Introduction

Below is our collaborative work-in-progress business plan to create a sustainable and cooperative green business in vermi-culture, a fancy word for allowing worms to eat trash and greenwaste and transform it into living vital healthy soil, something we all need. This document looks at how this project will generate income. It also explores other sustainable businesses that will grow out of it, each generating profits themselves.

 

To discover more about our internal organization, see the link: WEBGREEN and/or the page:

http://webgreenwiki.pbwiki.com/Webgreen-Organization

 

To see who's involved:

Missions and Bios

 

 

Proposal in-progress (on collaborative wiki sites)

This is a collaborative proposal by a small local group of experienced vermicomposters to start up a large-scale cooperative vermi-compost/recycling business. Our purpose is to create a lucrative business that supports local people's efforts to recycle and restore the aina simultaneously. From the waste we take in, we will provide worms and castings for general retail sale and also supply cooperative members' vermi-needs.

Membership in this cooperative is open for those who contribute organic resources to the centralized project and/or those who choose to grow worms at their own location.  Members will enjoy a variety of benefits from the cooperative effort, including use of the organic resources network; (matching worm growers with people in their area who have compostable resources), marketing and retail services outlet, educational services, start-up assistance, use of vermi-KISSES (Local trading units backed, in this case, by worms, castings, compost, etc...and exchangeable with other participating sustainable businesses.)

 

We have been vermicomposting on Kauai for several years and have experience designing, implementing and maintaining healty vermicomposting systems. We've attended conferences, studied, experimented and practiced. We've taken on young people to mentor in the fine art of vermicomposting, we continue to mentor young people, assisting as science fair and senior thesis research consultants.

 

 

This is an evolving co-operative community service project.

 

 

The organizational structure of the expansive cooperative model can be thought of as a seed of life pattern: interlocking circles, like cells. It may be helpful to imagine them as containers, each seperate but overlapping harmoniously with related containers, sharing resources wherever possible, helping each other locally.

 

 

Worms are leading the sustainable agriculture and zero-waste movements worldwide. A unique feature of this vermiculture business is that it greatly reduces the amount of trash that would otherwise be put in the landfill and turns it into a nutrient-rich, natural fertilizer and soil conditioner.

 

 

Kauai soils are in desperate need of such remediation; demand is high, need is higher.

 

 

The unique thing about this business plan is cooperative organization, intended to encourage as many people as possible to practice vermicomposting in order to 1) remediate soils and waterways everywhere and 2) eliminate landfill and sewage issues, 3) cooperate rather than compete for success, 4) encourage lucrative sustainable cooperative business models. Encouraging cooperation rather than competition in the vermi-industry, with an open books policy.

 

 

 

 NEED FOR PROJECT:

 

(here's one)

 

"Sea level rise alone will dramatically reshape our islands. University of Hawaii experts estimate a conservative one-meter rise would inundate much of the coastline, including our ports, many of our favorite beaches, all of Waikiki, Honolulu's reef runway, Hawaii's wastewater treatment facilities*, and many historic sites and populated areas up to a mile inland from the current shoreline."

*Time for better idea

 

 

http://starbulletin.com/2008/01/28/editorial/commentary.html

January 28, 2008

Gathering Place

Jeff Mikulina and Various Authors

Honolulu climate meeting could signal sea change in U.S. stand on global warming

On Wednesday and Thursday the Bush administration will host a "Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change" at the East-West Center in

Honolulu

. Present will be 16 countries that represent the world's largest greenhouse gas polluters.

 

If the United States finally drops its blinders and agrees to dramatic cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions, this meeting could be a defining moment in history. Or it could be another nonevent, or worse -- a cynical diversion. The United States has refused to join the rest of the world and the United Nations to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions and rising global temperatures. The Bush administration fiddles while the globe burns.

 

Concept

 

This venture will generate profits by: selling worms and arthropods, castings, compost tea, site-specific vermi-designs, education, consultation, and products related to the vermi-industry, such as worm bins, worm composting toilets, potting soil and start-up kits.

We will encourage autonomous vermi-groups to start and run related small businesses. These businesses, rather than competing, will support each other by encouraging more understanding in the community, customer demand, and innovation in the field. The community service branch of this cooperative will provide assistance and encouragement for local vermiculture.

 

We will encourage everyone to participate in the vermi-recycling effort in one way or another, either by doing independent worm recycling or contributing their compostibles to a community system such as this proposed project.

