Mary Murphy, a Rhodes PhD student in Environmental Education, recently published a book entitled Beginner’s Guide to Earthworm Farming: Simple Ideas for a Sustainable World that has grabbed the imagination of environmentally-minded people and by all accounts been extremely popular.
It seems earthworms are the latest word on saving the environment, and they are good business to boot. There are even worms at the Mount Nelson. The famous Pink Lady disposes of its waste via an on-site worm farm and has also played host to over a hundred talks on the subject.
Other high-profile sites include Spier Wine Estate, Mala Mala Game Lodge, the Royal Livingstone at Victoria Falls and the Woolworths Test Kitchen in Cape Town, but worm farms have also been established at hospitals, schools, restaurants, universities and informal settlements.
Labelled alternatively as an Eco-Warrior and an Eco-preneur, Murphy has struck a good balance between being a committed environmental activist, an educator and a businesswoman. She is the co-founder, managing director and owner of FullCycle, an eco-business in Noordhoek, Cape Town that is owned and managed by women.
FullCycle subscribes to the belief that sustainability is “the primary moral and economic imperative”, as described by the King Report on Governance for South Africa 2009 (King III), and the organisation has nine aims in keeping with this call for sustainable governance.
While at first glance the book might seem to have a very narrow focus, it in fact addresses much broader issues of recycling and the environment. The content covers aspects such as: how earthworms benefit the environment, your garden and the economy; how you can set up your own earthworm farm or compost heap; how waste negatively impacts the environment; how to recycle effectively.
Murphy’s commitment as an educator is underscored by the large number of children that have participated in FullCycle’s curriculum-based schools programme and the numerous training sessions the organisation has conducted. Supervised by Prof Heila Lotz-Sisitka, she has provisionally entitled her PhD thesis, Making a story work for environmental education.
Beginner’s Guide to Earthworm Farming has been published by Penguin Books and is available through all major bookstores nationally and via Kalahari.net.