The Learning Worm

At The Learning Worm (www.thelearningworm.com), we are committed to providing support for educators and learners to assist in widening their awareness about sustainable development: through empowerment they will develop their knowledge, skills, values and understanding so as to participate in decisions about the way we all do things individually and collectively, both locally and globally, so as to improve the quality of life now without damaging the planet for the future. They become the solution to the world’s challenges, rather than part of the problem. 

As Nelson Mandela said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

We offer this support through two inter-related services:

• The provision of a wormery (using raw materials with accreditation to Fair Trade, FSC wood, and sourced from European woods from well managed and sustainable forests) so pupils can gain first hand knowledge of the benefits of recycling school waste. Not only will they marvel at the ability of worms to assist in the decomposition of playground, staff room and classroom waste, they  will also be able to use the bi-product – wormcast – to grow their own plants, using natural compost.
• A variety on online based lesson resources to assist in widening/deepening an appreciation of sustainable development, to be used in class, with an emphasis on placing the activity in the context of the local and global environment. In an already tightly packed curriculum, many of the lesson activities are cross curricular, thereby offering value not only in sustainable development, but also across the mainstream academic timetable.

Where does this all fit in? Read the following, and also click on the pages covering facts on waste, waste targets, and the position according to the DfES, Eco Schools, etc:

How You And Your School Can Help:
With nearly 34,000 schools in the UK, schools have a vital role to play in contributing to the solutions to our national waste problem. Not only is there an important role in the education of tomorrow's consumers and decision makers, but schools can also make significant cost savings, turning waste into a resource and taking action to put the three R's - reduce, re-use, recycle - into practice. Currently most schools spend between £300 and £1000 on waste disposal each year depending on their size and produce a minimum of one tonne of waste per term. If every school implemented just one measure to reduce waste, imagine the difference this would make!

By 2020, the Government would like all schools to be models of sustainable procurement, using goods and services of high environmental and ethical standards from local sources where practicable, and increasing value for money by reusing, repairing and recycling as many goods as possible. We can support this effort at www.thelearningworm.com.

Who We Are:
We are involved in education in primary and secondary schools, in North Wales. We also run a worm breeding business. We look after the breeding and fattening side. Once the worms reach maturity, they’re delivered to commercial landfills where they begin their vital role of munching through tonnes of rubbish. The treatment of wastes using worms is commonly known as vermicomposting.