Participation promotes profits for all.

It also creates a more decentralized and therefore stable base, island-wide, of worms, arthropods, mycellium and all the related microorganisms invoved in restoring the soils and forests. Better than money in the bank, worm castings provide us what we need to be successful, growing food sustainably with local resources that are in excess--namely our trash and green waste. This directly enhances our ability as an island to feed ourselves. With worm castings and a little guidance, anyone can grow vital healthy food.

 

NOTES:::

This 32 square foot wormery can produce an eventual steady supply of 32 to 64 pounds of surplus worms every three months, plus also yield a ton of high-value plant fertilizer (worm "castings") quarterly. (Pure worm castings, sold in 1 cubic foot plastic bags, retail for $9.27 at Harmony Farm Supply catalog in Sebastopol, California. The wormery example described above produces 32 cubic feet of these castings every 90 days.) This 32 square foot wormery can produce an eventual steady supply of 32 to 64 pounds of surplus worms every three months, plus also yield a ton of high-value plant fertilizer (worm "castings") quarterly. (Pure worm castings, sold in 1 cubic foot plastic bags, retail for $9.27 at Harmony Farm Supply catalog in Sebastopol, California. The wormery example described above produces 32 cubic feet of these castings every 90 days.)

 

http://www.ecosyn.us/ecocity/Ecosyn/writings/growing_earthworms.htm

 

In addition, worm castings are known to actually clear and clean water such as in aquifers and make the soil more absorbant to fill the aquifers and protect reefs from siltation. The more people who use castings and vermicompost tea everywhere, the healthier the kai and aina will be.

 

 

 

Our customers: Retail customers, such as commercial growers, landscapers, nurseries, home gardeners, specialty growers, farmers, people with related businesses such as Jimmy Piretti, planting and restoration projects such as Regenerations, schools, hospitals, churches, etc.

 

Wholesale customers, such as coop members,

retail snd wholesale...assist other locations in starting up. Design services. Equipment. Chipping, shredding, selling chips and shredded cardboard. 

 

We will demonstrate to our local community the benefits of this type of recycling.

 

Worm castings are part of a cycle of compost that mimics a forest floor and sets up conditions for soil regeneration and reforestation. There are so many benefits of worm casting tea

 .

 

Our supply sources include: tree chippers, cardboard from businesses and individuals, shredded paper, newspaper, leaves, horse and chicken manure, vegetable scraps from restaurants, (fish scraps too when the piles become strong enough,) kitchen scraps, fruit trees, grass and garden trimmings, etc.

We will offer incentives in the form of (Vermi-shares, Vermi-bucks, WormKisses, L.E.T.S., by whatever name) for organic resources brought in.

 

 

 

 

Position in Industry: manufacturer, distributor, retailer, worm growers, service providers, educators, designers, grower, consultants, trainer, etc.

 

Storage requirements: Outdoor space for delivered resources, such as piles of mulch, cardboard, newspaper, shredded paper, leaves, manure, food scraps, garden trimmings.   Need a structure sheltered from too much rain and sun for the worm beds/bins.  Need a large structure to house tools and equipment, including tea maker.  Space to store harvested worm castings. Retail space. Delivery system. Equipment: Chipper, Shredder, Trailer. Tea-sprayer, solar electric golf cart to pull sprayer, truck, portable chipper/shredder for on-location and member useage, loaders, etc...

 

 

 

 

 

Management and organizational structure: The cooperative structure of this business allows for autonomous groups of vermi-members to interact and support each other's efforts to make a profit and regenerate the soil. This particular vermiteam will cooperate to design a large-scale vermicompost system which will supply the needs of several sustainable businesses as well as supply a large retail operation. This autonomous yet interrelated team will also design and kick-start the community-wide vermi-cooperative, initiate the non-profit educational and service-providing branch of the effort, build bridges with related projects and groups, add team members as needed, also oversee installation of the commercial system, do initial management work, establish mentors, do fundraising, education and outreach.

 

 

 

 

Facilities: Large area for worm beds/bins and receivables. Structure to house tools and equipment, and harvested worm castings. Source of water to spray worm beds and to wash equipment. Fencing to protect operations from hogs and chickens.

 

 

Equipment needed: Garden tools, worm casting tea maker and sprayer, fabric for covering worm beds, pickup truck, containers for storing castings and for sold worms and castings.

