As the youth of Turkey who wants a green and sustainable future, we have asked ourselves what the biggest environment related problem we have around us at our school. We have come to conclusion that the rapidly increasing number of wastes and landfills is the answer. Together with other friends of mine, we have searched for an answer on how to reduce wastes and we have found the answer in vermicomposting.
Vermicomposting, in short, is the process of using earth worms to get rid of organic wastes while, in the process, producing vermicast (organic fertilizer) and vermicompost tea (liquid organic fertilizer).
 
Before we started to act, we made some research on waste controlling, recycling and fertilizer costs in our district. First we searched the recycling systems in our country for the project. According to the information which the Ministry of Environment and the municipalities published, we learnt that only 1.1% of the organic waste could be composted. In the highly populated cities, like Istanbul we live in, the organic waste is stored in landfills and there isn?t any effort to recycle them, at all. We later researched the amount of wastes in our city. In Kartal (the district we live in) for example, collected a total amount of 75985.31 tons wastes from January to June in 2012. Also we learned that the amount of daily total waste collected by Kartal Municipality is 422, 14 tons which includes 194, 39 tons of the organic waste. Lastly, we found out that the annual fertilizer expense of the Kartal municipality is 126.455 Turkish Liras (53.299 Euros). Our research gave us a clear understanding of what could happen if we were to apply this project of ours in our region. With this project, we not only could reduce the amount of organic wastes in the landfills, but we also could contribute to the economy of the country by producing high-quality organic fertilizers. And so we started our project.
 
With the help of our biology teacher we have made an action plan for our project. Essentially, we had two goals: to inform the public about vermicomposting and its uses, and to spread the usage of vermicomposting around our district. We, at first, started vermicomposting at our homes and school. Throughout our project, we made presentations in 5 schools, and they started this project in their school as well. We made an official contract with the Kartal Municipality and Maltepe Municipality that have 800,000 inhabitants in total. With these contracts municipalities agreed on to inform the locals within their reach about vermicomposting. For example, they made presentations in local schools about vermicomposting. By the end of February 2014, they will have informed more than 142 schools about vermicomposting. Also, according to the agreement we have with Şişli Science Center, on a yearly basis, 50.000 students that visits there will be informed about vermicomposting. Last but not least, we made a questionnaire in the most crowded organic bazaar of our city about the recycling of organic wastes and vermicomposting. After, informing them about our project, they said that they would also like to start vermicomposting at their home. Later on, we got really good feedbacks from them.
Our team, has been doing this project for 2 years now, and we are still spreading the word to anyone we can reach. We believe vermicomposting is a very efficient subject if we want a green and sustainable future. That?s why I encourage all of you who is reading this article to start vermicomposting. Spread the word and TURN YOUR WASTES INTO PLANTS!