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for Fun and Fantasy Activists are often accused of preaching to the choir. Outreach programs so often touch only those who already know about and believe in the cause. Naomi breaks out of the mold. For example, an approach she uses is to go with her knitting needles and red yarns to an upscale restaurant in New York City. "What, may I ask, are you knitting?" someone asks politely. And Naomi replies, "That's just the question I wanted you to ask!" When the stranger asks the obvious follow-up, "Why are you knitting a worm?" Naomi replies,"To honor the redworms eating my garbage in my kitchen." And so on. . . to get people talking and thinking about how we deal with our waste, about the closing of the Fresh Kills Landfill, about how worms can help us take care of it unobtrusively, quietly, efficiently, in our very own homes. . . Naomi doesn't pound you with such facts as this: Fresh Kills Landfill, located on Staten Island, New York, accepted over 2 billion tons of trash during it's 50 year existence. Fresh Kills is over 2200 acres in size, over 200 feet high and one of two man-made structures which can be seen from outer space. The other is the Great Wall of China. Fresh Kills Landfill, on a wetlands, produces nearly 1 million gallons of leachate per day. Fresh Kills Landfill closed on March 23, 2001, but reopened again after the World Trade Center bombings. New York City exports over 11,500 tons of trash per day to upstate New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. What Naomi does is, first of all, take responsibility for her own waste. The worms in her kitchen worm bin turn her coffee grounds, finely cut vegetables, crushed eggshells into damp, rich earth. As she says, "Kitchen composting is an incredibly satisfying pursuit; its everydayness, ritual quality fills an enormous empty space for those of us living in dense urban places who have wished to find a direct way or caring for the earth." (http://www.emilycompost.com/interview.htm) Naomi travels with her redworms. Nestled in shredded newsprint bedding in their little take-out container covered with colorful bandana, Naomi shows them the Grand Canyon, and shows the Grand Canyon to them (we assume they sense the majesty of the place, since they have no eyes to see!) Or the Taj Mahal. Or Mexico. Or China. Wherever she goes, she is ready for "the moment when the magic and mystery of composting redworms can blur the distinction between environmental education and art." (http://www.cityworm.com)
"This Dirt Museum" took place in The Plant Shop at the Queens Botanical Garden, Flushing, New York. The exhibit ran from Oct. 6-22, 2001, with special events on each of the three weekends. (http://www.cityworm.com/exhibitsch.html) See some of the worm-focused events and activities leading up to the exhibit at: http://www.cityworm.com/events3.html Learn more at: http://www.cityworm.com/knit.html |
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Do
you sometimes want to do something kind of silly, just for the fun of
it? Naomi Dagen Bloom got a hundred or so weird and wonderful worm enthusiasts
to knit a worm so they could become part of "This Dirt Museum: The Ladies'
Room" art exhibit in Queens, New York. This unique exhibit of knitted
redworms commemmorated closing of Fresh Kills Landfill at the same time
it celebrated the wonder of how redworms in her kitchen turn garbage into
black gold. 
Naomi
collaborates with others to extend her range of exposure. At "This Dirt
Museum," Mary Appelhof, author of "Worms Eat My Garbage," joined Naomi
and others to give tours of the exhibit and workshops on worm composting.
Naomi says that Mary, through her educational books and videos, is the
person most responsible for Naomi's venture into wormhood. .