Worms Can Save the Planet!! Study Shows They Love Plastic!

I thought worms were just great snack food for birds and smaller animals.  

Well, I was wrong.  Not just wrong – way wrong.  It turns out, worms can eat, digest, and poop out plastic in a biodegradable form.

A study released in Environmental Science & Technology from researchers from Beihang University in China and Stanford University showed that mealworms could eat polyethylene (science term for plastic – in this study, styrofoam specifically) without any apparent side effects.

According to the study, 100 mealworms consume approximately 34-39 milligrams of stryrofoam (about the size of a tylenol) each day.  Obviously, that’s not a lot.

Photo by theilr | CC By

However, consider the ramifications.  First, until this point, styrofoam was considered non-biodegradable.  Second, along with Waxworms, the offspring of Indian mealmoths which can digest the plastic material of trash bags, researchers have a great tool to combat the HUGE amount of waste being created by humans (according to CNN, the United States alone produces about 33 million tons of plastic every year, with less than 10% being recycled).  Third, they’re A LOT of worms!

The humble mealworm could save us all ….

Researchers are trying to understand the inner workings of how the worms transform plastic into biodegradable refuse.

In addition, they’re testing if mealworms consider other plastics (from textiles to automotive components) just as yummy and determine if plastic-eating worms have any ill effects up the food chain (as birds eat these worms, predators eat the birds, etc….).

Moral of the story  Throw a Few Mealworms in your Recycling Bin – It May Just Save the Planet!