 

 

Labor: Feeding, harvesting and maintenence of systems, even with automation and equipment, will require regular on-going attention. Administration. Accounting. Systems design. Computer assistance to create networks and LETS systems, education, grant-writing, business planning, marketing and advertising, non-profit support services, public outreach, events organizing, PR, art, theatre and other cultural practices to uplift the cause of the lowly worm and celebrate its greatness...

 

 

 

:Financial Requirements:  Startup funding for equipment, salaries, marketing, accounting and business planning, systems research and design, ordering components, installation of systems, gathering resources, community outreach, building worm and arthropod populations,

 

 

 

 

 

:Advertising/Marketing/Selling:  community radio, public events, local magazines, school presentations, literature, CDs, ecogatherings, videos, YouTube, handouts, dancing worm puppets...

 

 

:Competition : We're encouraging cooperation rather than competition between the community and all worm growers, for profits as well as the ultimate benefit of the aina.

 

 

:Distribution system and delivery:

 

:Risks involved: Worms and worm castings are our only crop to start; therefore worms drowning from too much rain, beds ruined by hogs put us at risk economically. To offset this risk, we plan to design the beds in such a way that they are protected from these possibilities.

 

 

 

 See Related Wiki Sites:

 http://ahupuaawiki.pbwiki.com/

http://webgreenwiki.pbwiki.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Below is the (work-in-progress) collaborative Organic Resources Cooperative Plan.

ORC describes and includes the Vermiculture Cooperative, with an emphasis on its function as a community service, as well as other directions we plan to grow. It includes more elements than just the vermiculture project but may be thought of as a long-term goal. The Vermiculture Co-op functions as a community service for the first year in order to establish a community vermi-resource bank and begin educational programs for the community.

Year two will see the co-op branching into profit-generating green businesses.

 

 

 

ORGANIC RESOURCES COOPERATIVE

 

NEED FOR PROJECT:

 

The current reality on Kauai is that chemical and extractive farming methods of the past century have devastated the ecosystems of Kauai, including the forest, topsoil, riparian and reef ecosystems, making it almost impossible for us to sustain ourselves. As recently as 100 years ago, there were still healthy agricultural ecosystems here. The ahupua’a system has long sustained the people of Kauai. The system worked with the natural land divisions as decided by the flow of water. Each watershed was thought of as a pie-shaped area extending from mountain to sea including everything in it and all the people working together to keep both land and humans in balance and productive. Each ahupua’a was an intact self-sustaining system of diverse and integrated farming providing all the needs of the people who lived there. The people of that time had no problem sustaining themselves without the use of harmful chemicals, and by causing no harm to the land. They did it by sharing and trading among themselves from their gardens and their own watershed. The people were strong and healthy and 100% self-sufficient. The rivers and reefs were teeming with life. Fields, orchards and lo’i were abundant with food. This memory is still strong among kupuna and ohana of Kauai. It’s a memory that’s worthy of bringing forward into the future.

 

What has happened to us that we now import 90% of our food? Our people are laden with diseases such as diabetes, kidney failure and cancer. Our reefs are dying and our topsoil is virtually non-existant. Our forests and native species are almost gone. The replacement of diverse forests with mono-crop agriculture like sugar cane and pineapple was a lethal blow to many inter-dependent ecosystems.

 

The people also suffered in many ways; from a lack of diversity in their diet, from the disappearance of their medicine plants, and maybe most of all from the impact on their family and social lives when they became plantation workers working for a paycheck rather than farmers living and working on the same land ohana-style, raising their own food and cooperating with their neighbors.

 

The replacement of the ahupua’a system with irrigation ditches and diversions has been a lethal blow to the riparian ecosystems and thus our supply of fresh healthy fish, seaweed, crustaceans, and a host of other beneficial and edible species that come from the water. In fact, the ocean water itself was used medicinally to cleanse and the river water was not only drinkable but revered as the source that sustains life. Now drinking either one could make you really sick and it’s considered dangerous to even eat fish because of heavy metals.

 

Today chemical and extractive agribusiness has become the prevalent form of farming on this island. Kauai is now the GMO capital of the world. Some of us are deeply concerned about the direction we’re headed and what it means for the future generations—if there are any.

