Not too long ago I wrote about Mark Paine’s “Vernmenting” method, and mentioned that one of the things that really caught my attention was his ingenious approach for making air vents with plastic bottle tops.
Last week, armed with a few plastic bottles I had managed to round up, I decided to create a new worm bin using a bucket with these vents in it (watch the video above to learn all about that).
As is often the case with DIY projects, my workmanship was pretty shoddy – lol – but I know my vents will get better and better over time (and be easier/faster to make).
I feel like this could be a potential “game changer” for home worm bins (and for creating worm food mixes) since flying pest invasion can be such a common hassle – sadly leading many people to stop vermicomposting – with more typical ventilation approaches. If installed properly, the bottle top vents should let plenty of air in while keeping flying pests out!
I’m not as convinced my fabric lid (held in place with an elastic) is quite as secure – but for this particular bin I’m not all that worried.
Can’t wait to start adding these vents to more systems – and I’m already starting to tweak my vent-creation approach a bit. Will be sure to post a short update video fairly soon.
😎
If you want to learn more about “living materials” be sure to check out my recent Living Material video and/or the Living Material Guide
Here is a link to Mark’s video featuring how he makes the vents (may be other ones – but this is one I learned about them from):
Vernmenting Bin Update
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** LATER UPDATES FOR THIS ORIGINAL BUCKET SYSTEM **
Breathable Bucket Bin – 10-31-19
Breathable Bucket Bin #1 – Update (Dec 6th)
Great Idea about the bottle cap vents that would be a good way to keep the unwanted insects out .
I am a little partial to the plastic totes as worm bins and I also believe the buckets would be to restrictive for the worms. as I have noticed over the years that the red wiggler worms love to be able to migrate and a tote bin allows for that with the available surface area. I have had little to no issues at all with the worms trying to get out as long as there is a couple of inches of moist shredded newspaper in the bin. I will be watching to see how your bucket bins work out, if nothing else they would make a great temporary home for those who have outdoor worm bins wanting to move their herds indoors in the winter months.