WormingUp is an accredited social enterprise based in Kuching Sarawak, founded in 2015. We are using insect farming (black soldier fly) as a means for organic waste disposal to avoid landfilling. We run sustainable events to financially self sustain our daily organic waste reduction operation and educational programme. During MCO, all the events are postponed and canceled, which direct affect us heavily.

We are sincerely hoping to get little help from you to support our cause. We need financial support for two main purposes:

(i) to continue our organic waste reduction routine

Every generation of our army - the maggot of black soldier fly has great mission which is reducing organic waste. After they are matured, we will put these maggots back to their cycle to maintain their population. Their appetites are crucial to fight against the food waste issue (especially unavoidable food waste such as fish offal, rotten vege etc). They are live animals, eating 24/7 and the cycle cannot be stopped whenever we wish to, even during this MCO.  

(ii) to maintain our talented B40 community

We first started with 2 of us in 2015 and currently able to employ 3 full time passionate B40 community to help in the operation. Our monthly expense is mainly overhead which approximately RM10,000 for five of us in the organization.

During this MCO, no event is allowed, yet we still carry out our back end organic waste reduction operation, which this lead us to a hard time. Hence, we are here to run our first ever fundraising event to hope to get your support to sustain our cause.

We have built up our source, please help us to get through this critical moment to continue fighting for a better environment

About WormingUp

WormingUp is an accredited social enterprise based in Kuching Sarawak, founded in 2015. We are using insect farming (black soldier fly) as a means for organic waste disposal to avoid landfilling. We are a group of Borneo youths which keen on environmental issues. Our team members consist of different races, Chinese, Malay and Dayak who all are of young ages under 30 and passionate about conserving our precious organic resources instead of simply dumping/bury. Since we are still undergraduates, we have started working and partnering with various local organizations in running environmental programme and workshop. Till now, we are 4-years graduated from Uni and fully committed to the organization.

Our Story

We first came across the idea of using black soldier fly as a sustainable waste reduction technique during a student exchange programme in Mauritius in 2015. At our homestay, we were provided with a bin to segregate organic waste. We discovered that overnight, the waste thrown in the bin disappear and by checking the bottom of the bin, we found maggots eating up the waste. Inspired, we decided to take this great idea back to Kuching, hoping it could be used to help manage food waste in the city.

We started WormingUp, aimed not only at reducing organic waste, but also raising awareness and educating the public on recycling, particularly in terms of sustainable waste management. We first experimented on using more common houseflies. We sent a sample for lab test and found the gut of a housefly or its larvae has many bacteria. They are also very smelly and not very hygienic, so we had to find a suitable alternative and the black soldier flies are the most suitable. Unlike regular houseflies, commonly regarded as pests, black soldier flies stay away from humans and are more commonly found in the outskirt area. Houseflies consume food waste and that is how they contaminate our food, but black soldier flies only drink water and they don’t consume any food in their adult stage where they only mate and lay eggs. It’s the larvae of the black soldier fly that consume food waste.

We first started breeding the black soldier flies at our home backyard and collecting food waste using Axia. After 4 years working, currently we are able to upcycle more organic waste at scalable processing site and transported using a truck. To date, we are actively working with both public-private sectors include local councils, tourism board, schools, universities, corporations and NGOs. Our initiative also won Shell Top Ten Innovator 2018, international level.

Problem statement

(i) Food waste issue -

15,000 tons of food waste being generated everyday in Malaysia. While more than 40% of the waste is organic waste.

(ii) Food security -

One third of all food produced gets lost or goes to waste — that’s enough to feed all of the world’s hungry four times over!

(iii) Landfill -

Organic waste buried into non-sanitary landfill will degrade anaerobically and produce methane gas, a strong greenhouse gas that is about 21 times more potent at warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, and fasten the climate change (global warming).

Our solution

Instead of conventional composting for organic waste, we run insect farms. An insect rearing system was developed to culture Black Soldier Fly, a kind of beneficial non-pest insect which can degrade a wide range of organic waste. Also, bio-enzyme was developed from organic waste for composting purpose.

Using insect farming to degrade organic waste allows us to save up to 70% of land space that would otherwise be used for landfill. It’s fast manner in degrading organic waste also consume less time for the whole process which allow us to break down more organic waste efficiently and at a reduced cost.

Our impact

Our efforts support Goal 12 Responsible Consumption and Production - to promote sustainable and efficient ways of recycling wastes. This is a solution for the management of organic waste and the impending global food shortage crisis. Through insect farming, we close the gap and link both of these global concerns. Whilst we are now aware of the potential presented through insect farming for degradation of organic waste, this is merely the beginning and we aspire to fully maximize it through our continuous efforts and actions. Not only does this disrupt the current way in which we dispose of our organic waste, it also has the potential of driving positive social change, enhancing sustainable futures for future generations, by looking after our environment.

To date: up to 35 stakeholders & partners 

6 local authorities, 2 corporate, 6 markets, 11 hotels, 2 shopping malls, 5 restaurants, 2 food premises, 1 university

Impacts have been made

Number of action-change: 2,095 people

Number of waste diverted from landfill: 1,046,188 kg

Number of awareness/events/workshop held: 55 events

Number of audience reached on ground: 7,537 people

Appreciation

RM10 - E-certificate

RM20 - E-certificate

RM50 - E-certificate

RM100 - E-certificate + Name on Brick

RM200 - E-certificate + Name on Brick + Special Gift

*Brick is made from upcycled plastic waste and act as deco on our self-constructed mini-laboratory.

*Kindly WhatsApp contact us to redeem the appreciation pack. Thank you so much.

Contact us

Facebook: www.facebook.com/wormingup

Website: wormingup.com

Phone/WhatsApp: +60146831876