W WIGGLERS
The Worm Lady
TAYLOR LYONS VAUGHAN RETHINKS RECYCLING IN ACADIANA Story by Catherine Schoeffler Comeaux • Photos by Paul Kieu
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ith dirt beneath her fingernails and a big smile on her face, Taylor Lyons Vaughan recently welcomed me to her suburban worm farm in Lafayette—where we talked about recycling, worm poop, and the stress-relieving properties of soil. She is the “worm lady” of Worm Lady Recycles (WLR), her small home-based business where she tends to her collective of composting worms that recycle paper, food, and yard waste into valuable nutrient-rich castings, the vermiculturist’s word for worm poop. In 2018, while on maternity leave from studying Speech and Language Pathology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, a series of inner nudges led Lyons Vaughan to investigate worm farming as a business opportunity. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, she felt inclined to start a business that would allow her to be close to home with her three small children. After reading an article noting the challenges to area recycling systems, she came across the story of a successful worm farmer in India. This farmer, also a mother (but with twelve children), inspired Lyons Vaughan to see her own suburban backyard in a new light—as an opportunity to establish a greener method of recycling in her community, while producing soil-enriching nutrients in the process. Unlike the local municipal recycling system—which sends recyclables to a sorting facility near Baton Rouge— WLR recycling stays local. WLR has several paper collection points in the area, including one in her front yard, where neighbors regularly bring brown papers (thin cardboard, toilet paper rolls, egg cartons). She shreds the paper in a wood-chipper and uses it for bedding material that will eventually be consumed by the worms. To this, she adds bagged leaves collected from neighbors and friends. Lyons Vaughn uses mostly European Red Wigglers that, in addition to recycling paper and yard waste, can process fifty to sixty pounds of food waste per week. She feeds them with waste fruits and vegetables generated by local grocery stores, as well as her own household food waste. To ensure the health of her worm farm and due to size constraints, she does not accept food waste from the public. The magic happens in the worm shed, a small portable building just beyond two trampolines and a zip line, where Lyons Vaughn laid chopped bell peppers and cantaloupe in shallow beds arranged in multi-levels. It was a cold breezy day when I visited; the insulated shed offered a cozy haven in which to learn more about the business. Lyons Vaughn explained that she raises most of her worms indoors to control for moisture, temperature, and potential theft by songbird. Raking her fingers gently through the beds, she smiled and asked, “Can you hear them?” We stood quietly for a moment in the shed, and indeed I could
