Reuse A Styrofoam Cooler To Enrich Your Garden Soil

Styrofoam can be a tricky material for those of an eco-friendly mindset hoping to reduce their own footprint on this planet by reducing, reusing, and recycling anything that comes their way. Not only is Styrofoam generally not recyclable, meaning it must be disposed into a landfill, but it's also hard to find a use around the home for a material that breaks down and crumbles pretty easily. Thankfully, there's one hack that turns an empty Styrofoam box into something that actually enriches your garden: an old Styrofoam cooler is the perfect container for a worm compost bin. 

Composting is an easy way to make your home more eco-friendly, because you can use leftover food scraps to add nutrients to your garden soil: a win-win solution. And Styrofoam containers are great for this process. For one, the material is a great insulator, so your compost worms will be kept at a nice temperature even if the weather takes a turn. It's also easy to poke holes in Styrofoam containers, so you can create good airflow for your compost container without needing extra tools like a drill. 

The steps of this project are quite simple and easy to do in just minutes.First, gather a large Styrofoam box — like the kind used as a cooler for shipping cold items — and drill holes in the lid so that air can easily flow in and out of it. Fill the box about halfway up with damp, shredded paper and your favorite pre-bought soil, mixing the two together. Add red wiggler or nightcrawler worms on top of the mixture and they will begin to spread through the moist concoction, making themselves at home. Once you've built this home for the worms, feed them food scraps by adding things like banana peels and coffee grounds to the top layer. Make sure that you keep the bin at a steady level of moisture: spray it with water if the top layer completely dries out, or add more dry paper if the bin is too wet and starting to smell. 

You should also brush up on research around what to be feeding worms for healthy garden compost. For starters, you cannot just place any leftover food in a compost bin, as things like dairy and meat will quickly start to stink. Most people who compost with worms like to feed their worms a mix of "greens" (leftover fruits and vegetables, for instance) and "browns" (things like sawdust or paper). Mixing up your worms' diet helps to ensure that you're getting robust compost that will be most effective for your garden.