 

In the early 80’s organic farming was a little seed and only a few brave pioneers were attempting it on Kauai. Since then, interest has been growing and lately by leaps and bounds. In spite of the pressure of current trends (or maybe because of the problems caused by current trends) the resurgence of cooperative style local organic agriculture has blossomed. There have been courses and workshops attended by many enthusiastic farmers and gardeners. These are people interested because they care and have a passion to contribute positively to life, rather than just because they’re being paid.

 

Positive change continues. Look at Waipa; it has become a functioning ahupua’a with taro lo’i, community gardens, community center, poi pounding, etc. Many wonderful workshops and educational opportunities happen there including all aspects of sustainable and traditional culture. There is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom among the local kupuna that is more precious than gold. If we really want to become sustainable again, we will learn from them as soon as possible and while we still can.

 

As a result of many efforts (like Waipa) throughout the years, sometimes against all odds, the island is now home to many talented and knowledgeable organic farmers and restorationists of diverse ages and backgrounds. There is organic produce in at least half the local farmer’s markets. Perhaps even more valuable is the wealth of information and wisdom collectively held by this group of people. Together they could solve virtually all the environmental problems on this island, given the chance. Energy use, soil restoration, reforestation, ecosystem regeneration, trash and garbage recycling, re-use and composting, erosion control and prevention, weed control, water purification, bio-sewage management, toxic remediation, organic automotive fuel production, public transportation, rural design, open markets, ecovillage design, renewable and organic building materials, environmental building design, etc….the list goes on and on….each one of those items has someone on Kauai who is very knowledgeable and could help bring such intelligent non-harmful solutions into manifestation.

 

Towards that larger goal, this grant seeks to empower those knowledgeable people by helping them to form a network to help each other, and by providing start-up funds for as many people as possible who join the network and who also have projects that will contribute to our sustainability and ecosystem restoration.

 

This network is to be called Kauai Organic Resources Cooperative and has it's own eco-credit union. (KORC)

 

 

 

 

OBJECTIVES

 

Create a cooperative network (called the Organic Resources Co-op) consisting of farmers, conservation specialists, ecologists, or anyone who is interested, for the purpose of sharing organic resources and information, and in general to assist each other in the process of regenerating and restoring the health of the soil resulting in more quantity and quality of locally-grown produce available in our markets (sustainability).

 

Restore the integrity of the watershed’s ecosystem by 1) assisting people who are actively engaged in that process and 2) educating those who are not, so the whole community can be involved. All hands are needed.

 

To offer start-up funding for people’s restoration projects, and an on-going supportive network of other restoration ecologists.

 

Assist members of the network in getting their projects set up and producing the services or resources that directly pertain to soil regeneration, ecosystem restoration, reforestation, and sustainability. These are the resources that will be pooled and shared in the network.

 

 

Ensure that a diversity of farmers and actively engaged conservationists with diverse projects and techniques have the organic resources, support, information, time and money, to restore the soil to high productivity.

 

To empower members of the community to restore the soil wherever they are so they can contribute to the island’s sustainability. Each member of the co-op will have something to offer others in the co-op that will further the cause of soil restoration, reforestation, sustainability, and vitality.

 

 

To document and post the restoration of the ecosystem as it happens to educate and inform others.

 

Satisfying the need for farm workers’ housing we will support efforts to make a transition to a system of zoning and permitting that would not only allow for eco-village style community housing possibilities, but actually encourage it. As a united front, our voice will be stronger and change more possible.

Objective is to create an interactive wiki-site where members of the ORC will be able to post their opinions, needs and resources and connect with each other to get more needs met.

 

A good recipe to accomplish land restoration is for small groups of people to work together to care for small pieces of land. Clustered housing with ecologically-sensitive design is how we can accomplish both restoration and preservation of maximum open land. The ORC will collect and offer useful information about clustered housing and other issues pertaining to both conservation of open land and efficiency of collective farm life. In matters of policy change, we will act as a united group concerning creative clustered housing to meet everyone’s needs.

 

 

Each member of the ORC who receives start-up money will document the development and results of their project over the course of the first year to support the granting foundations need to know their money is well spent and effective at meeting our shared goal of sustainability.

 

To build sustainability literally from the ground up by supporting soil restoration and the needs of the people doing it.

 

To provide healthy vital food for the residents of Kauai by assuring that the soil the food is grown in is healthy and vital.

