You be the judge: should my partner get rid of our containment dewormer?

The charge: Leandra

I love nature, but not in my living room. Worms are everywhere - and food scraps stink

During lockdown my partner Cindy and I were stuck at home bored like everyone else , so we started developing new hobbies. Cindy thought it would be fun to have a vermicomposter and keep it on our apartment balcony.

Our advice doesn't take food waste, so it was going to be a good way to be more eco-responsible, passing our leftover food to worms. We had great ideas to transform the balcony, fill it with amazing plants and flowers. That didn't happen, but we still have a large vermicomposter, which has become a pain.

When the worms arrived, a couple escaped from the bag. I came home once, saw them on the floor and said, "What the hell is that?" I love nature, but not in my living room. When we leave, I have this anguish that they can still escape. I'm also worried about them falling through the cracks in our balcony.

Food scraps are also a problem. We keep it in boxes and it quickly becomes rotten and moldy. I convinced Cindy to keep the box on the balcony, so it wouldn't stink inside, but she would find excuses not to take it out. If it rained, she wouldn't. Then she suggested putting our leftovers in the blender – she said mixing the eggshells and vegetables together would actually be better for the worms. Cindy never even uses the blender to cook herself, so I said no.

This summer a lot of worms died because it was so hot. Cindy was sad. I didn't rejoice because they are living creatures, but I said, "Maybe deworming isn't a good idea?" I suggested contacting schools, parks and the council to see if they would take it. Cindy hasn't contacted anyone yet.

We spent the first year of lockdown growing things. Since then, it's been a question of: “Do we do the balcony or do we go out with friends? We chose the latter. When I offer to move the vermicomposter, Cindy makes a really sad face and it breaks my heart. But if we keep the wormer, we'd have to upgrade the whole balcony like we planned, because right now it's the same old - only with a messy can of worms on it.

Defence: Cindy< p class="dcr- 18sg7f2">Wormer is a slice of eco-friendly nature. And it doesn't stink - it smells of wood

The dewormer is great. I love it. You put food waste in there and the worms help break it down. Yes, it's a little gross: it's not what most people dream of, but it's a slice of nature on your balcony. And it's good for the environment.

We have always kept our food waste in plastic boxes. The food has to be rotten enough for the worms to eat because they don't have teeth, so when we kept the boxes inside I would wait until the food got really moldy before putting it in the vermicomposter. In the summer, as we had the windows open, the flies came in. So I started putting the food directly outside. I accepted this change, but I don't like to go on the balcony when it's raining. I'm trying to hide the mess so Leandra won't be annoyed.

The worms only released once, so that's okay, but I can't guarantee this won't happen again. Once Leandra got upset while she was repotting a plant on the balcony and found some worms in the ground, but they are good for the plants.

The worms eat leftover food and then poop as a free source of high-quality plant nutrients. The dewormer does not stink; it smells of wood. I like the smell.

I notice when the worms are breeding, and I like to watch how they work together to break down food. I watch the fluctuation of their activities, how they behave in different temperatures. I was very sad when many of them died during the heat wave this summer. The colony almost disappeared.

I once inspired a colleague to get a dewormer. He gave me the idea to mix the scraps. It would increase the production of the colony if Leandra let me, but I understand why she said no.

I think we both have to make an effort if we want a nicer balcony, but the dewormer made it better. Leandra would really like to get rid of it, but you never know when the next lockdown will be, so I think it's important to keep it.