Neal, 26 April 2006
Vermi Towers
A modern new community development with accommodation for 6000-8000 in a highly sort after location and enjoying views across the Cornbury Park Estate (when the roof is removed). As part of this community you'll have full access to 6 cubic feet (feet, hmm, tricky to explain...) of living space on three levels with a basement swimming pool for the adventurous. You'll be able to work from home 24hrs a day, although broadband access is not provided (the neighbours frown on internet worms). Regular meals are provided, with favourite dishes including: Rice and bread supreme topped with shredded toilet roll, accompanied by seasonal vegetable scraps, followed by banana surprise and as much caffeine as you can handle. Viewing recommended.
Not content with carbon-offsetting our journeys to work and recycling our non-organic waste, Torchbox opened a Can-O-Worms when we started recycling our organic waste using wormery. It arrived two months ago, along with 1000 of the first inhabitants in a jiffy bag. The wormery itself is made from recycled plastic and even the cardboard packaging was used as a base for the worms' first bedding. A clever system of trays means that compost is produced in the lower tray, with the worms living in the middle tray and working in the top tray. As the bottom tray becomes full it's harvested and the trays are rotated so it becomes the new empty top tray ready to receive the bounty the good burghers of Torchbox bestow on it. Liquid fertilizer collects underneath the lower tray and can be drained off from a tap.
So far our worms have worked up to two trays worth of waste and we'll soon need to add the third tray. In a few months we should have our first harvest of organic compost and start the cycle of tray rotation. Most of our food waste, including coffee grinds and tea bags, is going in the wormery but we avoid things like citrus fruits and onions as worms don't like acidic conditions.
They might not be as glamorous as aquarium fish, nor likely to encourage us to take them for a walk or run as much as Stanley the office dog does, but they're a welcome addition to the work force.
Green-fingered visitors to the office may be able to take away a bag of Torchbox's finest organic compost. Not your usual Techie freebie!
