Worm Factory Review and GIVEAWAY!

One of the best home management decisions I've made in the last five years by far has been my acquisition of a Worm Factory composter. I absolutely LOVE my Worm Factory. This week, thanks to the generosity of Nature's Footprint Inc (the makers of the Worm Factory) I get to help them give one Worm Factory 360 away to one of my blog readers for FREE! We all know that I am a fan of free. They have also generously offered Carissa's Creativity Space readers I discount for the next 2 weeks in case you didn't win. Read on, friends!

So why do I love my worm factory so much?
Really, I could go on an on about how much I dig the Worm Factory as a composting and waste reduction solution but here are some highlights of why I'm loving mine:

• It doesn't stink - I keep mine in my pantry and if you were to visit my house, you would never know it's there unless I told you.
• It's small. The footprint is only 18 x 18 inches - making it easy to keep in your pantry, under your sink, or other small space.
• No need to sort out the worms! After initial set up, you'll never have to touch the worms again (unless, of course, you want to) because they've left behind their compost and moved into a higher tray.
• Free compost for my garden and houseplants.
• It's low maintenance: your worms will self-regulate their population based on how often you feed them.
• Because it's small, the trays are small - and that means even when they are full they won't be heavy.
• I can feed them my sensitive documents along with the food scraps - and they are securely destroyed.

How does It work?
If the idea of composting with worms (also known as vermicomposting) is new to you, basically you can feed your worms anything that was once living like fruit, veggies, paper, etc. The only things you do NOT want to feed them are meat, dairy, citrus and onions. Citrus is bad for them and while they CAN eat meat, dairy and onions, you don't want to be around to smell it while they do. Keep your worms happy by feeding them every so often and in just a couple months they will churn out a tray of awesome compost you can use to fertilize your plants. You don't need to stress about how often or how much you feed them because they will self regulate their population based on how much food they have. Mix in some shredded paper (a great way to destroy sensitive documents for good) and you've got happy self-regulated worms.

If you're interested in more info on how it works, you might want to check out this video. It's about three minutes long and it talks about the composting basics and how the Worm Factory is way cooler than a lot of standard methods:

Things I know you're wondering...
These are things I'm frequently asked about my Worm Factory. If you have any other questions, throw them in the comments with your e-mail address and I'll do my best to get back to you.

Does it really not stink?
It really doesn't stink. In fact, my husband was super resistant to us getting a Worm Factory because he was convinced it would smell bad. So I went out and bought it and set it up in my pantry. And told him about it a week later. He had no idea...because he couldn't smell it. In the last two years, mine has only started to smell once and it's because I fed the worms some garlic (I do not recommend doing this) and it smelled a little funky til the worms finished eating it. Other than that isolated incident that was totally my own fault? Totally funk free.

What if I don't have a huge garden for my compost?
If you live in a small space like we do, you might not be able to use all the compost your worms make if you feed them heavily. At the rate we feed the worms, it takes them a few months to make a full tray of compost and I don't feel overwhelmed by the output. If you were to ever find yourself with excess compost, you could easily give it away to a gardening friend or even sell it on Craigslist for a few bucks. Worm poop is a hot gardening commodity.

How much food can the worms eat?
As a general rule, worms will eat about half their body weight in food a day. So if you start with one pound of worms, they will eat about 1/2 pound of food a day. As you feed them more, though, the population will increase and they will self-regulate to how much food you feed them

Giveaway Time!
So I know you guys are totally chomping at the bit to get your hands on your own Worm Factory so let's cut to the chase. The winner will get a brand new Worm Factory 360 courtesy of Nature's Footprint. It includes a DVD, instruction book, tools, and everything you need to get started minus the worms (if you need help finding local worms, we can help with that!).

**Here's How to Enter**

(AKA the required entry method)
Step 1: "Like" the Worm Factory on Facebook
Step 2: Come back here and leave a comment telling me you're their newest fan.
(make sure to include your name as it appears on facebook [for verification] and your e-mail address so we can contact you if you win. If you do not leave your e-mail I will make every effort to contact you but I'd hate for you to miss out on your prize because I couldn't reach you)

Get Bonus Entries

You can also earn bonus entries for doing any or all of the following. After you do each one, leave a separate comment letting me know which thing you did to earn your bonus entry. Don't forget your e-mail so I have a way to contact the lucky winner!

• TWEET about this contest on Twitter with a link back to this blogpost. Write your own text or just copy mine. Suggested text might look like:
  Enter to win a @WormFactory in the giveaway from Carissa's Creativity Space (@Carissa_Marie). #Giveaway open til 04/25 http://ow.ly/4BUbA
  
• FOLLOW @Worm Factory on Twitter
  
• POST about this giveaway on facebook with a link back to this post.
  
• BLOG about this giveaway with a link back to this post. (include permalink to your post in the comments)
  
• SUBSCRIBE to Carissa's Creativity Space via e-mail or with Feedburner (or let me know if you already do)
• FOLLOW ME @Carissa_Marie on Twitter

ALSO: Exclusive discount for blog readers!
Don't want to wait for the contest to end to get your own Worm Factory 360? Just want to buy it now and have it show up on your doorstep? Celebrate Earth Day by making a step in a sustainable direction. Nature's Footprint is offering Creativity Space readers an exclusive discount.  If you're interested in purchasing your own Worm Factory 360, Original Worm Factory, or UrBin Grower, (or really anything that's available on the Nature's Footprint website) head over to the site to place your order.  Use coupon code "carissa" to get a 10% discount. Discount code will be good from April 15-29, 2011...so you can even wait to see if you're a winner first before purchasing if you'd like.


Other Contest Details and Small Print

• Entries can be received until 11:59pm Pacific Time on April 25, 2011.
• Contest is for those able to have their Worm Factory 360 shipped to an address in the United States.
• Nature's Footprint must gain at least 50 new facebook fans during contest period in order for giveaway to happen.
• Winner will be chosen using the random number generator at random.org.
• Winner will have 72 hours to respond after being contacted via e-mail in order to claim prize. If initial winner does not respond, an alternate winner will be chosen.
• I have no official affiliation with Nature's Footprint and have not been compensated for sharing my honest thoughts about their product. My enthusiasm and love for my Worm Factory is genuine and based on two years of experience as an exceptionally satisfied Worm Factory owner.
• Worm Factory 360 and discount for Carissa's Creativity Space readers generously provided by Nature's Footprint.