 

To make local quality food less expensive by making it easier to grow locally. Once the soil is vital, it should be less expensive to provide local food than to ship it from far away. In the long run this will create more healthy vital people with less expensive health problems.

 

Document the restoration of the ecosystem and make information easily available (website) so more people will help. Make sure info gets to schools and learning groups.

 

To encourage and support plans of each watershed’s ag community to create a grange hall for their own agricultural purposes.

 

Unite the two popular movements already functioning on this island; 1) the organic farming community and 2) the compassionate communication community. To empower projects that support both.

 

 

METHODS

 

The network (ORC) is a cooperative of organic farmers and conservationists who are agreeing to support each other by producing and trading organic resources, tools, labor, equipment and other elements important to meeting our shared objectives. The network will be connected through a common website with an interactive directory that includes an easy-to-use online economic trading system for all members of ORC. There will also be an advisory team that members of ORC will have access to. R & D, management and advisory councils will be paid with grant money. Grant money will also fund start-up costs of individual restoration projects designed to become self-sufficient in time. In time, the entire cooperative will be self-sufficient.

 

 

Soil restoration, reforestation and erosion control are all things that will contribute directly to the recovery of the reefs. Project consideration for funding will depend on the project’s foreseen contribution to the recovery of all riparian and reef habitat of Kauai.

 

 

A council of respected organic farmers and conservationists will be paid advisors and support for recipients of start-up funding. In order to expedite the distribution of funds into the hands of the people with appropriate projects, final decision making responsibility will lie with the 4-member team of grant-applicants. Final decisions will be made according to agreed-upon guidelines and will be made only after advisory team has had the opportunity to give input. Projects that do not have the enthusiastic support of the advisory team will be invited to work with the team to modify their proposal before final approval. The grant money will be distributed on two different occasions per year where people in the community present to the council their proposed projects that fulfill the qualifications of an organic resources project. Recipients of the grant start-up funding will be responsible to actively participate in the Organic Resource Cooperative according to agreed upon guidelines.

Members of the council will have some shared responsibility to follow up on the projects that they choose to fund to make sure they have what they need and they’re on track. If people need more support, an appeal will be posted on the e-network. People who help them will be paid in ORC trade units.(GIVE EXAMPLES HERE)

 

Members of the ORC will be able to trade with each other using a local exchange system, which has already been developed and is online and almost ready to be used locally and is already being used all over the world, known as Local, Exchange, Trading, Systems or LETS. This will allow food growers who are cash poor to get their needs met. By trading within the ORC, everyone’s cash will be more available to meet other needs. This will alleviate the sense of struggle of the farmers and replace it with abundance. A big advantage of this kind of economic trading network is the diversity of resources that becomes available because everyone offers their specialty and their excess. When people are free to focus on their specialty, what they do becomes better. They can do that because they have a network that enables them to get all of their needs met.

 

Create a variety of ways to disseminate valuable information, including a website with links, a directory for all the people in the network, some educational materials for young people in schools, and a hands-on experiential program for students to integrate with small farms and people doing restoration work. One long-term project would include reforestation summer camps for young people.

 

Generate income through grant funding to be distributed among members of the network, so they can get their sustainable projects functional. Once operational, these projects will become self-supportive. The requirement for people to be in the network is that they produce something that is beneficial to the objective of regeneration of the soil, reforestation, sustainability, and ecosystem restoration. The network will be designed so that everyone has support throughout their soil regeneration project. A)To make sure people get the funding they need for start-up funds for their projects we will: 1)fundraise for start-up programs, 2)Once funding is available, we will advertise on local community radio and newspapers to spread the word concerning the intention of this program and application process 3) offer a fair process for people to apply for funding, 4) allow more than one opportunity for people to offer their proposal so everyone has a chance to hear about it.

 

In an effort to improve government zoning codes, we will collect and post information, do research, and act as a united voice of the organic farmers as well as everyone who is interested in sustainability.

 

The ORC will support and promote clustered housing at every opportunity including collection and dissemination of relevant information to appropriate places.

 

The organic resources network will create a wikisite that will include a directory of members services, products and wants.

 

 

Other ORC programs include urban projects such as community gardens and educational programs, including students and physically challenged people, production of educational materials such as web sites, coloring books for children, informational booklets for organic gardeners, etc.

