What is the Bench of Life?

This isn’t just a bench, it’s a living ecosystem. Hidden inside are thousands of red wiggler earthworms that compost food scraps into nutrient-rich soil. Simply lift the lid, add your scraps and let nature take care of the rest.

The soil is then used to nourish the garden, creating a natural cycle that mimics the way forests build resilient life.

Place an order

Features

Made from rot resistant white cedar

Can compost 15-45 kg food scraps per week

Does not smell or attract rodents

Can be used from spring to fall, and worms survive the winter by hibernating

Dimensions: 6 feet long, 18 inches wide, and 18 inches tall

**Currently available in Ottawa & surrounding areas. Price includes delivery, worms and setup

Green Infrastructure For Urban Spaces

Composting not only reduces landfill methane emissions, but it also does amazing things to soil like improve water retention, increase plant growth, improve biodiversity and capture atmospheric carbon. Recycling organic matter locally into soil is a core climate resiliency project. For more details about composting as green infrastructure, read our blog here.

Feeding the Bench

Worms should be fed and watered every week. That said, outdoor systems are resilient and as long as the ecosystem does not dry out, worms will survive without food added for months.

You can feed the bench anywhere between 15-45 kg of scraps a week (2-5 buckets full) and you must add equal quantity of bedding material like leaves and shreds of paper/cardboard.

✅ Fruit & veggie scraps, coffee, tea

✅ Paper, cardboard (ink is ok)

✅ Leaves, grass, woodchips

❌ Meat, dairy, oils, cooked foods

❌ Compostable plastic

  • Two composting zones

    The two zones of the compost bench are separated by a vertical mesh and by filling up one zone at a time, worms move sideways to feed leaving castings in the other zone.

  • No smells or racoons

    Our cedar bench is sturdy enough to prevent racoons from entering and the wood absorbs odours. Nobody will know what is happening inside unless you open the lid.

  • Bench to garden

    You can collect about 100L of worm castings every 6 months, which is plenty for a small garden or community installation. Better caretaking results in better yields.

Community Composting At Sweet Willow Community Garden

Composting At Alliance Française Ottawa

1 10

Worm Bench

$1,200.00 CAD
$1,500.00 CAD $1,200.00 CAD
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Design
View full details

Evolution of the Bench Of Life

2022

Started With A Grant

Akil developed the concept of a worm bench because he wanted the community to have discussions about climate change while literally sitting on a climate solution. The first prototype was installed on his driveway.

Read about our Awesome Ottawa award

2023

Installed At Community Gardens

We received a generous grant from the uOttawa TD environment foundation to install worm benches at community gardens in downtown Ottawa to explore community composting. We used an innovative material for the bench walls, made from woodchips and concrete.

2024-2025

Redesign & Real World Testing

We redesigned the bench using cedar for easier manufacturing. The existing benches were doing wonderfully, and we were able to confirm that the red wigglers survived the Ottawa winters in our benches, eliminating the need to restock them each spring!

2026

Better Design & Official Launch

We redesigned it to make it feel more like a bench, and we are presently installing them across the city at schools, homes, and outdoor spaces. We organize a mini community workshop with each installation.

Order a Worm Bench

Your questions answered

Will it smell?

Nope, the bench does not smell when you sit on it, and it will smell like fresh earth when you open it up! If there are funky smells, there is something wrong in the ecosystem and it needs to be fixed.

How much work is involved?

We recommend a weekly maintenance from Spring to Fall - adding food and bedding, giving the ecosystem a gentle mix, and watering any dry spots.

How often do we feed it and how much?

Feeding the bench is a bit of an art and science, just like feeding any other pet. You could feed it a little bit every day, or load it up once a week. We suggest adding 15-45 kg of food scraps weekly, depending on how happy the worms are. We'll teach you how to be a good worm parent!

Some benches we know have not been fed for months, and that is ok too! Just make sure you keep the ecosystem damp all the time. Underfeeding is ok, but overfeeding is not.

What about winters?

The bench is put to rest in winter, and we suggest adding a large quantity of leaves into the bench to provide adequate insulation throughout the winter. From our field tests, the worms do survive through the winter!

What does a healthy ecosystem look like?

A healthy ecosystem will have loads of worms everywhere, will be damp to touch, smell earthy, look like soil mixed with food and bedding, and overall look alive!