Le Compostier Turns Waste Into Food With Urban Worm Hotels
Founder of urban composting collective Le Compostier Rowin Snijder is one of the presenters at Boiling Amsterdam on March 29th (tickets here!). We asked him some questions about this ideas.
Can you tell us something about Le Compostier?
“I design worm hotels, that double as urban furniture, to produce compost from organic waste in the city. Worm hotels can be used, for example, by local communities, restaurants, and schools, and they allow for a more circular system.”
Thursday’s Boiling Amsterdam is about ideas to turn Amsterdam’s dirtiest road into a green corridor — the so-called Knowledge Mile Park. What are you going to present?
“I will present a smart version of worm hotels. There will be a computer system that will collect a large amount of data about the organic waste. For example, how full a worm hotel is or how moist it is. This will give an overview of how each location is going and whether they need adjustments. In this way, we could also compare the performance of different worm hotels and assess which ones are going better than others and why. Making the worm hotels smart could also be interesting for students conducting research on the topic.”
How will Le Compostier contribute to making the city more sustainable?
“It will help in different ways. First, by reducing the production of waste. At the moment, in Amsterdam organic waste is not separated but rather collected with normal waste and later burnt. This is a pity because waste can be turned into food. Second, worm hotels could be used in bigger projects such as rooftop gardens, as well as for everyday life at home. Third, each worm hotel has a garden that immediately creates a green spot thus making the city greener. Last, this project can bring people together to collect waste and make compost. People who otherwise won’t speak to each other can all take part in a good project that is rich in life.”
Visit Boiling Amsterdam on Thursday 29th March to hear more about Le Compostier and other inspiring ideas, and vote for the best initiative! The winner goes home with the ticket revenues of the night. Buy your ticket here!