 

The projects of the members of ORC will naturally be diverse because of different interests and resources available to different people in different locations. These projects include composting, vermiculture, food production, seed collecting, mulch production, baby tree propagation, producing beneficial amendments, making heavy equipment available such as dump trucks for bringing resources to the grange hall.

 

 

Notes

from:

http://www.wormdigest.org/content/view/135/2/

Written by Administrator  

Sunday, 16 October 2005

Vermiculture Industry in Circular Economy

 

Li Kangmin

 

Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Freshwater Fisheries Research Center

 

Asian Pacific Regional Research & Training Center for Integrated Fish Farming

 

No. 9 Shanshui West Road Wuxi 214081 China

EXCERPT:

Status of the vermiculture industry

 

In the late 1970s, thousands of Americans were victimized by hucksters claiming that backyard worm breeders could easily gross over $14,000 a year by tapping the wrigglers' potential as bait, soil enrichers, and even food. Vermiculture collapsed at the end of 1970s. Up to the environment-friendly 90s, the feeding habits of earthworms which consume large amount of rotten food made them a viable waste-disposal alternative. The tiny creatures' ability to devour virtually any organic waste--livestock manure, rotten food, even ratty T-shirts--and excrete it as premium organic fertilizer (dubbed "black gold" by organic farmers for its nitrogen richness) is proving profitable for a host of non-squeamish entrepreneurs. Earthworms are the missing link that makes sustainable agriculture a reality. Vermiculture is booming thanks to environmentalism and the demand for organic foods. Vermiculture ventures in America, the biggest of which involve 50 million worms chewing down on almost 90 tons of waste per week, have boomed over the past few years. Nearly 300 large-scale vermi-culturalists formed the International Worm Growers Association in 1997 to help promote the trade. Many outfits are prospering thanks in part to the growing popularity of organic foods, which became a $6.5 billion-a-year business by 2000. With the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimating that 25 percent of Americans purchase organically grown foods at least once a week, organic farmers' demand for worm feces far outstrips supply.

 

 

 

Vermicycle Organics, which harvests worm droppings in high-tech greenhouses, produces 7.5 million pounds of a natural fertilizer a year. The company expects sales of the fertilizer to grow by 500 percent this year. Vermi-technology Unlimited has doubled its business every year since 1991, despite prices that can run twice as high as those of synthetic fertilizers. Vermi-technology founder Larry Martin predicts that "In 5 to 10 years, every commercial fertilizer company will be selling worm castings." With many local and state governments trying to divert waste from clogged landfills, forward-thinking cities are promoting "backyard vermin-composting." Traditional compost piles can take weeks to produce low-quality humus; a pound of worms, on the other hand, needs only 48 hours to convert a pound of waste into nutrient-rich castings.

In San Jose, California, where state law has mandated that the amount of garbage going to landfills be cut in half by the year 2000, about 1,200 residents used city-distributed discount vouchers to purchase garbage-eating worms from Chambers's Worm Farms. This small operation sells 4,000 pounds of worms a year--about 4 million of the critters--at around $20 per pound [2].

 

 

In the 1970s several species of earthworms were cultured in simulated natural ecological conditions in China, the same as in North America. On the one hand it met the market’s demand for aquaculture, livestock and animal husbandry as quality protein feeds with high performance-to-price ratio, and also the pharmaceutical industry’s demand for raw materials; on the other hand it was somewhat a profiteering activity as well. Especially after the Japanese premier presented the hybrid of red wiggler and local earthworm as a gift to China, it aroused a small boom in vermiculture in many places, but in a small and scattered scale with low technology, low unit yield (about 3 tons/mu/year), and competitive for land with crop planting. The direction of rearing earthworms fell wrongly on selling earthworm breeding stock to farmers for profit only, not for waste disposal on a large scale and selling earthworm feces and castings to improve the soil. In recent decades vermiculture has experienced ups and downs owing to the fluctuation of market requirements, narrow developmental concepts, and a lack of science and technology support or integrated development capability. In some places there is almost no vermiculture industry except scattered and sporadic farms.

 

Timeline:

 

Months 1, 2 and 3: 

• (The co-op includes 4 people at this beginning point.)
• Gather and grow resources as well as the worm population in the starter bed.
•  
• Write grant proposal and pursue other sources of funding. 
• Establish relations with those who have interest in and resources for vermiculture. 
• Work with Malama Kauai and begin the design for a large scale compost system. 
• Edit footage from the "earn and learn" program to create an informational video on how to make tea and castings.  Acquire truck for vermi-nursery. Secure an accountant.

