟友：

the worm.

蠕蟲。

Worms convert organic waste

蠕蟲可以將有機垃圾

and other compostable products into natural fertilizers.

和其他堆肥產品轉化為天然肥料。

Up to 75% of what we put in the waste stream

我們丟進廢物中的高達 75% 的物質

can become food and bedding material

都能變成蠕蟲分解的

for vermicomposting.

食品和墊鋪材料。

You can create a worm bin in your own home

你可以在家裡做一個蠕蟲箱子

to see the composting process in action.

觀察蠕蟲分解的過程。

First off, you need worms

首先，你需要蠕蟲

and not your typical earthworms.

但不是典型的蚯蚓。

You need redworms,

你需要活吃蟲，

eisenia foetida,

學名是 eisenia foetida，

the species responsible for most

在北美

vermicomposting in North America.

大部份的蠕蟲分解都靠它。

These red wigglers are surface dwellers

這些紅色的蟲子就在表面活動

who don't burrow too deep,

它們不會鑽得特別深，

they're optimal feeders around room temperature,

它們最適宜室溫，

and they're well-suited to converting organic waste

它們很擅長將有機垃圾

into usable fertilizer.

轉化為有用的肥料。

Now, your worms might be vermin,

現在，雖然你的蟲子們屬於寄生蟲，

but they need a comfortable space to live and work:

但是牠們需要一個 舒適的空間來生活和工作：

some bedding materials,

牠們需要一些墊鋪材料，

either shredded paper or cardboard,

比如碎紙或者紙板，

some moisture,

一些濕度，

and, of course, food,

當然，還要有食物

mainly, your leftovers,

主要是你的食品垃圾，

slightly decomposed table scraps.

有點變質的殘羹剩飯。

The worms break down food waste

蠕蟲將食物垃圾

and other organic matter into castings,

和其他有機物質分解成排泄物，

a fancy synonym for worm poop.

也就是蠕蟲的大便。

Their excrement is absolutely teeming with microbes,

牠們的糞便充滿了微生物，

which continue the decomposition process,

這些微生物繼續分解的過程，

making all those once-wasted nutrients

令那些被一度浪費的營養物

available again as fertilizer.

再一次轉化成肥料。

The timeline for the whole process varies

這整個過程所需的時間

depending on the quantity of worms,

取決於蠕蟲的數量、

the temperature,

溫度，

and how much waste is added to the bin.

以及垃圾箱裡被添加了多少垃圾。

And there's another timeline to consider.

還有另一個時間可以考慮。

In a healthy worm-bin habitat,

在一個健康的蠕蟲箱的居住環境中，

worm reproduction will occur

當蠕蟲性發育成熟時，

when the wigglers become sexually mature,

牠們就會開始繁殖，

indicated by an elongation of the segments

蠕蟲的身體的一部分

into a bulbous structure.

會變腫大。

Three-month old wigglers can produce

三個月大的蠕蟲能夠每週生產

two to three semi-translucent yellow worm cocoons a week.

2-3 個半透明的黃色蠕蟲繭。

You thought only moths and butterflies

你以為只有蛾子和蝴蝶

come out of cocoons?

會蟲繭裡飛出來？

Well, we can't all be majestic.

我們可不總是都正確的。

It takes around 11 weeks for new babies to hatch.

大約需要 11 週的時間孵化出蠕蟲寶寶。

When your bin seems to be full of living vermicelli noodles,

當你的蠕蟲箱看起來 充滿了活的蠕蟲麵條時，

it's time to share the bounty with your friends

你就可以和你的朋友分享了，

and start a vermicompost club.

然後開始建立一個蠕蟲分解俱樂部了。

Or keep those worms to yourself

或者自己留下這些蠕蟲，

and start a business.

開始經營一項生意。

Vermicomposting isn't confined

蠕蟲分解不是只被限制在

only to small worm bins,

一個小的蠕蟲箱裡，

it's an emerging entrepreneurial enterprise.

這是一個新興的創業產業。

Large-scale facilities convert

大規模的設備可以將

bulk organic waste and even manure

大量的有機垃圾甚至是排泄物

into rich, black castings called black gold.

轉化成營養豐富的、黑色的物質，被稱為黑金。

Its value as a soil additive is unparalleled,

它作為泥土添加劑的價值無與倫比，

and it can help plants resist harmful pathogens.

同時它還可以幫植物抵抗有害的病菌。

The lack of available land in urban environments,

城市環境中缺乏可用的土地，

coupled with growing interest in smaller-scale farming

以及人們越來越多的 對小型農作物的種植興趣

means there is a market for vermicomposting.

為蠕蟲分解提供了一個市場。

Many communities use composting

許多社區把分解

as part of zero-waste strategies,

當作零垃圾策略的一部分，

and they can sell their worm-eaten table scraps

他們可以將蠕蟲可食的廚房垃圾

to local farms, hungry for rich fertilizer.

賣給當地那些急需營養肥料的農場。

So, instead of wasting money,

所以，無須再浪費金錢，

dumping wasted food in landfills,

無須把浪費的食物填埋，

we can remake waste into an asset,

我們可以變廢為寶，

putting it back into our food system

把垃圾投放回我們的食品系統

to make it more sustainable,

令其更有可持續性，

all with the help of the humble worm,

這些都要歸功於那些謙卑的蠕蟲，

the tiny organism that can help us

這小小的生物體能幫助我們

change the way we look at food's place in our lives

改變我們看待食物 在我們生活中的位置的看法

and our place in the world,

以及改變我們在世界的位置的看法，

as long as we give the little guy

只要我們給這些小傢伙們

在餐桌上留個位置。

a place at our table.

Well, not an actual seat at the table.

當然並不是餐桌上一個真正的位置。

A bin in the shed is fine.

一個垃圾桶就好了。