Vermicomposting a Puzzle

I am in the process of emptying the large (four square feet) balcony vermicomposter into the small (one square foot) vermicomposter to free up space on the balcony. And I learn something new every day.

My activities in SUFE are well known in this building. In consequence I often find a pile of laundered clothes outside my door, a couple of kitchen appliances and, last year, some jigsaw puzzles.

Now Jigsaw Puzzles just can’t be passed on outside the family. In the first place few people do puzzles, but mainly, few people are reluctant to embark on a puzzle that might have a single piece missing, and “Why is it being thrown out?”

My mission is to find a Second Use For Everything and so I decide that the cardboard box should be soaked before being tossed into the vermicomposter along with the thousands of one-inch square pieces of puzzle.

Imagine my surprise this morning to find that while the cardboard box is gone, devoured by bacteria who are in turn devoured by worms, the thousands of one-inch square pieces of puzzle remain intact. Because today they are made out of plastic foam, only filmed with paper!

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