 

 

 

Months 4 to 6:

• Acquire startup funding.
• Research and Design vermi-systems at RC. 
• Acquire solid waste permit (process?)
• Continue growing the worm population in zone one nursery and gather resources.
• Begin accepting compostable resources at RC. 
• Develop educational program and materials
• Begin community outreach
• Establish regular accounts to recieve greenwaste and compostibles
• add 2-4 more people to the vermi-team at volunteer level.
• Add computer wiz to team
• Continue grant writing.
• Work on KISSES program.
• Establish management team, counsels and advisors.
• Acquire bio-diesel truck and dump truck

 

 

 

 

 

 

Month 7 to 1 year: 

• Add in a computer person in order to build the network. 
• Advertise to encourage participation  in  vermi-co-op. 
• Establish accounts. 
• Take on 2-4 student summer interns for an earn and learn program. 
• Continue to grow worm population. 
• Offer vermi-designs to community and begin vermi-installations at schools, churches, private homes, gardens and farms.
• Continue to work with local education on vermiculture. 
• Publish informational pamphlets and have info on wiki sites available.
• Create video documentation of plants before and after vermi-love.
• Set up educational demonstrations and student science projects at RC to demonstrate vermi-power
• Begin to distribute vermi-kisses in exchange for vermi-compostibles.

 

 

 

Year 2:

• Begin retail sales of vermicastings, start-up kits and bins. 
• Continue educating the island with eductional  programs for schools and businesses. 
• Expand summer youth programs.
• Plan and hold a vermi-event. 
• Begin establishing related businesses.
• Expand design team and services.
• Continue research. 
• Begin weaving in the mission of ORC, adding members and activating eco-village design mission in co-operation with other related projects to create more sustainable lifestyles on this island.

 

 

Year 3-5: 

• Design and assist in setting up at least one large scale/neighborhood vermi-composting project in each ahupua'a. 
• Expand island education of vermi-composting. 
• Kisses program in operation.
• Continue growing sustainable businesses.
• Design team expands to include other permaculture design and systems instalations.

 

 

 

Year 6-10: 

• Worms and world peace everywhere! ;-). 
• Healthy soil island wide. 
• Clean oceans, even when it rains. 
• replenishing aquifers. 
• sewage is a thing of the past..
• everyone is worm composting! 
• zero waste celebrations.

 

 

BUDGET: 

month 1,2 and 3- january, februaruy , march 08:

one person 20-30 hours a week ~ $ 300 a week                                                                     $3600

volunteer - 3 volunteers - 2-6 hours a week                                                                                   

cardboard $30 a truck load, woodchips $75 - $100 a load                                                           1000

gasoline/travel                                                                                                                            400

video editor 

                                                                                                                                               500

worm nursery                                                                                                800

 

office expenses:

 

month 3 to 6- april, may, june 08:

one human 20-30 hours a week ~ $300 a week                                                             humans  x4  148,000

two more humans 20 hours a week

two - four volunteers 2-6 hours a week

set-up costs - system components and equipment purchases                                                        10,000?

gas-                                                                                                                                             500

office expenses-                                                                                                                           2000

cardboard $30 truck, woodchips $75 -$100 a load install                                                                1000

install land lines at worm nursery                                                                                                  2000

computer wiz salary                                                                                                                     3600

truck                                                                                                                                             8,000

dump truck                                                                                                                                  10,000

 insurance                                                                                                                                       1000

 

Please send any donor-directed donations to INCF:

Inter-Nation Cultural Foundation:

at P.O.Box 1271 Kilauea, HI. 96754.

If you are sending a check, please write "Vermiculture" or "Design Team" on the memo blank on your checks

Or throughout this pbwiki site you will see other specific projects you may choose to donate to,

You can specify or generalize any level of the overall effort as we are all working cooperatively.

Donor-directed non-profit is a beautiful thing as it offers choice to the donor as well as ensuring that the money really goes where you want it to.

 

If you have any questions about INCF, you may direct them to

holito@hawaiiantel.net or call 808 826-1617.

 

 

Tax-deductible donations and contributions may be made either directly to the (church) mission-based community service project:

U.D.B.O.S.S.

POB 2111

Kapaa HI 96745

808-635-2968