Our Auckland based Harbour Grounds customers have recently welcomed some new neighbours – earthworms!

As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainable practices within Harbour Grounds, we have installed 4 new compost bins within 22 Viaduct Harbour Ave in partnership with Hungry Bin, a New Zealand based supplier of state-of-the-art compost bins that aims to change the way we think about organic waste and what to do with it. What might look like a normal refuse bin at first glance is in fact home to 15,000 – 20,000 special composting worms!

If you are not well versed in vermiculture (worm farming), a worm farm is a safe, clean, and convenient way to convert food waste into something useful. In a commercial environment such as Harbour Grounds, hundreds of kilos of compostable organics – food scraps, leftover catering, coffee grounds, eggshells – the list goes on – are generated over the course of a week. Worm farms are means of converting this waste into a fantastic natural, organic fertiliser and plant food, instead of  ending up in landfill.

“Sending organic waste to the landfill is not sustainable,” says Ben Bell, inventor of the Hungry Bin compost system. “It is expensive to collect and transport and once at the landfill it produces harmful greenhouse gases and the nutrients it contains cannot be returned to the environment.”

Amazingly, compost worms can break down up to 2 kilos of food waste a day into compost. By composting organic waste on-site, we are helping to reduce handling and transport costs associated with moving landfill, as well as helping prevent valuable nutrients from being lost. The fertiliser the worms produce is also rich in nutrients and can help improve the calibre of soil and it’s ability to produce healthier plants.

The introduction of worm farms into our portfolio is a great addition to the diverse range of ESG initiatives we have in place at Harbour Grounds. Every small step counts in our journey towards being a market leader in the ESG space.

Ben Twigden, Asset Manager - NZ