BUFFALO, N.Y. — You may have seen bins meant for composting, the process of recycling organic matter into fertilizer for soil and plants. But did you know worms can play a part in the process?

One local man is putting worms to the task of doing just that.

Myles Stubblefield has too many worms to name. He started with about 1,000 worms, buying them online and collecting them from his backyard. Now he has more than 100,000 pounds of worms. He puts the worms on his worm farm to work, tackling waste. 

“I was just at a point where I had a lot of waste coming from another commercial business that we were working with, and I wanted to know ways that we could really reduce that waste and have a better impact on the soil and the environment around us,” said Stubblefield.

He teamed up with his best friend John Tarrant to start his business Buffalo Worm Works. The process starts with food waste from local restaurants that partner with the company. The food scraps, cardboard boxes, and other compostable items are given to the worms to eat.

“Behind, they’re going to be leaving us that rich compost we’re looking to harvest a couple times a season here,” Stubblefield said.

It’s the worms’ poop that’s highly coveted. 

“The worms are basically turning that organic matter, be it food, long waste, different types of paper and carbon waste, they’re taking it through their tube system, breaking it down into these castings," said Stubblefield. "And what we’re finding in these castings is huge huge levels of microbial life.”

The worms are the natural pumpers of the good fertilizers, and he says good fertilizer goes a long way. For Stubblefield, worms are amazing organisms.

“Once we can tap into how to use their kind of composting power, I think we’re going to have a lot better solutions about the challenges we got coming up as far as sustainable energy, waste management resource recovery … things like that," he said. "The worms have the answer for us, so usually I’m just listening to what they have to say.”

John Tarrant started this journey because he had too many cardboard boxes piling up at home. Now, Buffalo Worm Works allows him to do his part in helping the environment.

“It’s a lot of waste that goes into the environment, a lot of people littering and a lot of people pretty much ruining the ozone layer and the environment, period, so it gives me a chance to help improve it,” said Tarrant, the Buffalo Worm Works COO.

The worm castings are growing in popularity. Buffalo Worm Works sells the castings in smaller bags for regular gardeners and more.

“We’re seeing a lot more agriculture farmers and growers, who are asking for very large amounts of castings," said Stubblefield. "As you can see, we’re actually filling one of our first orders here for a ton, essentially it’s going to come out to be about 2,200 pounds of our castings.”

Myles says if your goal is to be healthy, you need healthy soil.

Every spring Erie County offers a sale on compost bins and rain barrels. The county buys in bulk and offers reduced prices.

Erie County's Chief Environmental Compliance Specialist Mary MacSwan says she's pleasantly surprised by the increasing interest year after year.

"It's just a pleasure to see people wanting to use rain barrels and compost bins and knowing the water quality benefits that are resulting from that is also personally rewarding to me," said MacSwan.

Composting reduces the amount of waste in landfills while also saving people money by producing their own fertilizer. Water barrels reduce stormwater runoff into local waterways while also saving money on your water bill.

The deadline to put in orders for this year's sale is May 25. To place an order, click here.